Sunday in the NYC Mayor’s Race: Cuomo gets faith leader endorsements, Mamdani takes heat for foreign contributions

With just under two weeks to go until the start of New York City’s early voting period, the three major candidates for mayor are beginning to make their final pitch to voters.

The remaining candidates — Democratic nominee and Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani, independent candidate and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa — are looking at a narrower field since Mayor Eric Adams dropped his independent bid for reelection.

Here is how the candidates spent Sunday on the campaign trail.

Cuomo endorsed by 70 faith leaders

Cuomo, who is looking to redeem himself in November’s general election following an unexpected primary defeat at the hands of Mamdani, boasted on Sunday of the endorsements of 70 reverends, pastors, bishops, and apostles across New York City’s five boroughs.

The former governor, who normally makes public church visits on Sundays, celebrated the endorsements in a news release.

“Faith leaders are the backbone of our communities: they feed the hungry, lift up families, and help heal our city’s soul,” Cuomo said. “I am honored to have the support of so many respected pastors, bishops, and apostles who share a mission to make New York safer, stronger, and more compassionate. Together, we will rebuild this city from the ground up, with faith, hope, and action.”

The endorsers include 18 leaders from Brooklyn, 36 from The Bronx, seven from Manhattan, three from Queens, and three from Staten Island. In the primary, Cuomo was the top vote-getter in Staten Island and The Bronx, losing to Mamdani in Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens.

“Andrew Cuomo has always shown up for our communities — in good times and in crisis,” said Reverend Dr. Renee F. Washington Gardner of Memorial Baptist Church in Sunday’s news release. “He understands that real leadership means bringing people together, not dividing them. We need a mayor who listens, who respects faith, and who knows how to deliver results for working families.”

In addition to endorsements from faith leaders, the former governor boasted an endorsement from the New York State Italian American Political Action Committee.

Cuomo did not make any public campaign stops on Sunday. Although the candidate’s polling has improved since Adams partially cleared the field late last month, Cuomo is still polling significantly behind Mamdani with 23 days to go until Election Day on Nov. 4.

Mamdani criticized for foreign donations

Mamdani had no public campaign schedule for Sunday, a break from his routine of publicized church visits and canvassing events. However, he made an early afternoon address at Riverside Church in Morningside Heights and was scheduled to speak at Congregation Beth Elohim in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

The democratic socialist took heat Sunday morning for campaign finance documents reported by the New York Post, revealing that Mamdani’s campaign had received about $13,000 in donations from individuals with addresses outside the United States. By law, any contribution provided to a campaign by foreign nationals must be returned, except for those made by legal permanent residents of the US.

Mamdani’s campaign, which has returned about half the donations, according to the documents, told the Post it would “of course return any donations that are not in compliance with CFB law.”

The Queens assembly member continued on Sunday to criticize Cuomo’s response to last week’s federal indictment of New York State Attorney General Letitia James.

“Andrew Cuomo is incapable of speaking clearly and directly about Trump’s authoritarianism,” Mamdani wrote in a Sunday X post about Cuomo’s Friday remarks on Pix11.

Mamdani is holding a comfortable lead in most polls with just over three weeks until election day.

Sliwa attends Columbus Day wreath-laying

Sliwa — who is consistently polling in third place out of three major candidates — continued his high-energy campaign on Sunday, joining the Columbus Citizens Foundation, the NYPD Columbia Association, and the National Council of Columbian Associations in Civil Service in the annual Columbus Day wreath laying at Columbus Circle.

“In 1892, Italian Americans raised funds to build and gift this monument to the City at a time when they faced open discrimination and fought for respect and inclusion,” Sliwa wrote in a Sunday post on X. “Calls to remove their gift are disgraceful.”

In 2020, during protests over the police killing of George Floyd, New York City faced calls from advocates to remove the statue of Christopher Columbus from its spot on the Upper West Side. Protesters defaced, beheaded, and tore down statues of Columbus across the country in 2020, citing Columbus’ role in the conquest of North America and the enslavement of Native Americans.

In New York State, the second Monday of October is officially recognized as Columbus Day, a day that has long been celebrated for its Italian-American heritage. However, the holiday is also recognized as Indigenous Peoples’ Day.

“I proudly stand with our Italian American community always,” Sliwa wrote.

After the wreath laying, Sliwa headed to The Bronx for the 48th Annual Morris Park Bronx Columbus Day Parade.

Editor’s note: An earlier version incorrectly stated that all donations from outside the US are illegal under the Campaign Finance Board law. We regret the error and any confusion that may have resulted.