The three leading NYC mayoral candidates began blanketing the airwaves and digital platforms with campaign advertisements this week, dropping hundreds of thousands of dollars to reintroduce themselves to voters and take swipes at one another.
Here’s a look at each of them:
Mamdani: ‘Things Can Change’
Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic mayoral nominee and frontrunner, went live on Tuesday night with his first TV ad in the Nov. 4 general election. The 30-second spot focuses on the affordability-focused platform that helped him clinch the party’s nomination in June.
The ad, titled “Things Can Change,” opens with a woman speaking directly to the camera on a city street, saying: “I used to love New York, but now it’s just where I live.” It then turns to footage of other New Yorkers watching Mamdani’s primary win on their TVs and phones.
“New Yorkers have stood up for a city they can afford,” Mamdani says in voiceover.
“We’ll freeze the rent, make buses fast and free, and deliver universal child care,” he adds, listing the three planks of his campaign. “We’re going to make this city one working people can love.”
The democratic socialist lawmaker, who holds a double-digit lead over his opponents, spent $267,000 on the ad, according to the political ad tracking service AdImpact Politics.
Mamdani notably did not mention former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is running in second place after soundly losing to him in the Democratic primary.
Cuomo: ‘Day One’
Cuomo released his own first general election ad, dubbed “Day One,” on Wednesday.
The 30-second ad employs AI-generated video of Cuomo failing at everyday jobs, such as driving a New York City subway train or washing a skyscraper’s windows. He says that while he could “pretend” to do many jobs, “I know what I know, and I know what I don’t know. And I do know how to make government work.”
The line appeared to be aimed at both highlighting Cuomo’s years as a government executive, which he says enable him to hit the ground running on day one of the mayoralty, and taking a shot at Mamdani’s relative lack of experience.
The former governor also mentions his pledge to hire 5,000 more NYPD officers and get homeless individuals off the streets and connected to supportive services.
Sliwa: ‘Keep Us Safe’
While Mamdani’s and Cuomo’s ads mostly focused on touting their own campaigns, Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa devoted his spot to attacking both of his competitors. In the 30-second spot, first reported by the New York Post, Sliwa contends the city won’t be safe if either Mamdani or Cuomo are elected mayor.
A narrator in Sliwa’s ad slams Cuomo for signing reforms that eliminated cash bail for most misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies into law in 2019 and advocating for the closure of the Rikers Island jail complex. The narrator then charges that Mamdani wants to “go even further.”
“With them in charge, you are not safe,” the narrator says.
Sliwa then comes on screen and says, “We deserve better. I’m Curtis Sliwa. I’m asking for your vote for mayor. Together, we’ll build back a safer, more affordable New York.”
The Sliwa spot is the third he has released during the general election, in which he has already spent $1.5 million on ads, his campaign said.
The Republican firebrand appears to be going on the offensive amid Cuomo and other centrists pressuring him to exit the race, following Mayor Eric Adams’ suspension of his own campaign earlier this week. Cuomo believes he will have a better chance of overcoming Mamdani with Sliwa out of the way.
However, Sliwa maintains that he has no intention of dropping out.
