Mamdani focuses on affordability in final NYC mayoral campaign push

Facing tightening polls and increasing scrutiny of his progressive agenda, he became the Democratic nominee for Mayor of New York City Zahran Mamdani He spent Friday courting top voters on the Lower East Side — even joining a tai chi class while making his latest pitch on affordability.

The self-described Democratic Socialist heads into the final weekend before Election Day with a double-digit lead. In the latest Fox News poll, released Thursday, Mamdani leads by 16 points: 47% support him, while 15% prefer Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa and 31% prefer the independent candidate. Andrew Cuomo.

Mamdani, whose platform to freeze rents and expand city-run services has drawn criticism from business groups and moderate Democrats, focused his campaign’s closing message on affordability.

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New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zahran Mamdani dances and practices tai chi with seniors on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, Friday, October 31, 2025. (Fox News Digital/Deirdre Heavy)

“It’s the same message we opened with, which is that this is the most expensive city in the United States of America, and it’s time to make it affordable for everyone,” Mamdani told Fox News Digital on Friday.

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Mamdani’s campaign agenda includes city-run grocery stores, a rent freeze and free child care, all of which he plans to pay for by 2018. Raise corporate taxes And the top 1% of New Yorkers.

“When I stood there alongside hundreds of supporters in Long Island City on October 23 of last year, we said then what we say now: We are going to Freeze rent For rent-stabilized tenants. We’ll make the slowest buses in America fast and free. We will provide universal child care, and we will do so because the heart of our struggle is for the working New Yorker who has been pushed out of the city,” Mamdani told Fox News Digital.

Less than 12 hours earlier, Mamdani had greeted hospital workers at Elmhurst Hospital, surveyed taxi drivers at LaGuardia Airport, and met with those working night shifts in Jackson Heights.

It’s a style Retail policy Which Mamdani has used throughout his campaign, and especially in this final week, as he tries to shake anyone’s hand — even in the sea of ​​local, national and international reporters tracking his every move.

“Last night, after I talked to the taxi drivers, and before I went to Elmhurst Hospital and outside of Elmhurst Hospital, I talked to the 1199 organizer, and he told me he was commuting two hours each way from Pennsylvania because he couldn’t afford a place to live in the city,” Mamdani said.

For Mamdani, the campaign ends where it began, with a promotion New Yorkers are working class.

“We have people that we look up to and understand as New Yorkers, and they can’t even live here anymore, and that’s a shame,” Mamdani said. “This is unacceptable, and it actually doesn’t have to be this way. I look forward to proving that starting January 1.”

New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zahran Mamdani practices tai chi in Manhattan’s Lower East Side, Friday, October 31, 2025. (Fox News Digital/Deirdre Heavy)

While Mamdani already has his eyes on next year, reiterating his commitment to keeping New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch in office if elected, the latest polls suggest Cuomo is making some progress heading into Election Day.

The latest Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday showed Mamdani’s 10-point lead over Cuomo down from his 13-point lead in their poll earlier this month, and this latest poll matches a Suffolk University poll released Monday that found Mamdani losing by 10 points now.

“Make no mistake: the race is tightening, and Andrew Cuomo is closing in fast,” Rich Azzopardi, a spokesman for Cuomo’s campaign, said in a statement this week.

The latest Fox News poll finds an independent candidate and the current mayor Eric Adamswho endorsed Cuomo last week, received 2% support despite withdrawing from the race on September 28. Adams will still appear on the ballot.

Despite the jabs this year, Adams joined Cuomo on the campaign trail in a last-ditch effort to shore up the anti-Mamdani vote.

Democratic New York City mayoral candidate Zahran Mamdani visits seniors on the Lower East Side of Manhattan on Friday, October 31, 2025. (Fox News Digital/Deirdre Heavy)

On Friday, Adams announced his plan to raise Number of NYPD employees by 5,000 officers, increasing the total number of officers to 40,000 by 2029 — which he says would be the highest level in 20 years.

It is a $17.8 million investment for the next fiscal year with plans to raise the investment to $315.8 million by 2029.

“The vast majority of New Yorkers want more police officers on their streets and in the subways, and that is what we are achieving by adding these 5,000 new officers,” Adams, a former NYPD officer, said in a statement on Friday.

Democratic New York City mayoral candidate Zahran Mamdani dances with seniors on the Lower East Side of Manhattan on Friday, October 31, 2025. (Fox News Digital)

Mamdani’s approach to public safety and past criticism of the NYPD was a major point of contention in his mayoral campaign.

This month, he apologized on Fox News to the NYPD for his past comments, including calling the department “racist, homophobic and a major threat to public safety” in 2020, among other insults.

Mamdani was asked to respond to Adams’ new proposal during a media briefing on Friday.

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“I’ve said it over and over again “I think we have the right number of police officers,” Mamdani said, noting that Adams does not have the money to hire 5,000 additional officers.

“We know what New Yorkers really care about,” Mamdani added on Friday. “It’s not a headcount issue. It’s a safety issue, and that’s exactly what I will deliver by retaining Commissioner Tisch and creating a Department of Community Safety, and finally ensuring that we live up to the words Eric Adams himself said four years ago, which is that New Yorkers don’t need to choose between safety and justice.”