NYC mayor race heats up as Mamdani slams Cuomo’s ‘Islamophobic rhetoric’

On the eve of early voting in New York City, the Democratic candidate for mayor Zahran Mamdani Independent candidate Andrew Cuomo was accused of using “Islamophobic rhetoric” after the former governor joined a radio show where the host predicted Mamdani would “cheer” if New York City faced another September 11-style attack.

Outside the Islamic Cultural Center in the Bronx on Friday afternoon, Mamdani took the latest campaign controversy as an opportunity to condemn what his campaign called a “renewed wave of Islamophobic rhetoric and fear-mongering.”

“While my opponents in this race have brought hate to the forefront, this is just a glimpse of what many have to endure every day across the city,” Mamdani said. “And although it would be easy for us to say that this is not who we are as a city, we know the truth. This is who we have allowed ourselves to become.”

During an appearance on WABC’s “Sid & Friends in the Morning” on Thursday, Cuomo questioned Mamdani’s ability to lead the city through a crisis situation, if elected. when host Sid Rosenberg implied that Mamdani would be “ecstatic.”

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New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zahran Mamdani (left) criticized independent candidate former governor Andrew Cuomo (right) for his “anti-Islamic rhetoric” on Friday, October 24, 2025. (Richard Drew/AP Photo; Julia Demaree Nickinson/AP Photo)

“At any moment, there is a crisis, and people’s lives are at stake. God forbid, there is another 9/11. Can you imagine Mamdani in the seat?” Cuomo asked the host.

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“It would be cheering,” Rosenberg replied.

“That’s another problem,” Cuomo said, before returning to his hypothetical question: “But can you imagine that?”

During a Mamdani campaign event in Manhattan later on Thursday, a reporter asked the city’s leading mayoral candidate if Cuomo’s comments… They were hostile to Islam.

“Yes, I think they were,” Mamdani said, before adding: “We are talking about a former governor, in his final moments in public life, engaging in rhetoric that is not only Islamophobic, not just racist, but also disgusting.”

That afternoon, Cuomo was approved by Mayor Eric Adamswho told reporters that his reason for doing so was, in part, to combat “Islamic extremism” in New York City.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with people,” Adams said Thursday. “You see what’s happening in other countries because of Islamic extremism. Not Muslims, let’s not confuse that. But those Islamic extremisms that are burning churches in Nigeria, that are destroying communities in Germany, that have taken over logical thinking, that’s what I’m fighting for.”

Mamdani’s campaign called Adams’ statements an “anti-Islamic inference.”

In response to both comments, the city’s leading mayoral candidate wiped away tears Friday, while surrounded by members of the Islamic Cultural Center, as he told the story of Muslims, like his aunt, who Mamdani said stopped riding the subway after Sept. 11, 2001, because she “did not feel safe in her hijab.”

“We know that in less than two weeks we will bid farewell to our ousted former governor and our current indicted mayor,” Mamdani said. “The biggest question is whether we are ready to say goodbye to something much bigger than these two men,” Mamdani said.

“It’s about whether we’re willing to say goodbye to the anti-Muslim sentiment that has become so endemic in our city that when we hear it, we don’t know whether the words were said by a Republican or a Democrat,” Mamdani continued. “We only know that it was spoken in the language of city politics. In an era of declining bipartisanship, Islamophobia appears to have emerged as one of the few areas of agreement.”

With less than two weeks to go Election dayMamdani on Thursday criticized Cuomo for his “closing argument.”

“Andrew Cuomo’s message is to smear and discredit the first Muslim candidate who is about to lead this city, to look at a city where 1 in 8 New Yorkers are Muslim and say that you, by virtue of your faith, are worthy of the doubt,” Mamdani added.

New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zahran Mamdani answers reporters’ questions after the final debate on Wednesday, October 22, 2025, before Election Day. (Fox News Digital/Deirdre Heavy)

When pressed by reporters during Thursday’s endorsement event, Cuomo clarified that he was not the one who made the comment that Mamdani would “cheer” if there was another terrorist attack like September 11, 2001.

Cuomo hosted a press conference days before the 24th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York City, where Speakers criticized Mamdani For his association with Twitch streamer Hassan Baker, who once declared that “America deserves 9/11.”

“I have a problem with the fact that Zahran is a friend of Hassan Baker,” Cuomo explained Thursday.

Latest Fox News pollConducted from October 10 to 14, Mamdani has a significant lead in the race. According to the poll, Mamdani leads by 21 points among registered voters in New York City, where 49% of voters support Mamdani, while 28% support Cuomo and 13% support Saliwa.

Independent candidate former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo speaks during a mayoral debate, Thursday, October 16, 2025, in New York City. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis, Swimming Pool)

Mamdani also rose above the 50% threshold among likely voters, receiving 52% support, while Cuomo got 28% and Sliwa got just 14%.

If Mamdani wins the mayoral election on November 4, he will become the first Muslim mayor of New York City.

Religion has become a defining issue in the mayoral race, with Jewish New Yorkers rejecting Mamdani’s positions on Israel, including calling the war in Gaza a “genocide” and refusing to recognize Israel as a Jewish state.

This week, prominent New York City rabbis joined more than 650 rabbis to sign “A Rabbinical Call to Action: Defending the Jewish Future,” declaring their position that Jewish Americans “We cannot remain silent” about discrimination against Jewish people.

Rabbi Joshua M. Davidson, chief rabbi of Temple Emanu-El, told Fox News Digital that his concern about Mamdani’s nomination is “not at all related to Islamophobia.”

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“It’s a matter of legitimate concern about Assemblyman Mamdani’s positions, and I think it’s important to clarify that distinction,” Davidson said. “New York is the most culturally diverse city in the world, and we take pride in that diversity. As I wrote, I believe it would be an extraordinary accomplishment for New York to elect a Muslim mayor. But Mr. Mamdani causes me great concern, and has caused great fear for many in the Jewish community.”

Rosenberg And Cuomo Fox News Digital did not immediately respond to a request for comment.