New York’s billionaires have been working to stop Zohran Mamdani from becoming mayor of New York, and their effort got an unexpected boost when sitting NYC mayor Eric Adams announced that he would drop out of the race. Now, the field has narrowed to Mamdani, Andrew Cuomo, and Republican Curtis Sliwa. (In a fun twist that will surely not confuse voters, Adams’s name will still appear on the ballot in November.) According to the Mamdani campaign—and political strategists—Adams dropping out changes nothing: The democratic socialist is still going to trounce the former governor in the general election, just like he did during the primaries. Yet wealthy New Yorkers are cheering the news—and seeing a path to victory for their candidate of choice (which, sorry to the Cat Daddy of New York politics, is not Curtis Sliwa).
Immediately following Adams’s announcement, billionaire Bill Ackman—who originally backed Cuomo before switching to Adams before coming full circle earlier this month)—took to X to write: “Thank you @ericadamsfornyc for your service for our city and for stepping aside when the time was right! @CurtisSliwa, you should follow Eric’s lead for the good of NYC.” The hedge fund manager also retweeted a post from Andrew Cuomo declaring: “The choice @ericadamsfornyc made today was not an easy one, but I believe he is sincere in putting the well-being of New York City ahead of personal ambition. We face destructive extremist forces that would devastate our city through incompetence or ignorance, but it is not too late to stop them.” Meanwhile, two senior aides to the ex-governor told CNN that the campaign believes Adams’s departure will allow Cuomo to consolidate support from unions and Black supporters; the sources also told the outlet that “high-powered donors who could pitch in significant sums of money [are] also expected to help the Cuomo campaign.”
The idea that wealthy donors are going to open up their checkbooks for Cuomo after he was trounced in the primary—and publicly criticized by his supporters for running a lackluster campaign—is probably not far-fetched. According to The New York Times, a group of NYC’s richest landlords gathered in Midtown in early September to meet with Cuomo and help him figure out how to beat Mamdani. The sit-down took place less than a day after Jeff Blau, one of the biggest developers in the city, reportedly sent an email to similarly deep-pocketed New Yorkers saying, “Sorry for the late notice, but there is no more time for delay, discussion, or dithering—we must act decisively to ensure that the next mayor of New York is Andrew Cuomo. The only viable candidate with the experience, support and gravitas to defeat Zohran Mamdani is Governor Andrew Cuomo.” According to the Times, the invitation was signed by, among others, real estate developer Aby Rosen, billionaire Laurie Tisch, and hedge fund manager Gregg Hymowitz. (Rosen, Hymowitz, and a spokeswoman for Tisch did not respond to the Times’ request for comment. A spokeswoman for Blaus declined to comment.) Attendee Marc Altheim, a real estate developer, reportedly told guests “I’m very concerned that New York City is going to be decimated if the other guy takes office,” referring to Mamdani.
On the same day of the event at the Pool Room, billionaire Ronald Lauder donated $750,000 to Fix the City, a Cuomo-aligned super PAC.
Donald Trump—who’s dismissed Sliwa, the GOP candidate, as “not exactly prime time”—threatened to withhold federal funding for NYC should Mamdani emerge victorious, writing on Truth Social: “[Mamdani] is going to have problems with Washington like no Mayor in the history of our once great City. Remember, he needs the money from me, as President, in order to fulfill all of his FAKE Communist promises. He won’t be getting any of it, so what’s the point of voting for him?” As for Sliwa, he said in an interview Monday: “I’m not sitting shiva for Eric Adams. He should’ve been in jail with Bobby Menendez. He was a crook, and it was the president who saved him.” (Adams denied all charges against him prior to the case being dismissed.)
Prior to Adams officially dropping out, a recent poll showed that Cuomo would still lose to Mamdani by about 10 points if the current mayor theoretically left the campaign.
