Mamdani says NYC 'on the brink of making history' after casting vote
World
Minutes after voting at the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts High School in Queens this morning, Mamdani has told reporters, “We are on the brink of making history”.
NEW YORK (Agencies) - Minutes after voting at the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts High School in Queens this morning, Mamdani has told reporters, “We are on the brink of making history”.
New York City, he added, is “on the brink of saying goodbye to a politics of the past – a politics that tells you what it can’t do, when really what it means to say is what it won’t do”.
VOTER TURNOUT STABLE, EARLY VOTING EXPECTED TO PLAY KEY ROLE
There is a steady trickle of people coming to vote in an election that has energised a city that is already pretty energetic. We have to keep in mind that there has been early voting for about a week, and nearly three-quarters of a million people have voted early.
Many of them are likely to have been in support of Mamdani, a candidate who has led a campaign largely on social media. Younger voters tend to head to the polls early; it is the older voters who are likely to be leaning towards Cuomo and who are likely to turn out to vote today.
Sliwa, the Republican candidate, is not expected to do particularly well. Trump has backed Cuomo – but the two cannot actually stand each other. When the US president endorsed him, he did so through gritted teeth. But that puts Cuomo in a difficult position, because he’s a Democrat at heart, and needs to pull those voters on the left who do not want to vote for Mamdani.
HOW DOES TURNOUT COMPARE WITH PREVIOUS MAYORAL RACES?
With hours left to go at the polls, this year’s mayoral race has already shattered all turnout records since 2001.
The latest figures from the Board of Elections, released at 3pm local time (20:00 GMT), show more than 1.4 million votes – 1,451,942, to be exact.
This beats every mayoral race in New York City since Republican Michael Bloomberg faced off against Democrat Mark Green in 2001, shortly after the September 11 attacks. That year, 1,469,454 total votes were cast, according to Board of Election data.
Here’s the total votes in previous mayoral races, per board data:
-- 2021, Democrat Eric Adams vs Republican Curtis Sliwa: 1,125,258
-- 2017, Democrat Bill de Blasio vs Republican Nicole Malliotakis: 1,148,665
-- 2013, Democrat Bill de Blasio vs Republican Joe Lhota: 1,087,710
-- 2009, Independent Michael Bloomberg vs Democrat Bill Thompson: 1,154,802
-- 2005, Republican Michael Bloomberg vs Democrat Fernando Ferrer: 1,289,935
-- 2001, Republican Michael Bloomberg vs Democrat Mark Green: 1,469,454
FORMER MAYOR CASTS VOTE FOR MAMDANI
Bill de Blasio, who served as NYC mayor from from 2014 through 2021, has shared a social media post stating that he voted for Mamdani.
“One of the happiest votes I ever cast!” de Blasio said. “What a beautiful day for NYC!”
One of the happiest votes I ever cast!
— Bill de Blasio (@BilldeBlasio) November 4, 2025
What a beautiful day for NYC!️
@ZohranKMamdani @HotGirls4Zohran pic.twitter.com/l0XGr1z2IB
De Blasio has spoken positively about Mamdani’s campaign, and tagged him in the post.
