Who are New Yorkers voting for in the 2025 NYC mayoral election? To find out, we took that question directly to the people — traveling from Wall Street all the way up to the Bronx, stopping everyone willing to talk. What we found was a city that is passionate, split, and in some cases, hilariously unprepared to explain its own vote. Here's what real New Yorkers had to say.
Who Are New Yorkers Actually Voting For in 2025?
The short answer: it depends enormously on where you are in the city. Down in the Financial District, skepticism toward Zohran Mamdani ran high. In the NYU area, young students were largely enthusiastic about him. Up in the Bronx, the mood was more cynical — with some residents saying they wouldn't vote for anyone because "they're all corrupted."
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Wall Street locals react to Mamdani's platform — most are skeptical
Watch at 02:15 →
Across all five boroughs, the race is essentially a three-way contest between Zohran Mamdani, the democratic socialist assemblyman; Andrew Cuomo, the former governor attempting a political comeback; and Curtis Sliwa, the Guardian Angels founder running as the Republican candidate. Mamdani appears to be leading in polls, but as one Staten Island voter put it: "The polls are fake. Who are they interviewing? I haven't been interviewed."
Who Is Zohran Mamdani and What Does He Stand For?
Zohran Mamdani is a New York State assemblyman and self-described democratic socialist who has surged to the front of the mayoral race with a platform that is turning heads — and raising eyebrows — across the political spectrum.
His key proposals include:
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Curtis Sliwa reveals bribery and death threat allegations at the Staten Island Ferry
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- Government-run grocery stores in underserved neighborhoods
- Freezing the rent citywide
- Defunding or significantly reducing the NYPD budget
- Free child care for New York families
- Free public bus transportation across the city
- Taxing the wealthy at higher rates to fund city services
He has earned endorsements from high-profile progressives including Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Critics, however, have been blunt. One Financial District worker told us: "Has it ever been proven to work in any major country? You see the Soviet Union crashed. You see Cuba — horrible place to live. You see Venezuela." Supporters counter that his ideas represent necessary and overdue change for a city where rent and cost of living have become crushing burdens.
One detail that came up repeatedly on the street: Mamdani's background. He's in his 30s, previously worked as a rapper, and his parents are reportedly millionaires. More than one voter pointed out what they see as a contradiction between his socialist messaging and his privileged upbringing.
What Are the Biggest Issues in the NYC Mayor Race?
No matter who people said they were voting for, a handful of core issues kept coming up again and again:
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NYU students debate taxing the rich and democratic socialism
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Housing and Rent
The cost of living in New York City dominated conversations at every stop. A law student at NYU put it plainly: "It's so expensive to live here, to even afford to eat." Mamdani's rent freeze proposal resonates strongly with younger voters and renters, though critics warn that rent control historically leads to reduced housing supply and deteriorating apartment quality. As one voter asked: "What if they freeze the rent to the point where the landlord can't afford to fix the washer?" The Mamdani supporter's response? "That's their problem."
Public Safety and the NYPD
The debate over policing split voters sharply along generational and ideological lines. Older voters and those from more conservative outer-borough communities were nearly unanimous in opposing any reduction in police funding. Younger, college-educated voters were more open to the idea — though even many Mamdani supporters drew the line at full defunding. "I don't think the police should have no funding, but I think there should be a lot less," said one NYU-area voter who had already cast her ballot for Mamdani.
Experience and Electability
A recurring theme among Cuomo voters was pragmatism over ideology. Several said they preferred Cuomo not because they loved him, but because they believed he had the best shot at defeating Mamdani. "I do like Sliwa, but I think Cuomo is the best bet to beat Mandani," one NYU student said. "I'll do whatever it takes."
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Bronx residents share deep skepticism about all three candidates
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Will Mamdani Win? What the Streets Are Saying
Polling suggests Mamdani is leading the race heading into Election Day on November 4th, and the street-level energy in progressive neighborhoods backs that up. Young voters, students, and residents in communities of color expressed genuine enthusiasm for his candidacy in a way that Cuomo and Sliwa supporters largely did not match.
That said, there are real signs of resistance. In the Financial District, among older voters, and across much of Staten Island, the opposition to Mamdani was visceral. One Bronx resident captured the ambivalence well: "They all have a history of betrayal and lies" — suggesting that voter apathy could be just as significant a factor as enthusiasm on Election Day.
One of the more colorful takes came from a voter who compared the race to a comedy sketch: "We could vote for the guy who gives everyone free houses and a Lamborghini, or vote for someone who burns down the city. That's why I'm voting Mamdani — I'm voting for the guy who gives me the Lamborghini." His self-awareness about the analogy being hyperbolic didn't make it any less memorable.
Why Is Curtis Sliwa Still in the Race?
We actually got to sit down with Curtis Sliwa himself at the Staten Island Ferry, and he did not hold back. When asked why he hasn't dropped out to avoid splitting the anti-Mamdani vote, Sliwa dropped a bombshell: "They bribed me $10 million to drop out."
He claims he refused on ethical and legal grounds, and alleges that threats were subsequently made against him and his wife — leading him to take on armed security for the first time since he was shot five times by Gambino crime family associates in 1992.
His pitch to voters is straightforward: he's a working-class New Yorker who rides the subway, takes the ferry, and understands the city's streets. "I'm the mass transit mayor," he told us. "Zohran Mamdani occasionally. Andrew Cuomo never — he's too busy up in the suites with his billionaire friends."
Among his supporters, the loyalty is fierce. One Staten Island voter told us her son had been shot and that Sliwa's real-life toughness resonated with her: "He's gritty. Mamdani is like... slow."
Do New Yorkers Actually Support Defunding the NYPD?
This was one of the most revealing questions we asked all day, and the answers were more nuanced than the political headlines suggest. Even among Mamdani voters, outright defunding of the NYPD was a tough sell.
When pressed, most people wanted reform rather than elimination. A common answer: redirect some police funding toward mental health responders and social workers for non-violent calls, while keeping officers available for actual crimes. "I'd rather have a social worker come to a domestic dispute," one voter said, "but I'd rather have a police officer if someone's robbing my house." Even he was voting for Mamdani.
The voters who most enthusiastically supported defunding the police were also, perhaps not surprisingly, the ones least likely to have called 911 recently. The voters who most strongly opposed it tended to be older, outer-borough residents who described witnessing crime firsthand in their daily lives.
What Do Young New Yorkers Think About Democratic Socialism?
At NYU, we found the most ideologically committed Mamdani supporters — and also the most revealing conversations about what "democratic socialism" actually means to the people voting for it.
One student, sipping a $10 matcha, argued passionately that the rich should pay more taxes — while acknowledging she herself pays none as a student. "I believe the rich have gotten away with way too much," she said. Another said he'd be happy to be taxed if he ever became wealthy, adding: "I'll make sure I give my money away so I always stay at least at a millionaire mark."
When asked for a favorite example of socialism that had worked, answers ranged from vague references to Bernie Sanders to — after some hesitation — Cuba. The intellectual confidence was high; the historical fluency, somewhat lower.
But beneath the talking points, there was something genuine: a generation that has grown up watching rent prices double, entry-level jobs stagnate, and the city they love become increasingly unaffordable. Whether Mamdani's proposals are the right answer is debatable. That the underlying frustration is real is not.
The Bottom Line: A City at a Crossroads
This NYC mayoral race is unlike anything the city has seen in decades. Whether Zohran Mamdani wins or loses, the fact that a democratic socialist is the frontrunner in the world's financial capital says something profound about where New York — and perhaps America — is heading. From the Wall Street trader who called his ideas "communist" to the Bronx teenager who just wants laws that help young Black New Yorkers, the city is speaking. The question is whether the candidates are listening.
Election Day is November 4th. New York City, the floor is yours.
