Rival Calls Cuomo A ‘sociopath;’ Ex-gov Attacks Mamdani’s ‘defund’ Rhetoric In Final Weekend Of Nyc Mayor’s Race

NEW YORK — New York City mayoral candidate Brad Lander urged Democrats not to elect “sociopathic” Andrew Cuomo. Hours later, the ex-governor slammed leading rival Zohran Mamdani for his past calls to defund the police. And Mamdani, on the defense from relentless attack ads, campaigned by walking the length of Manhattan on Friday night.

While nearly 350,000 New Yorkers have already cast ballots, attacks flew on the final weekend of campaigning before Tuesday's Democratic primary.

Cuomo leads nearly every poll, but Mamdani has been keeping the race competitive and is closing out the campaign with high energy among his supporters. Lander, feeling upbeat after a headline-grabbing week despite his third-place status, aimed his fire at Cuomo on Saturday.

Lander stood beside Cuomo accuser Charlotte Bennett, whom the former governor sued for defamation, as he recounted how Cuomo apologized to the women who accused him of sexual harassment in 2021, before resigning, but now denies any wrongdoing. “I don't have a license to practice psychology, but I believe that utter inability to take accountability or responsibility for one's actions is a sign of sociopathy,” Lander said.

“The Democratic Party should not elect sociopaths. It's a bad idea,” he added.

Cuomo brushed off Lander’s comment.

“Does anyone really care what he says?” he said at his own press conference Saturday. “I said to the extent I offended anyone it was unintentional, and I didn't mean it, and I apologize. But that was (a) generic (apology) — to the extent I offended anyone.”

Cuomo may dismiss Lander — “goodbye and good riddance to the saddest, rudderless, least effective money burning operation we have ever seen,” Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi responded — but his supporters’ lower-ranked picks could prove decisive in a primary determined through ranked-choice voting. Polling has shown that Cuomo receives a portion of Lander’s redistributed votes when he is removed from the running, even as he’s relentlessly attacked the former governor for months.

Lander, the city comptroller, brought together Bennett and other former Cuomo employees who accused him of sexual harassment, a man whose father died in a nursing home during Covid, and state legislators and union leaders who battled with him in Albany.

Former Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who resigned amid his own sexual abuse scandal, even showed up and chatted briefly with Lander before the press conference on the vote-rich Upper West Side of Manhattan. Lander’s aides said he had not been invited.

“I love this city and I want to help solve its problems,” Lander said. “So far as I can tell, Andrew Cuomo despises this city and wants to try to redeem himself by pounding his fist.”

Hours later, Cuomo appeared in the South Bronx alongside Leandra Feliz, the mother of Lesandro “Junior” Guzman-Feliz who was murdered by gang members in 2018, to receive her endorsement. But a press conference to tout his plan to add 5,000 cops to the NYPD turned into an attack on Mamdani’s calls to “defund the police,” with his 2020 tweets plastered on posters behind the speakers.

Cuomo read Mamdani’s words from a 2020 X post, amid the Black Lives Matter protests following the death of George Floyd: “We don't need an investigation to know that the NYPD is racist, anti-queer & a major threat to public safety. What we need is to #DefundTheNYPD.”

“How are you going to get a police force to work for you?” Cuomo asked. “To say those things is reckless and irresponsible, especially at a time when public safety is a major issue in this city.”

Polls show New Yorkers generally rank affordability as a top concern, followed by public safety.

Asked for his closing argument, Cuomo contrasted his years in office with the 33-year-old Mamdani’s record. “Experience matters. Knowledge matters. Accomplishments matter,” he said. “(Mamdani) said the job is to be a messenger. That's why you have a press secretary. The mayor is not a messenger.”

Cuomo also campaigned Saturday at a street fair in the South Bronx, taking a photo with former state Sen. Rubén Díaz Sr., a prominent Trump supporter who opposes same sex marriage. He received cheers and a warm reception in a neighborhood that’s supported him before, according to video shared by his campaign.

Later, he rode on the back of a flatbed truck through southern Brooklyn with endorsers including City Council Member Susan Zhuang.

Mamdani started his day Saturday at Al Sharpton’s National Action Network in Harlem, with fellow mayoral candidates Lander, Adrienne Adams, Zellnor Myrie and Michael Blake. Mamdani charmed the influential civil rights leader by quoting Sharpton during his 2004 presidential run saying that some forces in the Democratic Party want progressives and people of color “to voluntarily turn into invisible people” in the name of electability.

“To quote Sharpton in front of Sharpton,” Sharpton joked. “That was a chess move there.”

“Zohran, you quoted him, but I marched with him,” Adams shot back, emphasizing her long history with Sharpton.

Despite the positive reception he gets on the trail — including people asking for selfies Saturday in his home borough of Queens — Mamdani has been the target of $7 million worth of reported spending on attack ads from a pro-Cuomo super PAC. The TV spots and mailers, dub him “too radical” and “dangerous” for his inexperience, his criticism of Israel and his socialist politics.

Friday evening, after riding Citi Bikes with Lander, Mamdani walked the length of Manhattan, a more than 13-mile journey he finished after 2 a.m.

Passing through Times Square, Mamdani threw up his hands while dozens of supporters following along booed when a digital billboard from political betting site Kalshi showed he had a 23 percent chance of winning the race, to Cuomo’s 77 percent. “Gambling is haram,” he joked — forbidden by Islamic law.

“There were many who doubted whether we could even get 46,000 votes,” he said, reflecting on the surprising strength of his campaign. “We now have 46,000 volunteers.”

Emily Ngo contributed reporting.