Real Estate

Zohran Mamdani poised to beat Cuomo in NYC mayoral primary

24 June 2025

In a stunning upset and crushing turn of events for real estate, socialist candidate Zohran Mamdani appears to have won the Democratic nomination to be the next mayor of New York City.

Unofficial results show Mamdani with a more than seven point lead over former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who conceded Tuesday night that the Assembly member had won. Tonight’s tally included the first round of ranked choice voting, the results of the following rounds should be completed by next week.

“Tonight was not our night. Tonight was Assemblyman Mamdani’s night,” he reportedly told a crowd gathered at the New York City District Council of Carpenters’ headquarters.

Mamdani’s lead is a blow to the real estate industry, which heavily favored Cuomo due to his moderate politics and the belief that he had the best chance of fending off a challenge from the far left. The Assembly member has called for a four-year rent freeze and tax hikes to pay for his affordable housing plan.

Because Mamdani didn’t secure more than 50 percent of the vote with those who listed him first on their ballot, the city’s Board of Elections will continue tabulating and redistributing votes from eliminated candidates. That calculation is set to happen July 1.

Much about Mamdani’s agenda rankled the industry. He pledged to freeze rents for stabilized tenants during his first term as mayor. Rent increases are decided by the city’s Rent Guidelines Board, but Mamdani has insisted that past administrations have demonstrated that mayors have considerable influence over board decisions.

He also said he would borrow $100 billion in debt ($30 billion more than the city already plans to borrow) over the next 10 years to help fund the construction of 200,000 units of housing. He plans to cover debt service by raising the corporate tax rate and adding a 2 percent income tax on those making more than $1 million a year. Such changes, along with an increase in the city’s debt limit, would require approval from the state.

Still, Mamdani also recently told the New York Times that he has changed his mind about “the role of the private market in housing construction,” recognizing the importance of making it easier to build housing throughout the city. He told TRD that the “private sector is critical to meeting the scale of the housing crisis.”

In the lead-up to the primary, polls suggested that the race had narrowed to a competition between Cuomo and Mamdani. A poll released Monday showed Mamdani beating Cuomo after eight rounds of ranked-choice voting tabulations, the first major poll to do so, according to the New York Daily News. A spokesperson for the former governor dismissed the results, telling the newspaper that the poll was an “outlier.” Previous polls showed Cuomo emerging as the winner.

Cuomo repeatedly insisted that the 33-year-old socialist didn’t have enough on-the-job experience to handle running New York City. Mamdani countered that Cuomo’s résumé included resigning in disgrace after being accused by multiple women, including former staffers, of sexual harassment.

The real estate industry poured money into supporting Cuomo, contributing more than $5.5 million to the super PAC Fix the City, which spent more than $13 million on ads supporting the former governor and another $7 million on ads attacking Mamdani, some of which called him “too radical” and a “dangerous choice for mayor.” The ads criticized Mamdani’s past calls to defund the police and his stance on Israel.

Cuomo began and ended his primary campaign at the headquarters of the New York City District Council of Carpenters in Manhattan. During a rally held at the Hudson Street building on Monday, he pointed to major infrastructure projects, not housing, completed while he was governor, such as the revamped LaGuardia Airport, as proof that ramping up housing construction in the city won’t be difficult for his administration.

“We need to get the rent down, because the rent is too darn high,” Cuomo said to the crowd at the livestreamed event. “The way you do that is by increasing the supply of affordable housing, by building more affordable housing.”

“Only for an incompetent government is it complicated and difficult,” he said.

Housing became a central issue of the mayoral race, with most of the candidates releasing their own plans to increase supply in the city. Lander, who cross-endorsed Mamdani, pitched building housing on four, city-owned golf courses and wanted to create a panel that would allow some projects to go through an expedited land use review process.

“Tenants from across the city mobilized to elect Mamdani and make sure the next mayor will prioritize tenants over real estate,” said Tenant Bloc’s Cea Weaver in a statement. “Tonight’s results send a clear message to landlord-backed politicians like Andrew Cuomo: your time is over.”

The Democratic nominee will face off against Mayor Eric Adams, who is running as an independent, Republican Curtis Sliwa and attorney Jim Walden, who is also running as an independent. Cuomo has intimated a possible run as an independent as well.

Council races

Real estate also saw many of its City Council candidates defeated. Three incumbents targeted by real estate-backed groups appear to have held onto their seats.

Unofficial results show Brooklyn Council members Alexa Avilés and Shahana Hanif received well over 50 percent of the vote in the first round of ranked-choice voting. Manhattan Council member Chris Marte had just under 50 percent.

The Real Estate Board of New York’s super PAC, Jobs for New York, targeted three City Council races this year, backing challengers against incumbents Marte and Avilés. The PAC also supported Shanel Thomas-Henry’s campaign to replace term-limited Council member Francisco Moya. She appeared in the lead of that race, but had yet to win more than 50 percent of the vote.

The PAC spent a little more than $85,000 on attack ads against Marte, including a website dubbed “Anyone but Marte.” The ads criticized Marte for not immediately firing an aide accused of calling a female reporter a sexist slur and other offensive terms.

Marte has opposed development in his district and was the only Council member from Manhattan who voted against the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity. The Adams administration this week announced a deal with Marte to abandon its plans for senior housing at the Elizabeth Street Garden in exchange for his support on three other projects.

Landlord group New York Apartment Association’s PAC, Housing for All, also paid for ads attacking Marte for failing to support City of Yes.

Pro-development group Open New York endorsed attorney Jess Coleman, who used Marte’s vote against City of Yes to announce his candidacy. REBNY’s PAC spent $3,400 on palm cards supporting Elizabeth Lewinsohn, which emphasize her public safety and affordable housing agenda and note her background working for the NYPD’s Counterterrorism Bureau.

REBNY’s PAC also spent more than $300,000 on an ad campaign supporting Ling Ye, who ran to unseat Avilés. The ads pointed to Ye’s focus on “subway safety, affordability, and providing supportive services to those most in need.”

In a recent interview with TRD, REBNY President Jim Whelan called Avilés a “textbook socialist” who regards real estate as the “bogeyman.”

Unofficial results showed Avilés with a more than 43 percentage point lead over Ye.

A PAC tied to real estate developer Ramon Maislen, dubbed Brooklyn Bridgebuilders, raised more than $69,000 and spent more than $33,000 on leaflets and ads opposing Brooklyn Council member Shahana Hanif, campaign finance filings show. Many of the PAC’s donors were real estate executives, including Donald Capoccia, Donald Zucker, Douglas Durst, Hal Fetner, Winston Fisher, Jeff Gural, Jeff Levine, David Lichtenstein, Joshua Muss and Jed Walentas. The PAC has focused on Hanif’s stance on Palestine and supported her opponent, Maya Kornberg.

Open New York’s PAC, Abundant New York, spent more than $80,000 on ads opposing Kornberg. The group endorsed Hanif, who reached a deal with the developer on the controversial Arrow Linen project, paving the way for 250 apartments.

“This win is about people power beating corporate power,” Hanif said in a statement Tuesday night.

A number of Council members are term-limited out, including Council member Keith Powers and City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams. NYAA’s PAC supported Adams’ chief of staff Tyrell Hankerson’s bid to replace her, as well as former Missouri legislator Rachel Storch’s run for Powers’ seat. He was in the lead, but did not receive more than 50 percent of the vote. Early results showed state Assembly member Harvey Epstein was in the lead for Council member Carlina Rivera’s Manhattan seat. A handful of real estate executives donated to former Congress member Anthony Weiner’s campaign.