The 2025 New York City mayoral race won by Zohran Mamdani

On June 24, Mamdani, a 33-year-old assemblyman, was poised to win the primary and Cuomo conceded;^[16] he clinched it a week later.^[17] Trump called him a "100% Communist Lunatic"^[5] and threatened to have him arrested if he interfered with immigration enforcement.^[18] Cuomo stayed on the November ballot as an independent,^[19] and Adams pressed on with his own campaign.^[20] Mamdani drew criticism for comments about the phrase "globalize the intifada" in a meeting with business leaders,^[21] won the backing of the city's teachers union^[22] and in September of Hochul.^[23] A poll showed him with a wide lead over the split field.^[24]

Adams abandoned his campaign in late September^[4] and endorsed Cuomo in October.^[25] Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned that the federal government would not bail out the city under Mamdani,^[26] and on the eve of the vote Trump said he would likely block most federal funding to New York if Mamdani won.^[6] Mamdani defended his Muslim identity against what he called "racist and baseless" attacks,^[27] and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries endorsed him days before the election.^[28] On November 4, Mamdani won.^[1]

As mayor-elect he named transition leaders, among them the former Federal Trade Commission chair Lina Khan,^[2][29] and said the city's police commissioner would stay on.^[30] One appointee resigned over antisemitic social media posts from more than a decade earlier.^[31] Sanders and state Attorney General Letitia James swore him in, on a Quran.^[32][7] His meetings and clashes with Trump are followed in another arc.