This piece first ran as part of The Countdown, our daily newsletter rounding up all the developments in the New York City mayor’s race. Sign up here to get it in your inbox. There are 50 days to the election.
🫂 Hochul endorses Mamdani
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Gov. Kathy Hochul endorsed Zohran Mamdani in a New York Times op-ed on Sunday, giving him a seal of establishment approval with 50 days down to the election.
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Hochul said they had “disagreements,” but cited months of conversations that gave her confidence in Mamdani. She said they shared a commitment to making New York City more affordable, and he agreed on her priorities of giving police “every resource to keep our streets and subways safe” and ensuring “strong leadership at the helm of the NYPD.”
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Hochul also said Mamdani had assured her of his commitment to Jewish New Yorkers. “We discussed the need to combat the rise of antisemitism urgently and unequivocally,” she said. “I’ve been glad to see him meet with Jewish leaders across the city, listening and addressing their concerns directly.”
🇮🇱 Mamdani sticks with Netanyahu arrest promise
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Mamdani doubled down on his vow to arrest Netanyahu in a New York Times interview on Friday.
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The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant against Netanyahu for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. The United States is not party to the treaty that created the ICC.
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NYC mayors oversee the NYPD but do not have arrest power. Any attempt by Mamdani to carry out the arrest would result in a clash with the Trump administration, which has hosted Netanyahu at the White House multiple times since the warrant was issued.
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Polling indicates that Mamdani’s strong stance against the Israeli government is popular among many New Yorkers. A New York Times/Siena survey last week found that voters favored his approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict over every other candidate’s by a wide margin. His opponents all identify as Israel supporters.
📺 Trump watch
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After weeks of weighing interventions to stop Mamdani from winning the race, Trump admitted on “Fox and Friends” that he was likely to see a Mayor Mamdani. “Maybe one-on-one somebody could beat him, and I’m not looking at the polls too carefully, but it would look like he’s going to win,” he said.
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Trump called Mamdani “my little communist mayor” and said his rise was a “rebellion against bad candidates.” He also suggested he would exert leverage over Mamdani, saying, “He has to come to Washington for money.”
⬛ Sliwa at Holocaust Memorial ceremony
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Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa went to the Holocaust Memorial Remembrance Day Ceremony in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Sheepshead Bay on Sunday.
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Along with paying tribute to victims of the Holocaust, Sliwa lamented that his three children did not learn about the Holocaust in school. “As mayor, I will mandate Holocaust education in the NYC public school curriculum so every student learns what happened,” he said.
👀 Adams watch
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Just a day after Adams’ campaign said it would conduct an internal poll to determine whether he’d stay in the race, Adams said the poll was just for “messaging,” according to Politico.
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But Jewish conservative radio host Sid Rosenberg thinks it’s just a question of “when” Adams drops out, and two sources told News12 that he’s likely to quit the race this week.
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