With just weeks to go before New York City elects its next mayor, the city’s political landscape has erupted into a swirl of rallies, indictments, and fierce debate over the future of America’s largest metropolis. At the center of the storm: State Attorney General Letitia James, recently indicted on federal charges, and Zohran Mamdani, the democratic socialist who now leads the race to succeed Mayor Eric Adams.
On October 13, 2025, James made her first public appearance since her indictment, joining Mamdani at the “Our Time Has Come” rally in Washington Heights. According to Fox News, the event drew an estimated 3,000 supporters, all eager to show solidarity with James as she faces allegations of bank fraud and making false statements to financial institutions—charges announced by U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan just days earlier.
James, undeterred by the swirling legal drama, delivered a fiery speech. “I know what it feels like to be attacked for just doing your job,” she told the crowd. “I also know what it feels like to overcome adversity, and so I stand on solid rock, and I will not bow. I will not break. I will not bend. I will not capitulate. I will not give in. I will not give up.” The crowd responded with chants of “We Love Tish,” as reported by Newsday, underscoring the attorney general’s enduring popularity among New York’s progressive base.
This rally was not only a testament to James’s resilience but also a symbolic moment in her political career. As Newsday highlighted, the indictment—widely seen by local observers as politically motivated retaliation by President Donald Trump—has, if anything, boosted her standing among city Democrats. James herself dismissed the charges as “nothing more than a continuation of the president’s desperate weaponization of our justice system,” vowing to keep up her fight for justice and against what she called the “aggressive policies of Washington, D.C.”
James’s history with Trump is well known. As attorney general, she brought a civil fraud lawsuit against Trump and The Trump Organization, accusing them of inflating asset values to secure favorable loans and insurance terms. A New York judge found Trump and his company liable for fraud, though the original $515 million penalty was reduced on appeal in August 2025. Now, James faces her own legal battle, accused of fraudulently claiming a home in Norfolk, Virginia, as her second residence to obtain better loan terms—a charge she and her supporters say pales in comparison to her successful prosecution of Trump.
Joining James onstage, Mamdani offered a full-throated endorsement. “For years, you have fought the good fight for New Yorkers, and now it’s our time to fight for you,” he declared. Mamdani, a 33-year-old state assemblyman and self-described democratic socialist, has surged to the front of the mayoral race with a populist agenda that includes making city buses free, launching universal child care, and freezing rents for over 2 million tenants in rent-stabilized units. He has also pledged to fast-track the construction of 200,000 affordable homes over the next decade, as reported by The New York Times.
But Mamdani’s rise has not been without controversy. President Trump has labeled him a “communist” and threatened to cut federal funding to New York City if Mamdani is elected and doesn’t “behave.” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital, “Comrade Mamdani’s choice of guests is on par with his policy proposals: bad and deranged.” The president’s rhetoric has only intensified the city’s already polarized political climate, especially as he continues to target prominent Black women in public office, including James, with legal challenges and social media attacks—a pattern noted by Newsday.
The mayoral race itself has become a referendum on the city’s direction. Former Governor Andrew Cuomo, running as an Independent after losing the Democratic primary to Mamdani, is seeking to unite business leaders and moderate voters against Mamdani’s progressive platform. Cuomo, who resigned as governor in 2021 following sexual harassment allegations he denies, has called out the “weaponization and politicization of the justice system” in the wake of James’s indictment, stating, “It is wrong when Trump’s DOJ does it or when a Democrat does it, and it must be universally condemned.”
Cuomo’s own platform emphasizes increasing affordable housing—he promises to add 50,000 affordable homes in his first year and bring 25,000 rent-stabilized apartments back online. He also pledges tax reforms, including capping property taxes and eliminating income taxes for low-income residents. On public safety, Cuomo wants to rebuild the NYPD with 5,000 new officers and invest $100 million in youth jobs and workforce programs.
Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa, founder of the Guardian Angels and a perennial law-and-order candidate, is hammering the issue of violent crime. Sliwa wants to hire 7,000 more police officers, expand express bus service, and restore basic city services like sanitation. He argues that New York needs to “get back to basics,” warning that policies like congestion pricing are driving people and businesses away.
As the November 4 election approaches, the candidates have staked out starkly different visions for New York’s future. Mamdani’s campaign, buoyed by support from the Working Families Party and other progressive groups, promises sweeping changes to affordability, public transit, and child care. He has also vowed to protect New York’s status as a sanctuary city and to push back hard against Trump’s agenda. “We must send a clear, unflinching message to Donald Trump: His efforts to terrorize immigrants have no place in this city,” Mamdani said in a recent policy statement.
Cuomo, for his part, is pitching himself as the experienced hand who can deliver competent, effective government. “Real change comes from day-in, day-out execution: experienced leadership that can deliver change, managerial skill and knowledge that gets results,” he said, touting his record as governor and his ability to work across the aisle.
Sliwa, meanwhile, is betting that voters are most concerned about safety and the cost of living. “My job is to fight for New Yorkers, and that means working with any president, Republican or Democrat, to get results for this city,” he said. “If a president advanced a policy that hurt New Yorkers, I would oppose it loudly.”
With the city’s political establishment in flux and national politics casting a long shadow, the outcome of the 2025 mayoral election will likely reverberate far beyond the five boroughs. For now, New Yorkers are watching closely as their city stands at a crossroads, with the stakes—and the rhetoric—higher than ever.
When the votes are counted on November 4, one thing is certain: the next mayor will inherit a city grappling with old challenges and new ones, all while the eyes of the nation look on.
