NYC mayoral election 2025 highlights: Mamdani vs Cuomo battle nears climax, polls to close at 9 pm ET

US President Donald Trump on Monday urged New Yorkers to vote for Cuomo and threatened to withhold federal funds if Mamdani wins, saying the city would become a “complete and total economic and social disaster.”

A record number of voters cast ballots in the New York City mayor's race on Tuesday. According to the city's Board of Elections, nearly 1.75 million voters had cast ballots as of 6 pm, marking the biggest turnout in a New York mayoral race in at least 30 years.

NYC Mayoral Election 2025 Live: At the center of the high-stakes race is a heated showdown between Democrat Zohran Mamdani, a 34-year-old Queens state lawmaker and self-described democratic socialist, and former Governor Andrew Cuomo, who lost the Democratic primary to Mamdani but is now running as an independent.

Republican Curtis Sliwa, known for his tough-on-crime stance, trails in third.

Polls across NYC's five boroughs (Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island) opened from 6 am till 9 pm ET.

All voters in line by 9 pm will be allowed to cast ballots, even if processing extends beyond closing.

Over 1,748,600 ballots cast by 6 pm (local time) on Tuesday.

New Yorkers headed to the polls in record numbers, with 1,748,698 ballots cast by 6 pm (local time) on Tuesday, according to the city's Board of Elections, cited in a Bloomberg report.

That figure includes roughly 7,35,000 votes submitted during the early voting period.

NYC Mayoral Election 2025 Live Updates: According to CNN's preliminary exit polls, nearly 90% of Mamdani’s supporters say their vote is to support him, rather than to oppose his rivals. Similarly, Sliwa’s voters also see their ballot as a statement of support. However, in contrast, Cuomo’s voters are closely split between voting to support him and voting to oppose the other candidates.

NYC Mayoral Election 2025 Live Updates: Millions of Americans are casting their ballots today, November 4, 2025, as voters in New York City, New Jersey, and Virginia head to the polls to decide crucial contests, including the New York City mayoral race and gubernatorial elections in both states. Polling stations in New York City opened at 6:00 a.m. ET and will remain open until 9:00 p.m. ET.

Early voting concluded on November 2, marking today as the final opportunity for in-person voting.

NYC Mayoral Election 2025 Live Updates: Talking about Trump, he said that there are many things that he will say and do that will not actually impact the results. “I will treat his threats as they deserve to be treated, which are the words of a president and not necessarily the law of the land. ”

He further said that it is time that New York City have a mayor who stands up for New Yorkers each and every day.

NYC Mayoral Election 2025 Live Updates: White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, in a press briefing on Tuesday, called the allegation by Zohran Mamdani of voter intimidation baseless. Leavitt was asked about Mamdani's comments blaming Trump for bomb threats and intimidation at polling locations.

Stating that she saw the comments, Leavitt said, "I think they are completely irresponsible and they are based on zero evidence." She also called this an example of how the Democrat party stands for nothing.

NYC Mayoral Election 2025 Live Updates: After voting in the New York mayoral elections, Senator Chuck Schumer, in a news conference, did not reveal who he voted for in the mayor’s race, the New York Times reported. “I voted and I look forward to working with the next mayor,” he said.

NYC Mayoral Election 2025 Live Updates: New Yorkers heading to the polls told Reuters that safety, affordability and the city’s future are shaping their vote as Zohran Mamdani faces off against Andrew Cuomo for mayor.

NYC Mayoral Election 2025 Live Updates: Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday rejected claims that President Donald Trump supports his campaign, CNN reported. While talking to reporters in the morning, Cuomo said, “The president does not support me. The president opposes Zohran Mamdani."

He claimed that Trump believes that Mamdani is a communist and an "existential threat.”

NYC Mayoral Election 2025 Live Updates: In the ongoing New York mayor elections, more than 1 million New Yorkers have cast their ballots as of noon today, CNN reported, citing the New York City Board of Elections.

The number includes more than 735,000 voter check-ins during the early voting period last week, which marked a record turnout for a non-presidential election in New York City.

NYC Mayoral Election 2025 Live Updates: New York City's mayoral race, Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani told reporters that if he was elected, he would not be intimidated by US President Trump's threats to cut federal funding

NYC Mayoral Election 2025 Live Updates: In a post on X, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has raised concerns about the layout of the ballot in New York City.

"The New York City ballot form is a scam!

- No ID is required

- Other mayoral candidates appear twice

- Cuomo’s name is last in bottom right" he wrote on X.

NYC Mayoral Election 2025 Live Updates: Curtis Sliwa arrived at Christopher Columbus High School in the Pelham Parkway neighbourhood of Bronx and spoke to poll workers, the NYT is reporting.

Sliwa had cast his ballot earlier during early voting.

NYC Mayoral Election 2025 Live Updates: Andrew Cuomo cast his vote at a polling station on East 56th Street.

“Who are you voting for?” a fellow voter asked when Cuomo was filling out his ballot. “I’m still deciding,” Cuomo replied jokingly, according to The New York Times.

NYC Mayoral Election 2025 Live Updates: Speaking to reporters after casting his ballot, Zohran Mamdani said: “We are on the brink of making history in our city, on the brink of saying goodbye to politics of the past.”

NYC Mayoral Election 2025 Live Updates: US President Donald Trump has called upon the Jews in New York Jews to not vote for Zohran Mamdani.

“Any Jewish person that votes for Zohran Mamdani, a proven and self professed JEW HATER, is a stupid person!!!” Trump wrote on Zohran Mamdani.

NYC Mayoral Election 2025 Live Updates: The New York City Board of Elections is expecting “a significant turnout today, in addition to the significant record-breaking early voting,” BOE President Fred Umane tells CNN.

NYC Mayoral Election 2025 Live Updates: The new mayor of New York City will take office on January 1, 2026.

NYC Mayoral Election 2025 Live Updates: Democrat Zohran Mamdani and his wife, Rama Duwaji, cast their vote at a high school in Astoria, Queens.

NYC Mayoral Election 2025 Live Updates: On Trump’s endorsement of Cuomo, Mamdani said: “We've known since the Primary that Andrew Cuomo was funded by the same billionaires that gave us Donald Trump's second term... even just until these final days, (Cuomo) denied that he was Donald Trump's preferred candidate.

“But now it's written out for the entire world to see. This is the man that Donald Trump wants to be the next mayor of New York City, and not because he'll be good for New Yorkers but because he'll be good for Donald Trump and New Yorkers are exhausted of this agenda in Washington. They don't want to see a mimic of it come here to City Hall.”

NYC Mayoral Election 2025 Live Updates: Opinion polls suggest Democrat Zohran Mamdani is ahead of Cuomo, who is running as an Independent. The Republican candidate, Curtis Sliwa, trails in third.

NYC Mayoral Election 2025 Live Updates: US President Donald Trump has threatened to cut federal funding for New York City if Zohran Mamdani wins. He has also called upon his supporters to vote for Andrew Cuomo instead.

"If Communist Candidate Zohran Mamdani wins the Election for Mayor of New York City, it is highly unlikely that I will be contributing Federal Funds, other than the very minimum as required, to my beloved first home," Trump wrote on social media.