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The morning after the first mayoral debate of the general election, Andrew M. Cuomo said it would be nearly impossible to win if Curtis Sliwa did not drop out. Mr. Sliwa said he was not going anywhere.
Oct. 17, 2025, 1:06 p.m. ET
Former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo pleaded with Republicans on Friday to abandon Curtis Sliwa, their nominee for mayor, and said it would be “very, very, very hard mathematically” for him to mount a last-minute comeback as long as the Republican remained in the race.
Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat running on a third-party line, stopped just short of demanding Mr. Sliwa quit. But he called him “unqualified” and “a spoiler” whose continued presence in the race would only help elect Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee and front-runner.
“He cannot win,” Mr. Cuomo said, referring to Mr. Sliwa. “You vote for Curtis, save yourself the time, and vote for Mamdani. That’s what this is.”
The morning after Thursday night’s first general election debate, Mr. Cuomo took his case directly to WABC, the conservative talk radio station where Mr. Sliwa has long worked as a host.
The venue and timing of the call underscored the urgency of his position. With less than three weeks before Election Day, polls show Mr. Cuomo, 67, stuck in a distant second place and running out of opportunities to gain momentum.
On air with Sid Rosenberg, the host of WABC’s morning show and an ally of President Trump, Mr. Cuomo said Mr. Sliwa’s presence on the debate stage had been a distraction and made it harder for him to land all the blows he wanted against Mr. Mamdani. While Mr. Sliwa, 71, did criticize the front-runner, too, he directed some of his sharpest attacks at the former governor.
