The former governor picked up the most support from upper Manhattan and Jewish enclaves in Brooklyn.
NEW YORK — Brooklyn neighborhoods with large Jewish communities along with the Upper West and Upper East sides of Manhattan poured money into Andrew Cuomo’s mayoral warchest last month after the exodus of incumbent Eric Adams, an analysis of campaign contributions shows.
A POLITICO review of New York City Campaign Finance Board data found Cuomo received more than $375,000 from nearly 1,700 donors between Sept. 28 — the day Adams announced his exodus — and a deadline to disclose fundraising a day later.
The source of Cuomo’s surge in donations suggests many Jewish New Yorkers continue to oppose frontrunner Zohran Mamdani over his positions on Israel and the war in Gaza, even as Mamdani continues to lead the former governor by double digits two weeks out from Election Day.
The latest contribution data available shows the largest concentration of donors who gave to Cuomo are located in the ZIP code covering Gravesend in Brooklyn. More than 90 individual contributors there forked over cash to the Cuomo cause. A neighboring ZIP code covering much of Midwood was not far behind, with more than 80 individual contributors.
Those neighborhoods — which largely went for Cuomo during the Democratic primary — are home to a large concentration of Jewish New Yorkers presumably put off by Mamdani’s stance on the phrase “globalize the intifada,” his opposition to Israel’s existence as a Jewish state (he has said he would recognize Israel as a secular state) and his characterization of Israeli military action in Gaza as a genocide. Mamdani has walked back his stance on the phrase “globalize the intifada,” saying he now discourages its use. But he has doubled down on his genocide comments.
In addition, many voters from the area, along with nearby ZIP codes covering Brighton and Manhattan beaches and Sheepshead Bay, supported President Donald Trump in 2024 and hail from the former Soviet Union, a background that may make them wary of Mamdani’s brand of democratic socialism.
Politically active — and well-heeled — voters on the Upper West and Upper East sides were among those who supported Cuomo during the primary. And they opened their pocketbooks at the first sign of momentum last month.
Team Cuomo received nearly 200 contributions from three ZIP codes on the Upper East Side, home to some of the wealthiest New Yorkers who would be most impacted by Mamdani’s pledge to raise business and personal income taxes.
The campaign also received donations from 175 people living in two Upper West Side ZIP codes — an area that shares some of the same concerns as Jewish voters in Brooklyn.
“Some of my constituents are supporting Cuomo because they are concerned about antisemitism and how Mamdani is going to work with their community,” said City Council Member Gale Brewer, who represents the Upper West Side. “These people are Democrats who have supported progressive causes for their entire lives in many cases.”
Some late-to-the-game donors are also counting on Cuomo’s experience as a former governor, while others see him as the most similar of the candidates to the former mayor and his policies.
Joseph Shamie, a Brooklyn-based businessman, told POLITICO in an interview that he contributed $2,100 to Adams’ campaign and counted himself as a major supporter until the mayor dropped out. Since then, he’s donated $1,000 to Cuomo’s campaign, citing the former governor’s experience and what he described as Mamdani’s naivety.
“I hope that whoever our new mayor is will work as hard as Mayor Adams did to bring the city together — all aspects, all people — as one united New York,” Shamie said.
Shamie said he’s concerned about Mamdani’s relationship with the NYPD and his plans for sweeping policy changes.
“Drastic changes aren’t great,” he said. “I think many of his ideas could be good in the long run, but you’ve got to do things without upsetting everything that’s working.”
Mamdani did not receive a similar boost following Adams’ departure. But his campaign pointed to campaign finance data showing the Democratic nominee has raised money from a similar number of donors on the Upper West and Upper East sides compared to Cuomo over the course of the race. Spokesperson Dora Pekec added that Mamdani has been making inroads into the Jewish community since his Democratic primary win.
“A few new donors doesn’t change the equation: thousands of Jewish New Yorkers have found a home in Zohran’s movement for a more affordable city,” she said in a statement. “In the primary we have 50,000 donors with a median donation of $25, an army of 80,000 volunteers and genuine enthusiasm for our vision Andrew Cuomo could never reach.”
Cuomo’s monetary assistance came alongside two recent polls that boded well for the former governor. One found Cuomo picked up most of Adams’ supporters, while another survey released Monday showed him neck-and-neck with Mamdani if Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa were to drop out of the race. If Sliwa remains, however, he would pick up nearly 20 percent of the vote, the survey found.
Both polls omitted candidate names that will appear on the ballot, however, making them imprecise measures of voter sentiment. Another recent survey found Mamdani topping 50 percent after months of being stuck at around 45 percent.
But with just a few weeks left to try to close the gap with Mamdani, Cuomo’s campaign is nevertheless seizing on the cash infusion.
“We’re hitting our momentum at exactly the right time,” Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi said in a statement. “Make no mistake, this is a two-man race and we’re going to make sure everyone knows a vote for Curtis Sliwa is a vote for Mamdani.”