In his path from obscurity to front-runner in the race for mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani has been propelled by raw political talent, an ambitious, progressive agenda and a diverse base of support.
But as Mr. Mamdani, the Democratic nominee, sprints toward Election Day on Tuesday, many New Yorkers are still struggling with a fundamental question about his candidacy: Is a 34-year-old state assemblyman who, until recently, managed a paid staff of only five, ready to lead the nation’s largest city?
From the congested streets of downtown Flushing to the brownstone blocks of Park Slope and across the five boroughs, interviews with more than 50 New York voters revealed neighborhoods, blocks and sometimes even households passionately divided over the answer.
To Mr. Mamdani’s most enthusiastic supporters, his age and youthful energy are as central to his appeal as the promise of free buses and a rent freeze, particularly at a time when Democrats are demanding generational change in the wake of former President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s failed re-election bid.
Yet interviews and public opinion polling suggest that a strikingly broad swath of voters — including plenty of Democrats and some of Mr. Mamdani’s own backers — still harbor reservations or outright worries about his ability to step into a role considered to be the second-hardest in American government, after the U.S. presidency.
“I’m not going to lie, I’m a bit nervous,” said Steven Ye, 21, after he voted for Mr. Mamdani in downtown Flushing in Queens. “He’s, like, really young. This is his first time doing something of this level. So it is definitely a bit nerve-racking.”
“He is not ready,” said Maria Fattore, a voice coach in Astoria, adding that she had “unhappily” switched her vote from Mr. Mamdani to former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo at the last moment. “I agree with the vision. I agree with the fact that your generation needs to be given the reins. But you need to have the ability.”
And in Battery Park City in Manhattan, Sue Ann Todhunter, a self-described “old hippie,” was inclined to support Mr. Mamdani, but admitted to some misgivings.
“I’m not sure that he has the experience to deal with what’s going on in this city, of all cities,” she said. “It’s a lot.”
The anxieties, paired with New Yorkers’ polarized views on Mr. Mamdani’s democratic socialism and far-left policy positions, have given hope to Mr. Cuomo, 67, as he tries to mount a late-stage third-party comeback after losing June’s Democratic primary.
Mr. Cuomo has made experience central to his ominous closing message, asserting that Mr. Mamdani could “kill New York City,” undermine its finances and be dangerously outmatched by President Trump.
But even if Mr. Mamdani prevails, as the polls suggest, Mr. Cuomo’s attack lines foreshadow what may be among the biggest challenges of being mayor: overseeing a city with a $112 billion budget, a 300,000-person work force and a population of eight million people as demanding as they are diverse.
A Quinnipiac University poll released in October found that close to half of New York City voters had doubts about his qualifications, even as he ran up a strong lead over his rivals otherwise.
Asked whether Mr. Mamdani had the right kind of experience to be mayor, just 39 percent said he did, while 47 percent said he did not. In contrast, 73 percent said Mr. Cuomo had “the right kind of experience” for the job. Twenty-four percent said the same of Curtis Sliwa, the Republican nominee who is polling in a distant third place.
The stakes are high. The next mayor will take control of a city contending with soaring living costs, a potential budget shortfall and threats by Mr. Trump to push immigration agents and national guardsman into America’s cities.
Mr. Trump has already threatened to withhold billions of dollars in federal funding from New York City if Mr. Mamdani is elected and enacts policies he doesn’t like. The president has called him “my little communist mayor.” (Mr. Mamdani is a democratic socialist.)
To be fair, there may be no perfect preparation to lead New York City, and the office of mayor is frequently won not on the strength of a résumé but on ideas. Still, virtually all of Mr. Mamdani’s modern-day predecessors have arrived with meaningfully more professional, political and life experience.
Mr. Mamdani, the son of a renowned filmmaker and an academic, has been a backbench lawmaker in the State Assembly for less than five years. His first and only full-time job outside of politics involved counseling struggling homeowners at a small nonprofit in Queens for about a year.
If he wins, he would be the youngest mayor of New York City since 1917, moving into Gracie Mansion at an age when many of his peers are starting their first middle-management jobs.
Mr. Mamdani has not shied from the issue. He offers the massive campaign apparatus as an example of his managerial prowess and has spent recent months assuring top civic and business leaders that he would surround himself with seasoned experts in City Hall.
He has pledged to ask Jessica Tisch, the well-respected police commissioner, to stay on if he wins. And Gov. Kathy Hochul, who endorsed him in September, has assumed an unusually active posture, saying she will help him find a “very seasoned team to help manage a wildly complicated city.”
Many of the voters interviewed said they were confident in Mr. Mamdani’s instincts, and believed he would surround himself with a knowledgeable team.
“Zohran has shown that he might not have this sort of administrative experience, but he definitely has experience in communication and in, like, reaching the people in a way that really touches them and matters,” said Michael Perez, 25, who voted for Mr. Mamdani, on the Upper West Side.
Mr. Cuomo is in a very different position. The scion of a fabled New York political family, he is a former federal housing secretary and was a three-term governor until he resigned in disgrace in 2021 amid accusations of sexual harassment. He has denied wrongdoing. If elected he would be the oldest first-term mayor in the city’s history.
Mr. Mamdani and his supporters have endeavored to turn Mr. Cuomo’s record in office, a clear selling point with some voters, into a cudgel.
“What I don’t have in experience I make up for in integrity, and what you don’t have in integrity you could never make up for in experience,” Mr. Mamdani told Mr. Cuomo during one of the race’s final debates.
In interviews at polling places this week, New Yorkers said they were motivated by issues both far-reaching (Mr. Mamdani’s proposed rent freeze, rising crime, Mr. Trump) and deeply personal (one Brownsville man said that Mr. Cuomo had granted him clemency while governor). Many cited Mr. Mamdani’s promises of free buses or his democratic socialism.
But across ages, races and political parties, many said they were deliberating over résumés and age, as well. In some cases, members of the same household had come to opposite conclusions.
“I do not think that Mamdani is at all qualified to be mayor,” said Joey Tuck, 35, of liberal Park Slope, who voted for Mr. Cuomo. Mr. Mamdani’s résumé “is very lacking to be in such a position that’s more powerful than the governor of most states,” he added.
Mr. Tuck’s wife, Katelyn Krueger, 40, sharply disagreed.
“We’ve had a lot of older mayors that didn’t seem qualified,” said Ms. Krueger, a Mamdani voter. “He’s got a lot of relevant experience, and he can learn as he goes.”
Two boroughs away, at Co-op City in the Bronx, Madeline and Michael Williams, both 60, were having a similar discussion.
“One is tried and tested, and the other one is green,” said Mr. Williams, a Cuomo voter.
Ms. Williams, a Mamdani supporter, said she thought Mr. Cuomo was too aligned with Mr. Trump, who had reportedly weighed trying to boost his campaign.
“I would’ve voted for Cuomo if you’d have asked me a few years ago,” she said. “Now, I just feel he’s compromised. I think he’s a Trump puppet.”
Mr. Mamdani’s supporters were not exempt from the debate.
“Experience means nothing, and I’m saying that as one with a lot of experience,” said Jean Webb, 71, a paralegal from Kew Gardens Hills in Queens who shifted from supporting Mr. Cuomo in the primary to voting for Mr. Mamdani.
“I like his courage,” said Ms. Webb, an immigrant from Jamaica who said she is worried about how the next generation will be able to afford to live in the city.
At the other end of Queens, Andrew Harris, 43, called Mr. Mamdani “a man of integrity” after he cast his ballot at the assemblyman’s own polling place, at the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria.
But, as a former city employee, Mr. Harris said he would be holding his breath if Mr. Mamdani succeeds on Tuesday.
“It’s quite an undertaking,” he said. “And in the grand scheme of life, he’s still pretty young for such a steep responsibility.”
Molly Longman, Olivia Bensimon and Sarah Goodman contributed reporting.
Nicholas Fandos is a Times reporter covering New York politics and government.
Katie Glueck is a Times national political reporter.
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