Former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s last-ditch effort to stop Zohran Mamdani from becoming mayor of New York City got an expensive boost in the run-up to Thursday’s debate from a pair of billionaires with close ties to President Trump.
Joe Gebbia, a co-founder of Airbnb who serves as the Trump administration’s chief design officer, gave $1 million each to Fix the City and Defend NYC, two super PACs trying to stop Mr. Mamdani, the Democratic nominee.
Bill Ackman, an investor and supporter of President Trump, wired $1 million to Defend NYC and another $250,000 to Fix the City, according to state records.
The donations are among the largest yet recorded in the mayor’s race and suggested that at least some donors still believe Mr. Cuomo has a shot. After losing the Democratic primary in June, he has carried on his campaign as an independent and trails Mr. Mamdani by double digits in most polls.
Many wealthy business leaders have balked at the prospect of Mr. Mamdani, a democratic socialist who ran on raising taxes on the wealthy, in City Hall. But after promising to finance a flood of attacks, few have actually stepped forward to spend six- and seven-figure sums with Mr. Cuomo so far behind.
The groups appear to be poised to use the money on direct outreach to voters they believe could be persuaded to turn out for Mr. Cuomo.
Fix the City was the largest single outside player in the primary, spending more than $20 million mostly on TV ads boosting Mr. Cuomo and attacking Mr. Mamdani. Since the primary, though, the group has retooled to focus on paid canvassers to knock on doors and digital ads.
A spokeswoman for Fix the City declined to comment.
Defend NYC is a newer group founded by Jason Meister, a former adviser to Mr. Trump’s campaign. Mr. Meister told The New York Post that Jan. 6 should be a national holiday, Patriot’s Day, “to honor these American heroes who risked their lives, freedom and honor to protest what they perceived to be a stolen election.”
Mr. Meister did not immediately respond to a request for comment. His group reported on Thursday spending $500,000 on “calls and texting.”
Mr. Mamdani, whose campaign has benefited from far less outside spending, has spent months blasting Mr. Cuomo and the donors supporting him for trying to buy the election. He has also repeatedly pointed out that many of those donors are also supporters of Mr. Trump, a Republican who is overwhelmingly unpopular in New York City.
“On the debate stage tonight, Andrew Cuomo will lie and say he’s fighting for New Yorkers but the money doesn’t lie — he’s bought and paid for,” said Dora Pekec, a spokeswoman for Mr. Mamdani.
Mr. Cuomo has played down the outside spending, saying none of it would influence how he would govern.
Mr. Ackman had already been among the biggest spenders in the mayor’s race and has actively critiqued Mr. Mamdani on X. He has called him a “socialist/communist” whose “anti-N.Y.P.D. policies would be catastrophic for N.Y.C.” and objected to his criticism of Israel.
After Mr. Mamdani made light of his donation on X earlier on Thursday, Mr. Ackman responded by proposing that he and Mr. Mamdani have a direct conversation that would be streamed to the public. (The candidate did not respond.)
Mr. Gebbia, a former Democratic donor, is close friends with Elon Musk and joined the Department of Government Efficiency earlier this year to focus on the government retirement system. Mr. Trump named him to his current design role in August with a mandate to beautify the government’s online presence.
Mr. Trump has made his extreme dislike for Mr. Mamdani clear and threatened to cut off federal funding if he is elected. But after his advisers discussed how they might intervene to sway the race, he has largely limited his involvement to public comments, including ones suggesting Mr. Cuomo — rather than the Republican Curtis Sliwa — was best positioned to beat Mr. Mamdani.
Nicholas Fandos is a Times reporter covering New York politics and government.
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