Radical socialist Zohran Mamdani’s once-dominant lead in the New York City mayoral race has collapsed to just 6.6 points, according to a new AtlasIntel poll that has stunned political insiders and energized the comeback bid of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

The survey, released Saturday, shows Mamdani holding 40.6% support among likely voters, while Cuomo — a registered Democrat running as an independent — has climbed to 34%. Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa sits at 24.1%, marking his strongest showing yet. The poll carries a margin of error of three percentage points, putting the race on the cusp of a statistical dead heat just days before Tuesday’s election.

“The gap is closing fast — we can feel it on the ground everywhere from the Bronx to Staten Island,” Cuomo told supporters. “At this rate, we win the race. Keep going strong.”

Speaking later in Brownsville, Brooklyn, Cuomo blasted Mamdani’s “fantasy campaign promises,” including free bus service and city-run grocery stores — ideas, he argued, that a New York City mayor has no power to implement.

“In the primary, Zohran got away with a TikTok band, a smile, and slogans like ‘freeze the rent,’ ‘free buses,’ and ‘free food,’” Cuomo said. “What’s happened since is that people found out what he’s really about — and there is no free food, no free buses, and no way to raise corporate taxes statewide and give them to New York City. That can’t happen.”

Far-Left Platform Under Fire

Mamdani, a state assemblyman from Queens and self-described democratic socialist, has built his campaign around a hard-left agenda that includes sweeping rent freezes, fare-free public transit, and municipal food programs. His critics — including Cuomo and centrist Democrats — have cast him as dangerously naïve, while Jewish groups have condemned his anti-Israel rhetoric.

Andrei Roman, CEO of Brazil-based AtlasIntel, said Cuomo’s political baggage as governor may still weigh him down, but Mamdani’s ideology is increasingly turning off voters.
“From not being inspirational to being really hated and terrifying people — that’s a major difference,” Roman said. “Cuomo’s best shot is to mobilize an anti-Mamdani vote among moderate Democrats, independents, and even some Republicans who view Mamdani as too extreme.”

Sliwa’s Rise Complicates the Math

The new numbers also show Sliwa, founder of the Guardian Angels, reaching his highest support level since July. His growing base — concentrated in outer-borough neighborhoods and among law-and-order voters — could prove decisive in a three-way contest.

Pollsters note that if Sliwa were to drop out, Cuomo would lead Mamdani head-to-head by a commanding 50% to 42%. But Sliwa, campaigning in costume on Halloween, has vowed to stay in the race, insisting voters deserve “a real alternative” to both Democrats.

Momentum Shift in Final Days

The AtlasIntel poll stands in sharp contrast to surveys earlier in the week. A Fox News poll released Thursday had Mamdani up by 16 points, while an Emerson College poll put him ahead by 25. RealClearPolitics’ polling average still shows Mamdani leading by 14.5 points — but the Atlas data suggest the race may be shifting dramatically in the final stretch.

For Cuomo, the late surge is validation of his relentless campaign across every borough and a growing sense among Democrats that Mamdani’s far-left message may be too risky for City Hall.

Mamdani, meanwhile, brushed off the tightening race while speaking at Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network in Harlem. “I’m not worried at all,” he said. “I continue to be confident — but I never let that confidence become complacency.”

With nearly half a million New Yorkers having already cast early ballots, both campaigns are mounting all-out efforts to sway the remaining undecided voters before polls open Tuesday.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)