The already bitter mayoral race exploded into open warfare as Democratic Socialist front-runner Zohran Mamdani released a blistering new attack ad attempting to link rival Andrew Cuomo to the late disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

In a 90-second, rapid-fire video tailored for social media, Mamdani looks directly into the camera and demands Cuomo release the full list of clients from his post-gubernatorial consulting firm, Innovative Strategies LLC. The assemblyman points to a New York Times report tying Cuomo to a luxury marina project in Puerto Rico alongside longtime friend Andrew Farkas � whose previous business partner was Epstein.

�In June, the New York Times found out that Cuomo worked with his longtime friend Andrew Farkas on a luxury marina project in Puerto Rico. Farkas� previous partner on Caribbean luxury marinas was none other than Jeffrey Epstein,� Mamdani says in the ad, which splices his narration with headlines about Cuomo�s past controversies.

The video opens with Mamdani reminding viewers that Cuomo �resigned in disgrace� � a reference to the misconduct allegations that forced the former governor from office � and then hammers him over the COVID-19 nursing home scandal, undisclosed stock options in a nuclear company, and consulting work for a Seychelles-based cryptocurrency exchange that later pleaded guilty to operating illegally in the U.S.

�Once you think you�ve learned all the scandals,� Mamdani says, �you find out there�s another. And another. And another.�

The attack comes just days after Cuomo accused Mamdani of hypocrisy for holding a rent-stabilized apartment in Astoria despite his family�s wealth, and proposed �Zohran�s Law� to bar affluent residents from securing such units.

Cuomo�s campaign dismissed the Epstein connection as �conspiracy peddling,� insisting the Puerto Rico marina project never moved forward and that Cuomo �didn�t know Epstein.�

�You can smell the desperation from conspiracy-peddling Zohran seeping through your screen,� said spokesman Richard Azzopardi, who blasted Mamdani as �a total fraud� and accused him of hiding behind �privilege� while failing to show up for his Assembly job.

Azzopardi also defended Cuomo�s handling of his stock disclosures, saying the matter was clarified with New York City�s Conflict of Interest Board the same day it was raised, and emphasized that none of Cuomo�s private clients had business before state or city agencies.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)