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)