Mamdani Wins as Brooklynites Turn Out to Polls in Record Numbers

by Meaghan McGoldrick O’Neil, Kirstyn Brendlen, Gabriele Holtermann, and Olivia Seaman, Brooklyn Paper

The hotly contested race for New York City mayor was called for Zohran Mamdani Tuesday night by AP with 50.4 percent of the vote. The election had a historic turnout, with more than 2 million votes cast — the highest number in a mayoral election since 1969.

Andrew Cuomo came in second with 41.6 percent of the vote and, despite immense pressure to drop out, Curtis Sliwa came in third with 7.1 percent.

All five ballot proposals won, Jumaane Williams clinched Brooklyn borough president, and Mark Levine will be comptroller. With a few exceptions, incumbents won the City Council contests, the Board of Elections reported.

Mamdani will take office as mayor on New Year’s Day, succeeding Eric Adams.

As Election Day got under way in Brooklyn, hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers were expected to head to more than 14,000 polling sites to cast their ballots, capping off a strong showing during the early voting period.

A record-breaking number of New Yorkers turned out over nine days of early voting, with Brooklyn once again leading the city in participation. According to the Board of Elections, 732,866 people voted early across the five boroughs — the highest total in a non-presidential election year since early voting began in 2019. Brooklyn topped the list with 243,737 early votes cast between October 25 and November 3 — nearly 100,000 more than during June’s primary — followed by Manhattan, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island.

The NYC Board of Elections reported as of noon Tuesday that more than 1.1 million had cast ballots in the race.

Brooklyn voters played a pivotal role in shaping the outcome of the 2025 New York City mayoral race. Alongside the mayoral contest, the borough hosted several closely watched local races — including the Brooklyn borough president race, where incumbent Antonio Reynoso faced a Republican challenger, and a slate of competitive City Council matchups, such as the fierce District 47 battle between Republican George Sarantopoulos and Democrat Kayla Santosuosso for the seat soon to be vacated by Council Member Justin Brannan.

Santosuosso won with 59.31 percent of the vote, vs. Sarantopoulos with 40.47 percent.

Workers at polling sites across the borough reported a steady turnout throughout the morning, with relatively short wait times but a continuous flow of people casting their ballots.

‘A lot of hope’

Polling sites P.S. 321 and M.S. 51 in Park Slope saw a steady flow of voters Tuesday morning.

Brenna and Grace (last names withheld) cast their ballots at P.S. 321 and said they supported Mamdani, whom they believe will bring new leadership and fresh ideas.

Brenna told Brooklyn Paper that she voted this election cycle with “a lot of hope.”

“I don’t know if Zohran is going to be able to complete all of his goals, but I love the idea of shooting for the stars and ending up in outer space,” Brenna said.

Grace said she voted for Mamdani, a 34-year-old Democratic socialist, because she was looking for a fresh perspective on leadership.

“I think that [Zohran Mamdani] is our guy,” Grace said. “We need new blood in our offices, representing our people. We see the same tired faces all the time. We are the same age as [Mamdani], and we have this new, excited person who has ideas. Like Brenna said, they might be over the top, but I think we can land somewhere in the middle, and I think we’re really excited to just start fresh.”

When asked about President Trump and Elon Musk’s apparent endorsement of Cuomo (which the former gov has rejected), Brenna said, “That was really the nail in the coffin for why you shouldn’t vote for Cuomo, to be honest. That was the last screenshot I sent to my parents. ‘Oh, you want to vote for the guy that these guys like?’”

“I think even if they’re not exactly politically aligned, it says a lot that [Cuomo] got that endorsement,” Grace added.

Voter Stiliani Moulinos said she hoped Mamdani would end contract nepotism at City Hall if he won.

“There are certain companies that are given contracts, and I think the nepotism needs to be corrected. And if Mamdani does win, which it looks very likely that he will, I hope he can really stick to his guns, and I really hope that he takes [Comptroller and former mayoral candidate] Brad Lander as part of his crew,” Moulinos said, adding that she planned to watch the election results from home.

“[But] if it’s a nice night, there’s going to be a lot of celebrations, I assume, in the streets. If I hear people celebrating, I’ll join,” she said.

Hannah Johnson and Sam Ballantyne told Brooklyn Paper that their main concerns this election cycle were housing affordability and quality of life.

“Rent has gotten very expensive in New York City, and wages have not kept up,” Johnson said. “So that’s something that I think we were thinking about, both in the primary and now.”

Ballantyne said he hoped to see more bike lanes and trash bins.

“Containerized trash pickup is really great [and] better enforcement for illegal vehicles,” he said.

When asked about the record early voting turnout, Johnson shared a moment from Halloween in Park Slope, when she noticed a large SUV being swarmed by trick-or-treaters.

“We went up to see what was going on, and it was Zohran. That gave me an indication that this is a really different election than we’ve had in the past,” she said.

Across the city, Brooklyn native-turned-Manhattanite Kim Petro said she cast her early ballot for Sliwa. Petro was out campaigning Tuesday with her dog Cindy Mindy, known on Instagram as Cindy Mindy in the City.

“We love animals and he’s been around the longest, so he deserves it,” Petro said of Sliwa, a longtime animal rights activist. “He never bailed on us.”

The fourth-generation New Yorker said the other candidates in the race are not “qualified to help anybody in the city.” She added that she is interested in running for office herself and would focus on providing food benefits to New Yorkers in need.

Pols at the polls

Politicians on and off the ballot turned out at polling sites across the city Tuesday to cast their votes and rally support. Former Mayor Bill de Blasio was among them, casting his ballot in Park Slope while wearing a “Hot Girls for Zohran” T-shirt.

One of the happiest votes I ever cast!
What a beautiful day for NYC!☀️
⁦@ZohranKMamdani⁩ ⁦@HotGirls4Zohran⁩ pic.twitter.com/l0XGr1z2IB

— Bill de Blasio (@BilldeBlasio) November 4, 2025

Republican and Conservative candidate for Brooklyn borough president Janine Acquafredda wrote on Facebook Tuesday that by 2 p.m. she had already made campaign stops in Sheepshead Bay, Dyker Heights, Bensonhurst, Fort Greene, and Prospect Heights. Her opponent, incumbent Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, was seen Monday evening canvassing for Mamdani.

Leaders of the New York Working Families Party made appearances across the city Tuesday alongside elected officials and candidates to encourage voter turnout.

In Brooklyn, NYWFP Co-Director Ana Maria Archila joined Comptroller Lander at the Prospect Park YMCA in Park Slope early in the morning, and later teamed up with Attorney General Tish James at Herbert Von King Park in Bed Stuy. WFP National Director Maurice Mitchell was in Bay Ridge with Council Member Crystal Hudson and City Council candidate Santosuosso.

Santasuosso’s opponent, Sarantopoulos, was also seen walking the neighborhood, “reminding voters that common sense is on the ballot,” according to a post on X.

Tuesday afternoon, Lander — who lost to Mamdani in the June Democratic primary — gathered outside M.S. 51 in Park Slope with Council Member Shahana Hanif and Jasmine Gripper, co-director of the New York State Working Families Party.

The former Park Slope pol told Brooklyn Paper that President Trump’s comments on Cuomo “tell you everything you need to know.”

“The stakes of this election are high, and the chance we have to not just have a city we can afford, but a country that’s a democracy is on the line today,” he said, calling Mamdani a “ray of inspiration and energy” during dark times and crediting him with motivating New York residents, particularly young people, to head to the polls.

Hanif told Brooklyn Paper that she felt excited and hopeful about ushering in a new era of politics centered on working families and working people. She said she was looking forward to working with a mayor who understood their concerns, which she called the “best possible outcome.”

“We want to see a government that cares about us and that recognizes what actually needs to change,” she said.

Affordability and skepticism drive voters

Polls continued to see a steady stream of voters throughout the afternoon, followed by an after-work rush at some sites. Outside P.S. 38 in Boerum, one voter told Brooklyn Paper it was his first time actually voting in a New York City election.

He was casting his ballot for Mamdani, citing affordability as his main concern. “It’s time to bring about change,” he said. When asked why he thought it was important to vote, he added, “If they want anything for their city and they want someone who represents them, then they should go out and vote.”

Affordability was on the minds of many voters at the Pacific Street polling site.

One single mother told Brooklyn Paper that she has lived in Brooklyn since the 1970s and has been forced to move from every apartment she has rented over the past 27 years. “We’ve moved six times because of pricing, and that’s hard on kids,” she said, expressing hope that her vote could make a difference for her and her son.

But not all voters were impressed by the mayoral frontrunner or his platform.

Outside Fort Hamilton High School in Bay Ridge, one voter said fear of a socialist Democrat brought her to the polls.

“I’m born and raised in New York, and I’m not comfortable with someone who has zero experience in politics running New York City with the ideas he’s running with,” she said.

She added that some of her biggest concerns included Mamdani’s past support for defunding the police and proposals for government-run grocery stores. “One of my biggest fears was Mamdani wanting to defund the police and then backpedaling on that, and then I was concerned about government-run grocery stores because we’re in a government shutdown… what happens when the government shuts down again and we can’t feed ourselves? So there’s a lot of concern,” she said.

When asked who she voted for, she said simply, “I voted for one of the other guys.”

Another voter said “making New York better” was what brought her to the polls.

“They did a lot of promises that were not done,” she said of previous administrations. “There’s a lot of crime in the train stations, there’s a lot of crime everywhere that needs to get corrected, like in the Giuliani days when he cleaned up 42nd Street — that’s what needs to get done now.”

When asked why it’s so important to vote, she added, “Because every vote counts.”

“If you think that not every vote counts, then you’re wrong. A lot of people think, ‘Oh, my vote ain’t gonna count,’ but it does — I watch ‘Dancing with the Stars,’” she laughed. “They count.”

One last push

Southern Brooklyn voters in Brighton Beach turned out well into the evening, with many telling Brooklyn Paper they were casting their ballots for either the Republican or independent candidates.

One voter said he supported Curtis Sliwa, calling him the only candidate “not mixed into corruption.” He added that he believed the media had exaggerated former President Trump’s apparent endorsement of Andrew Cuomo, describing it as “provocation” by the media so that people don’t vote for Sliwa.

Meanwhile, a group of friends from various backgrounds — immigrants from Kazakhstan, Ukraine, and Belarus, all registered Republicans — said they were casting their votes for Cuomo. A family of seven said their entire household would be filling in the bubble for Mamdani.

In Bay Ridge, Sliwa and Sarantopoulos greeted voters outside P.S. 264 Bay Ridge Elementary School for the Arts. The Republican candidate told Brooklyn Paper that his strength lay in the outer boroughs and neighborhoods such as Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, and Sheepshead Bay. He noted that he was the only candidate in the race opposing the “City of Yes,” which he said diminishes local input on zoning.

“I have a responsibility to support everybody who’s running on the Republican line, like George [Sarantopoulos], who’s running for the City Council,” Sliwa said. “I’m the only candidate running for mayor who says no [to the City of Yes], because it would destroy the residential nature of the outer boroughs.”

Despite Mamdani’s strong poll numbers, Sliwa said he had a broad base of support extending beyond Republicans to include conservatives, independents, moderate Democrats, and animal rights activists.

“Remember, you have over 2 million votes that are going to be cast. That was unexpected. You never know,” Sliwa said. “So again, we will see what the results are tonight.”

— Additional reporting by Shea Vance, Erica Price, Ethan Stark-Miller, and Cate Corcoran

Editor’s note: A version of this story originally ran in Brooklyn Paper. Click here to see the original story.

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