The New York City mayoral race got underway this month, with the general election set for Nov. 4, 2025. In this pivotal political season, a number of candidates have already thrown names into the hat as each looks to become the next leader of the five boroughs. Here are the candidates who will be running for New York City Mayor:
Eric Adams, the current mayor of New York City, will be running again. He is running on a platform to deliver to residents safer streets, including closing down illegal smoke shops. Presently, a cloud of controversy surrounds Adam’s candidacy following federal corruption charges that the Department of Justice is in the process of dropping.
Adrienne Adams, the Speaker of the Council of New York, will be one of the two women running for Mayor. In over 205 years, there has not been a single female who has held the office of NYC Mayor. Adams already became the first African-American female elected to the Speaker of the New York City Council.
Jessica Ramos, the State Senator of Queens, announced her candidacy in September. Ramos’ platform advocates for affordable housing, public safety, environment, immigration, education, childcare, and healthcare. Ramos vocally advocated for environmental justice by fighting against fossil fuel projects in Queens to make a Green New Deal.
Zellnor Myrie is the State Senator representing Brooklyn. As a first-generation American, Myrie’s parents immigrated from Costa Rica. He focuses on affordability and gun control laws and is a powerful advocate for the public school system.
Jim Walden is a lawyer who plans to build economic growth and develop new funding models to serve NYC communities. He is also committed to policies that address corruption in the system.
Whitney Tilson, a former Hedge Fund Manager, is running on a platform to reduce violent crime. He also intends to reduce spending, improve public schools, and address the high cost of living.
Curtis Sliwa, a longtime Guardian Angels crime prevention organization leader, will be running on the Republican ticket. Sliwa was a nominee for Mayor in 2021.
Zohran Mamdani is a New York State Assemblymember and Democratic Socialist. He is advocating for taxi drivers, freezing the high cost of rent, and making bus fares free throughout the city.
Scott Stringer aims to address sanitation in NYC by reducing sidewalk clutter and introducing shared on-street containers for innovative waste storage. Stringer’s vision is also to make the public safer from violent crime by increasing police capacity.
Brad Lander is a New York City Comptroller. He wants to get New York’s homeless population into stable housing. He has also made the fight for democracy a centerpiece of his campaign, aiming to bring New Yorkers together to fight against the rise of authoritarianism.
Finally, Andrew Cuomo–the former Governor of New York and no stranger to New York politics–announced he was running for mayor. This surprised some after he was forced to resign from the governorship in 2021. Cuomo has acknowledged making mistakes in the past. His new platform includes policies focusing on mental health, paid family leave and prioritizing schools.
University students are already forming varied opinions of who they might vote for in the fall. “Who I’m leaning for the most is Zellnor Myrie because of his background with the Senate. We saw some of the policies he was thinking of making and other progress he’s achieved throughout the Democratic Senate,” said Alana De La Cruz, a political science major and a freshman at the University.
“I am rooting for Andrew Cuomo because he is trying to bring down the cost of housing to be more affordable,” said Mitch Khurgin, a freshman majoring in Finance.
The Mayoral Primary is scheduled for June 24, 2025.
