The Brief

• Mayoral candidates mixed stunts and political attacks over the weekend, from scavenger hunts to a mocked bench press attempt.
• Frontrunner Zohran Mamdani leaned into NYC Mayor Eric Adams’ ongoing fundraising scandal with a potato chip stunt, while Adams and Cuomo hit back.
• The antics come as fresh corruption allegations engulf Adams’ inner circle, shifting the dynamics of the race.
•  

NEW YORK – The New York City mayor’s race took a theatrical turn this weekend as candidates tried to grab headlines with stunts and jabs at one another.

From scavenger hunts and potato chip gags to failed weightlifting attempts, candidates spent the weekend drawing attention on the trail while sharpening their attacks.

But behind the theatrics, polls still suggest New York Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani has built a steady advantage, leaving former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Guardian Angles founder Curtis Sliwa scrambling for second place — and NYC Mayor Eric Adams struggling in the single digits.

This weekend, Zohran Mamdani organized a scavenger hunt in Brooklyn, drawing hundreds of supporters. 

At the event, he trolled Adams by pulling out a bag of Herr’s sour cream and onion potato chips, a pointed reference to Winnie Greco, a former City Hall advisor’s attempt to give money to a reporter from THE CITY after a campaign event.

Mamdani also joined elected officials to call for safety upgrades to Greenpoint’s McGuinness Boulevard, which recently figured in a bribery case involving Adams’ former adviser Ingrid Lewis-Martin.

But Mamdani’s campaign stop was not without missteps. 

His attempt to bench press weights in front of cameras flopped, giving Adams an opening to mock him online. 

Posting a split-screen video, the mayor quipped: “The only thing he can lift is your taxes,” dubbing Mamdani “Zor-an” and adding, “We knew his policies were weak, but we didn’t think his physical strength was weak too.”

Cuomo, still trailing Mamdani by nearly 20 points in recent surveys, kept his focus on the frontrunner’s platform. He dismissed Mamdani’s agenda as “dangerous” and warned it would be “a death knell for New York City.”

Sliwa, the Republican nominee, sounded exasperated as he campaigned at the Santa Rosalia festival in Bensonhurst. “Lifting weights, going on scavenger hunts, eating potato chips — anything to distract the voters,” he said, urging rivals to focus instead on affordability and crime.

With Labor Day just a week away, the theatrics underscore how the race is entering a more combative phase and how Adams’ opponents are seizing every opportunity to capitalize on his vulnerabilities.

The mayor enters this stretch of the race weakened by a series of corruption allegations involving members of his inner circle, from accusations of cash-stuffed chip bags at campaign events to bribery charges against longtime advisers. 

The backstory:

Adams himself has not been accused of wrongdoing, but the headlines have raised questions about his judgment and leadership at a moment when voters say they are focused on affordability and safety. 

The central question now is whether Adams can live down the scandals, steady his campaign and make up ground in the polls or if the damage to his credibility has already set him too far back.

NYC mayoral polls

By the numbers:

Recent polls show Zohran Mamdani holding a steady lead in the New York City mayor’s race, with support ranging from the mid-30s to mid-40s across several surveys. 

An American Pulse poll conducted Aug. 14-19 found Mamdani at 37%, followed by Andrew Cuomo at 25%, Curtis Sliwa at 17% and Mayor Eric Adams at 11%. 

A Gotham Polling survey on Aug. 11 showed Mamdani at 42%, Cuomo at 23%, Sliwa at 17% and Adams at 9%. A Siena University poll taken Aug. 4-7 put Mamdani at 44%, Cuomo at 25%, Sliwa at 12% and Adams at 7%.