Late morning was sleepy but bright in Harlem Sunday as Democrat mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani gave remarks at the First Corinthian Baptist Church for some last-minute outreach to the Black community.
Just down the street, about 50 people were gathered to learn how to canvass for, and get a pep talk from, Mamdani, along with a row of TV cameras and some milling members of the press. One man walked by chanting ‘Cuomo, Cuomo,’ mostly to amusement from the crowd.
Suddenly, there he was, walking up the sidewalk with his entourage. A school bus driver screamed, ‘Zohran’ and the quick candidate pivoted over to the bus, and took a step up for a hug and a selfie.
It was the first time I had ever seen Mamdani in person, and the bad news for those of us who abhor socialism is that this 34-year-old candidate has some serious political chops, effortlessly and effervescently pressing the flesh with his trademark toothy smile.
‘He’s very polished,’ Matt, in his early 30s told me as we watched him take a few questions from what seemed to be pre-chosen reporters. I tried to ask him one but was ignored in my Fox News Digital vest. But that was OK. I was more interested in asking Matt and his friends questions.
They had just stumbled upon the event, and when I asked Matt to expand a bit on his thought, he told me, ‘He looks and sounds like a politician.’ I asked if that was a good or bad thing He just smiled and shrugged, but then added, ‘He also looks really young.’
Matt’s friend Cam told me, ‘He has a lot of appeal to the young people,’ I couldn’t quite gather if the millennial included himself in that category. He went on to say, ‘and that’s good. It’s time for the young people’s ideas to be tried now.’
In chatting with a few of the soon-to-be canvassers, there was an almost joyous quality about them. ‘We are all just so excited for him,’ one told me. Another added: ‘I’ve never felt this way about a candidate before.’
The canvassers, mostly on the young side, looked much more like gentrifiers than lifelong residents of Harlem, but that is, after all, now also a part of the historic Black neighborhood’s 21st Century identity.
Andrew Cuomo needs not just to win the Black vote on Tuesday to have any chance, he needs it to come out in massive numbers. Chad, who I met on the corner outside a bodega was trying his best to help.
I noticed him when I caught the tail end of a yelling match with an older Black woman. I saw he was handing out flyers, and had assumed it was for Mamdani. In fact, he was out there pushing campaign materials for Cuomo.
He told me he had been in New York all his life, and he wasn’t ready for the kind of change Mamdani is proposing. ‘Free stuff,’ Chad said with disdain. ‘It takes money to keep the lights on…I’m sick of hearing about people getting stuff for free, free, free, what about the children? What about the educational system?’
I asked him about the confrontation with the woman and he said, ‘I get that all the time. Some people just hate him, and feel free to be abusive towards me.’
I told him to keep a stiff upper lip, that what he was doing was important and how democracy works. He said, ‘Thanks, I needed to hear that.’
I was glad I could be consoling, but also understood instantly what a warning sign for Cuomo his account was. If older Black women in Harlem are giving him the business for supporting the former governor, then Cuomo’s backstop may not be as secure as it seems.
At the end of the day, for better or worse, political campaigns run on enthusiasm. For as much clear good sense as Chad made in his defense of Cuomo, the enthusiasm gap I have seen in the last few days on the ground is Grand Canyon sized.
Maybe there is a silent majority, or in this case a plurality, ready to quietly pour into voting booths and fill in the little circle for Cuomo. But if so, at least thus far, they are doing a very good job of hiding.