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In a strategic move to secure votes, former Governor Andrew Cuomo reached out to Republican constituents in Brooklyn’s Russian-speaking community on Friday. He cautioned them that casting their vote for GOP candidate Curtis Sliwa could inadvertently pave the way for the election of socialist Zohran Mamdani.
Cuomo, running as an independent in the mayoral race, presented himself as the sole candidate capable of defeating the leading Democratic nominee. His campaign event took place alongside outspoken Republican Councilwoman Inna Vernikov in Brighton Beach.
“Curtis Sliwa has no realistic path to victory. Voting for him could essentially ensure a win for Zohran Mamdani,” Cuomo stated, referencing President Trump’s harsh assessment of the Guardian Angels founder’s prospects in the upcoming November 4 election.
Addressing voters at the Ocean View Cafe, a well-known Ukrainian eatery on Brighton Beach Avenue, Cuomo urged, “If you’re a Republican, don’t just take my word for it—listen to President Trump.”
“President Trump himself remarked that Curtis Sliwa is not ready for prime time,” Cuomo emphasized to the gathered crowd.
Vernikov, a staunch Republican who nonetheless endorsed Cuomo over her party’s nominee this week, recalled the local community is largely made up of “families who escaped the former Soviet Union.”
“They escaped communism and socialism. A lot of people here are Jewish immigrants. They escaped antisemitism,” she said. “We came to America for the American dream, for capitalism, for the free market economy, for opportunities for our children.
“And what we’re seeing now is everything that we escaped, communism, socialism, antisemitism is coming back into New York City.”
The local councilwoman, for the 48th District, previously supported Sliwa for mayor — but changed her tune to back Cuomo after seeing polling results showing the veteran Democrat had a better chance of beating socialist Mamdani.
“Curtis Sliwa cannot be mayor because he is not winning … the only one who can beat Mamdani is Governor Andrew Cuomo,” she said, referring to recent polls that show Cuomo between 10 to 25 points behind Mamdani and Sliwa lagging by 25 to 29 points.
The councilwoman — who was arrested in 2023 for wielding a firearm at a pro-Palestinian rally — referred to Mamdani as a “communist and an antisemitic” to her constituents.
Mamdani, who identifies as a democratic socialist, last week held a press conference slamming the rhetoric spewed by his opponents as Islamophobic — which Cuomo and Sliwa have denied.
Daniel Kurzyna, a spokesperson for Sliwa, said the concerted effort from Vernikov and Cuomo to siphon the GOP standard-bearer’s voters was “not needle-moving whatsoever.”
“Curtis will shock the world,” he said.
A rep for Mamdani did not respond to the Post’s request for comment.