Welcome to Hyperallergic’s live feed for New York City’s 2025 mayoral election. All day Tuesday, November 4, we’ll be reporting live from outside museums, artists’ watch parties, rallies, and polling sites to capture how the city’s cultural community is voting, feeling, and reacting. Drop your “I Voted” selfies and favorite memes, tell us what’s driving your vote, and sound off on ballot measures by tagging us on socials or emailing us at hello@hyperallergic.com.
Rhea Nayyar | 9:54pm EST
Meanwhile: Crackhead Barney takes the early celebrations to the streets.
Hakim Bishara | 9:47pm EST
It’s the dawn of a new era. Say hi to incoming NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani!
Via Instagram
Lakshmi Rivera Amin | 9:35pm EST
“NDNs for Mamdani,” says scholar and art historian Joseph M. Pierce. “I’m excited about a mayor who believes in people. Who dreams. Who listens. And I’m hoping he continues to listen to popular movements, especially when the authoritarian overlords are so desperate to vilify non-white people, trans people, and migrants. I hope Mamdani remembers the possibilities he has been tasked with keeping. And that those possibilities grow with the movements and with him.”
Scholar and art historian Joseph M. Pierce.
Lakshmi Rivera Amin | 9:29pm EST
Sadaf Padder, curator and artist based in Brooklyn: “I still remember going to a rally last year — it was a small but packed room. We were hopeful, but trying not to get ahead of ourselves. A candidate like Zohran, with real heart and values, may actually have a shot. I voted early. My elderly neighbors voted for him too — it’s easy to go for what’s familiar but they trusted my opinion and chose to follow my lead. Full house at Huda Brooklyn for the watch party.”
Artist-curator Sadaf Padder
Hakim Bishara | 9:22pm EST
Artist Noah Fischer: “With Zohran, I see more than just a glimmer of hope. I see the eventual way out of the bigger mess.”
Noah Fischer and his fam.
Rhea Nayyar | 9:12pm EST
Just as the polls closed, Crackhead Barney assumes the position of the 14th accuser in order to finish Cuomo off for good …. Anyways, fund the arts.
Hakim Bishara | 9:01pm EST
Polls just closed. Someone’s looking sad.
Lisa Yin Zhang | 8:59pm EST
Spotted beneath the Astoria Boulevard N/W stop, the RFK bridge to Manhattan and the Bronx.
Rhea Nayyar | 8:32pm EST
Cuomo and I pose in front of a desecrated American flag, gesturing at what’s important.
Rhea Nayyar | 8:23pm EST
In the last two weeks, thousands of us have seen videos of an Andrew Cuomo impersonator confronting the disgraced former mayor at various speaking events. Dressed in a suit with his hair combed back and a gruff voice, Cuomo’s unflappable impersonator whittles down the actual candidate’s tarnished legacy, dicey campaign strategy, and open embrace of billionaire donors through straight-shooting one-liners and physical comedy.
But who is behind this audacious performance art? And what is his angle?
In conjunction with the direct action-based environmental activism group Climate Defiance, Zivon Toplin, 31, is suited up and bristling at Cuomo and his supporters with improvisational humor and a commitment to the bit.
“I’d like to note that I’m not making up any information about Cuomo — this is a candidate who has sexual harassment allegations from 13 different women, is deeply embedded in the oil and fossil fuel industry, is taking money from the Murdochs and the Walmart family. This is all available information that his campaign wants to obfuscate,” Toplin told me over the phone while en route to pick up his suit for tonight’s appearance: Crackhead Barney’s performance-based election night event at the Grace Exhibition Space on Avenue C.
More on Toplin’s rise to social media virality to come as I also duck in to Crackhead Barney’s event. Expect chaos …. the good kind? Who knows.
Valentina Di Liscia | 8:10pm EST
I’m at an election watch party at Beverly’s, the Lower East Side’s artist bar par excellence. In the glow of moody red lighting, co-founder Leah Dixon tells me the current moment is taking her back to 2007. “There was this era of decadence, and a huge amount of ideas in the emerging art world were starting to bubble up,” Dixon said. “There was a lot of creative industry and Manhattan was exploding. But there was this precipice that we knew was coming, which was just people could not afford to live here.”
“Seeing that transition from the financial collapse to when Obama got elected, I’ll never forget — we all walked down Broadway to Times Square and it was electrifying. It felt like the art world and the on-the-ground cultural scene and our larger political climate completely coalesced in this amazing, empowering way.”
Mollie McKinley, Stina Puotinen, Leah Dixon, and Meinzer at Beverly’s.
Hakim Bishara | 8:00pm EST
Artist and Subway Hands creator Hannah La Follette Ryan to Hyperallergic: “In moments of extreme political alienation in New York, I’ve found comfort in the many-worlds theory. In this interpretation of quantum mechanics, our city exists in an infinite number of parallel worlds playing out alternate realities. It follows that there is already a New York City with free and high-functioning public transportation, where all New Yorkers are housed, our public schools are fully-funded, groceries aren’t prohibitively expensive, artists can afford childcare and studio space. This thought exercise helps me dodge political fatalism and keeps the focus on remaking our world in the image of that one. Why not here? Zohran Mamdani is going to help us get there. He has campaigned on affordability, with singular drive, creativity, and conviction. The future of NYC is never fixed, billions of colliding agendas and variables guarantee that. But over 90,000 volunteers with Zohran’s grassroots campaign have overtaken a stagnant Democratic establishment to realize the political future NYC deserves. All we’re asking is, why not here?”
Hannah La Follette Ryan
Lisa Yin Zhang | 7:52pm EST
Bohemian Hall & Garden in Astoria, Queens, where the Democratic Socialists of America will be hosting a watch party tonight. Some people here are really early. “I think it’s really difficult nowadays to find candidates that seem genuine, that actually care about people,” Crystal, a 28-year-old freelancer marketer, said. “It seems like [Mamdani] really wants to make a difference. I think he has a good heart, and I think that’s not common, when you have all these politicians taking money from big corporate donors.”
Valentina Di Liscia | 7:44pm EST
Bushwick native Danielle de Jesus voted for Mamdani. “I don’t really believe any politicians and I don’t trust the American voting system, but I figured I’d give him a shot. It’s my first time ever voting for a mayor. He better not make me regret it 🤣”
Lakshmi Rivera Amin | 7:27pm EST
Wise words from artist and activist Molly Crabapple, a longtime member of the New York City Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). Fun fact: She designed the sticker for Zohran’s first assembly campaign in 2019!
Valentina Di Liscia | 7:17pm EST
Earlier today, I caught up with writer, filmmaker, and nanny Giovanna Zavala at the Museum of Modern Art, next to Sasha’s Stiles “A Living Poem” (2025). She voted for Mamdani. “I care about affordability for working-class people, rent stabilization and freezing, and just having a sense of awareness of what it costs to live in the city and what the average person is making,” she said
Lakshmi Rivera Amin | 6:40pm EST
Night at the museum! The polls are still open for almost 2.5 more hours, and the last few stragglers are filing in to cast their votes.
Hakim Bishara | 6:21pm EST
New York Times reports: Mayor’s race draws highest turnout since 1993! Who said democracy is dead?
Lakshmi Rivera Amin | 6:10pm EST
Politician and former mayoral candidate Brad Lander, Working Families Party Co-director Ana María Archila, and City Councilmember Shahana Hanif in Park Slope earlier today. Lander, whose arts platform we covered back in May, said that Zohran is “deeply connected to the way in which culture energizes this city” and the importance of issues like childcare, housing, and transportation for working artists in New York. Archila echoed his point, adding that Zohran is “deeply connected to the artists community.” Hanif gave a shout-out to her district’s recent Gowanus Open Studios and an initiative that ensured affordable studios for artists in the neighborhood, emphasizing that she’s hopeful for similar initiatives in the future elsewhere in the city.
From left: Brad Lander, Ana María Archila, and Shahana Hanif in Park Slope earlier today (photo Lakshmi Amin/Hyperallergic)
Valentina Di Liscia | 5:42pm EST
And here’s Hyperallergic LA Correspondent Matt Stromberg with his thoughts on Proposition 50 in California. The measure proposes new lines for many of the state’s congressional districts to counteract the five seats Republicans gained when they redrew the maps in Texas. “It may not be as high-profile as the NYC election (go Zohran!), but it underscores how every election is a fight to get our voices heard,” Stromberg said. “Smaller, local races can have significant impact on our everyday lives. The current admin is waging a war on culture, so if we want a say in what is seen, and said, in museums, we need to stay vigilant.”
Matt Stromberg with his dog Perdita
Lakshmi Rivera Amin | 5:31pm EST
“I hope we elect Zohran and with the same enthusiastic support he managed to gather in the campaign. He puts enthusiasm into his campaign promises for a better NYC.” — Arewà Basit, performance artist, musician, and model for Amy Sherald’s “Trans Forming Liberty” (2024)
Arewà Basit
Hakim Bishara | 5:21pm EST
Artist Rejin Leys: “I voted early, but stopped to cheer on the canvassers for Mamdani at the local park today. I love how his campaign has energized so many young New Yorkers!”
Rejin Leys (right) with a Zohran canvasser
Isa Farfan | 5:14pm EST
Noah, a Brooklyn resident and performance artist, wrote poetry for visitors outside the Met at a small table. Though they said they voted for Mamdani, they expressed doubt about whether life would be easier for artists under his potential mayorship. “I think it’s difficult to be an artist in New York, and I don’t know if he’s going to change it. It’s hard to be an artist in America.”
Lisa Yin Zhang | 5:00pm EST
Caught the day’s last rays of sun at Socrates Sculpture Park. A park worker carting a wheelbarrow of dead leaves told me he’d voted early, and most people he knew did too.
Valentina Di Liscia | 4:45pm EST
The protesters outside MoMA are holding squares from a giant patchwork quilt for Palestine that was unveiled outside The Met steps last year. Today, the group is calling out Western media and cultural institutions they say are complicit in the Gaza genocide.
Valentina Di Liscia | 4:24pm EST
Protesters chant “Cuomo, you can’t hide, you censor Palestine” in an action outside the Museum of Modern Art on 53rd Street.
Hrag Vartanian | 4:13pm EST
Coralina Rodriguez Meyer: “I’m a Quipucamayoc Artist voting for Working Families Party candidates because I have faith in democracy as a time-based medium maintained by matriarchs.”
And here’s her stunning Zohran-themed Halloween look:
Lisa Yin Zhang | 4:02pm EST
Time for a late lunch break. King of Falafel & Shawarma, right next to the Astoria Broadway stop, isn’t keeping its affiliations a secret. Front is plastered with Palestinian flags, “I Voted” stickers, an anti-Trump flag, a Mamdani poster, and an electronic ticker reading “Mamdani for Mayor.” This place is delicious, I might add.
Hakim Bishara | 3:36pm EST
Dancer and visual artist Kristel Baldoz: “Today’s 6am poll site visibility shift at PS166 in Astoria after last night’s 6-9pm canvassing shift in Sunnyside!”
Isa Farfan | 3:30pm EST
Arnaud Turner, a recent graduate of New York University and Brooklyn resident, was selling his paintings for $12 outside The Met. Though he was registered to vote in Pennsylvania, he advocated for Mamdani: “I feel like he’s giving hope to everyday people: the young people and people of conscience.”
Hrag Vartanian | 3:26pm EST
Manhattan artist Austin Thomas: “Everyone I know in the art crowd is all in on Mamdani — but then I hear that a friend of a friend is voting Cuomo? Even my lawyer’s client, 30 years in this country, suddenly wanted to register just to vote against Mamdani. Missed the deadline, though. Ha.”
Artist Austin Thomas
Lakshmi Rivera Amin | 3:16pm EST
“On Sunday, I sent in my ballot through early voting!” says Shivani Parikh, a lawyer and longtime advocate for South Asians in Queens. “In my heart and mind were the taxi drivers that an upcoming documentary I’m serving as the impact producer for are hoping for in 2026 — especially with nearly half of all cabbies in NYC being South Asian.” The New York Taxi Workers Alliance is being filmed for Taxi Driver, whose team ate at Kebab King with Zohran last night in Jackson Heights.
Valentina Di Liscia | 3:05pm EST
Emily Altagracia, a poet and writer from the Bronx, poses with photos by Sandra Blow at MoMA.
“I come from a family of immigrants and I think New York has always been a place of access,” she told me. “I voted for Zohran because I think he can make New York accessible for people who have been here for a really long time, and help us stay here and not drive us out.”
Isa Farfan | 2:42pm EST
Crickets at The Met polling site.
Lakshmi Rivera Amin | 2:38pm EST
Una Osato, 43, has been fluttering around Brooklyn with handmade capes she and her sister made. They’ve landed in the Brooklyn Public Library steps for today, canvassing for Jewish Voice for Peace Action.
Isa Farfan | 2:28pm EST
Spotted outside the Met Museum.
Isa Farfan | 2:17pm EST
About 20 protesters gathered outside of News Corporation (owner of Fox News and New York Post) in Midtown Manhattan in support of Mamdani. “Fox is lying about Mamdani,” they chanted.
“Fox is lying about Mamdani,” protesters chanted.
Jay W. Walker, who has lived in the city for 40 years, told me: “I came here in the 80s. You could basically have a minimum wage job, and with a roomate you could afford an apartment. And I’ve seen the way rents have just skyrocketed and the way that landlords in New York City have been allowed to skirt laws to jack up rents, residential and commercial.”
Jay W. Walker protesting outside News Corporation
Lisa Yin Zhang | 1:30pm EST
Marianne Velasquez, 16, outside the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens. 16?! Why is she out her canvassing for Zohran? “For my future. I’m first generation, my parents are from Colombia. I see how my siblings are struggling to find apartments. I want to stay in New York. I want it to be affordable so I can stay here. Billionaires are buying out our city. We’re losing our culture because of the billionaires.”
Hrag Vartanian | 1:19pm EST
“Most hopeful I felt voting since Barack!” —Esther Ruiz, Brooklyn-based artist with partner Jason Matuskiewicz
Hakim Bishara | 1:13pm EST
Chucky Schumer won’t tell us who he voted for. What a man of mystery.
Via Bluesky
Hakim Bishara | 12:53pm EST
Congrats to art worker Billie Martineau on her first NYC election as an American citizen!
Valentina Di Liscia | 12:50pm EST
It’s not a forehead tattoo, but it gets the message across. Coco Fusco voted early in NYC’s mayoral elections last week. “Months ago I was scared that a Mamdani victory would lead to a grueling war with the Trump administration,” she said. “But Mamdani has proven himself to be an inspirational defender of New York and New Yorkers, so I’m all in!”
Lakshmi Rivera Amin | 12:32pm EST
Matthew, 29, used to live across the street from the Brooklyn Museum before he lived in Williamsburg. This is his second time casting a vote for Mamdani at the museum, and he said that “with everything happening in the country today, it’s hard to get your hopes up but also important to stay hopeful.”
Hakim Bishara | 12:06pm EST
Curator Kari Conte and her cat Klara with a strong endorsement of Meowmdani.
Valentina Di Liscia | 11:55am EST
Back to the ballot measures. Proposal 2 is about fast-tracking affordable housing in New York City. It includes an accelerated process for projects in the 12 community districts that produce the least affordable housing. Again, sounds like an easy choice, but this ostensibly faster and more efficient system would mean bypassing City Council approval in some instances. Critics say the measure gives the mayor too much power. Candidate Zohran Mamdani gave his last-minute approval for the measure (and proposals 1-5).
Lisa Yin Zhang | 11:53am EST
This editor and her grandparents just cast their votes at their local library/polling station in Forest Hills, Queens.
Lakshmi Rivera Amin | 11:37am EST
Voters are filing into the Brooklyn Museum to cast their ballots.
Hrag Vartanian | 11:28am EST
Artist and Hyperallergic contributor Damien Davis reporting from Newark: “I voted in Newark for the third time, maybe the fourth. I’ve honestly lost count. I’ve lived here for about two years now, and it was a quiet morning at the polls. Still, I saw more people out this time than before. Even though I’m not part of the NYC mayoral election, what’s happening in New Jersey feels just as urgent and relevant.”
Valentina Di Liscia | 11:05am EST
Do you know your ballot measures? There’s six of them and they’re on the back of your ballots. Proposal 1 would legalize an expansion of 350 acres of land of a skiing and sports complex in upstate New York on protected forest land. Sounds simple? It’s actually more complicated. The winter sports facility has already been built, so this measure would retroactively legalize the Olympic complex, and require the state to buy 2,500 new acres of land for the preserve. You’re welcome!
Hrag Vartanian | 10:58am EST
My first time voting in a US election, and I haven’t voted in a state election since the 1990s in Toronto. I’m rather taken aback at how primitive the process is at the polling station, including the use of paper ballots, but all the volunteers and staff were super friendly. Since the Democratic primary, there has been an optimism in the city that hasn’t subsided, and today everyone I know and am encountering in Williamsburg’s art community is happy, so that tells me things might be going the right way … for once.
Valentina Di Liscia | 10:20am EST
Artist Mark Bradford reminds us that a vote today is a vote for the future.
Lakshmi Rivera Amin | 9:05am EST
The one and only Harry Daniels has given Mamdani his blessing … it’s gonna be a great day, folks:
Hakim Bishara | 8:15am EST
NY artist Jonathan Allen strikes again.
Hakim Bishara | 7:41am EST
Several major art institutions host polling sites. Among them:
- The Met Museum
- The Brooklyn Museum
- The Shed
Hakim Bishara | 6:58am EST
Love this guy’s Halloween costume.
(Seen at the Broadway Junction subway station in Brooklyn)
Curtis Sliwa poster at a subway station in Brooklyn, New York (photo Hakim Bishara/Hyperallergic)
Hakim Bishara | 6:05am EST
Is Andrew Cuomo already planning his escape?
Via X
Hakim Bishara | 6:03am EST
Always look at the bright side of life ♪ ♪
Via X
Hakim Bishara | 6:01am EST
Actor Lupita Nyong’o posts a warm endorsement of Mamdani, with whom she worked on the set of the 2016 movie Queen of Katwe. “The qualities that made Zohran an exceptional leader in my experience with him on set translate powerfully to the political career he’s established,” she writes on Instagram.
Hakim Bishara | 6:00am EST
East Williamsburg’s Syrian bistro Huda is organizing an election watch party tonight “until Z wins.” Entrance is free; no RSVP required. Fun fact: Zohran Mamdani’s partner, artist Rama Duwaji, has at least one artwork in the restaurant, located near the restrooms. It’s a good one, too.
Via Instagram
