Overview
- The mayor released a 30-second basketball-themed ad that aired Wednesday night during Knicks postgame coverage and features Zohran Mamdani passing a ball to Brad Lander, Darializa Avila Chevalier, and Claire Valdez as each makes a single campaign promise.
- In the spot Lander vows to block billionaire influence in elections, Avila Chevalier says she will abolish ICE, and Valdez promises to stand up to bad landlords and greedy corporations.
- Mamdani had already publicly endorsed Lander in his primary challenge to Rep. Daniel Goldman, and multiple reports say recent polling shows Lander leading Goldman despite Goldman spending over $1 million of his own money.
- Avila Chevalier is challenging Rep. Adriano Espaillat and has drawn scrutiny for leading pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia and for since-deleted social posts, while Valdez is a first-term state lawmaker and DSA member running in the open 7th District.
- The ad and other stunts such as a temporary ‘‘no bedtime’’ executive order during Knicks games are meant to boost turnout before early voting from June 13–21 and Election Day on June 23, and they signal Mamdani’s bid to expand his influence over New York’s congressional delegation.