Overview

• Andrew Cuomo unveiled on August 7 a plan to expand Fair Fares to cover free bus and subway rides for households at up to 150% of the federal poverty level and to provide a $100 monthly food subsidy for those just above SNAP eligibility.
• He framed his targeted subsidies as a realistic alternative to Zohran Mamdani’s vision of universal free buses and city-owned grocery stores, warning that broader giveaways would subsidize wealthy New Yorkers and harm small businesses.
• Zohran Mamdani defended his sweeping free-service agenda as essential to tackling the city’s cost-of-living crisis and criticized Cuomo’s record on affordability and union support.
• Mamdani has seized on reports of a phone call between Cuomo and President Trump—both parties have denied the discussion—and accused Cuomo of conspiring to rig the election in defiance of voter will.
• The exchange highlights a deep ideological rift in the general election, with Cuomo running as an independent against the Democratic socialist front-runner and both camps intensifying attacks over crisis management and policy realism.