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Mamdani Leads NYC Mayor’s Race as Gifted Program Plan Reframes the Contest

The front-runner’s pledge to end kindergarten Gifted & Talented entry has become the campaign’s defining flashpoint.

Overview

  • Recent polling shows Zohran Mamdani at roughly 45% with Andrew Cuomo around the mid‑20s and Curtis Sliwa near low double digits, following Eric Adams’s withdrawal.
  • Mamdani told The New York Times he would halt new kindergarten seats in the Gifted & Talented program and later clarified his campaign would keep a third‑grade entry point.
  • Cuomo labeled the proposal “destructive,” vowed to expand accelerated programs and add specialized high schools, while Sliwa criticized the plan and pushed expansion as well.
  • Adams, who expanded Gifted & Talented as mayor, criticized ending kindergarten entry and urged growing opportunities rather than cutting them.
  • All three campaigns launched high‑visibility TV ads as the race nationalizes, with Mamdani emphasizing affordability in a Bachelor‑style spot and Cuomo touting experience with an AI‑themed ad.