Billionaire investor Bill Ackman said Monday on Newsmax he is “cautiously optimistic” that former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo will win the city’s mayoral election.
He called Cuomo a “motivated” leader on a “redemption tour” who can restore public safety and economic growth in the nation’s largest city.
“I think you’ve seen a meaningful turn in the polls, Ackman, the CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management,” told “Greg Kelly Reports.”
He added that there has also been a meaningful turn in the city’s energy, with people coming out and voting in strong numbers.
“I saw a statistic, something like eight times the early voting compared to the last mayoral election,” Ackman said. “I think that’s a very good sign that people are taking this election really seriously.”
Further, with the polls showing Cuomo and Democrat candidate Zohran Mamdani within the margin of error, the race is too close to call, so the vote matters, said Ackman.
“Here, you’ve got to vote for New York City as opposed to your conscience,” he said.
Ackman said Cuomo would likely be “a vastly better mayor than he was governor.”
“He made some mistakes as governor,” Ackman said. “But I think he’s a bit on the redemption tour.
He added that he likes people “who have fallen a little bit.”
“He’s extremely motivated to be a great mayor,” Ackman said, comparing him with President Donald Trump, who “had his moment where he wasn’t going to make it.”
But Trump, he said, has done an “incredible job in his second term, even more so than the first.”
When asked about his concerns regarding Cuomo’s progressive, democratic socialist rival, Mamdani, Ackman cited public safety as the most pressing issue.
“I’ll start with something that’s obviously close to home for every New Yorker, public safety,” he said.
“You don’t have to go back far to see how negative he is about the NYPD, his views on defunding the police,” Ackman said about Mamdani.
Ackman said “tone at the top really matters,” warning that police morale could collapse if Mamdani were elected.
“If the mayor doesn’t have the back of the police department, it’s going to have a significant impact on how you feel walking around New York City, taking the subway, being on a bus,” he said.
He also criticized Mamdani’s housing policies, arguing they would make the city less affordable by discouraging investment and development.
“New York City does not have a rental-rate problem. It’s got a supply problem,” Ackman said.
“We’re not building enough housing because of rent restrictions,” he added.
“When you freeze rents, people who own apartments, many of them small landlords, can’t afford to renovate, and about 50,000 units are already off the market,” said Ackman.
He added that the city’s economy would suffer further if corporate leaders and financiers move away, and warned that Mamdani would scare away corporations thinking about opening their headquarters there.
“Finance drives a huge amount of tax revenue for New York City,” said Ackman. “One percent of the city’s residents pay 48% of the taxes.”
“If New York City isn’t a good place to live, people are going to leave, which just makes the problem worse,” he concluded.
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