Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., used her first local TV interview to issue a stark warning about incoming Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, arguing his agenda would be "catastrophic" for New York City and a threat to public safety and affordability.
In the interview with News 12's senior political reporter Tara Rosenblum, Stefanik made Mamdani the centerpiece of her early gubernatorial messaging, framing him as the defining symbol of what she calls New York's far-left drift.
Stefanik opened the discussion by doubling down on her description of Mamdani as a "jihadist," even after President Donald Trump publicly disagreed with her characterization following his own meeting with the Queens lawmaker.
"We'll have to agree to disagree," she said. "I strongly believe that Zohran Mamdani is catastrophic for the people of New York City and really for the people of New York State."
She argued that Mamdani's positions on policing, taxes, and housing fall far outside the mainstream, saying he "talks about abolishing private property" and supports "government-run grocery stores." She linked those ideas to what she described as an affordability crisis choking small businesses and families across the five boroughs.
Stefanik tied her critique directly to public safety, accusing Mamdani of aligning himself with figures tied to past terror plots.
"He has campaigned with unindicted co-conspirators of terrorist attacks, including the 1993 World Trade Center bombing," she said. "And this is in the city with more Jewish families than anywhere outside Israel."
She then pointed to recent antisemitic incidents and campus unrest as evidence of what she views as a growing threat enabled by left-wing lawmakers.
"New York City has seen a skyrocketing of antisemitic crimes," she said, adding that blocking Jewish worshippers from synagogues and deploying slogans like "globalize the intifada" represent a broader pattern of extremism she believes Mamdani supports.
Stefanik also cast incumbent Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul as beholden to Mamdani's faction, saying the governor "bends the knee" to the progressive wing of her party. She argued that Hochul has "failed to stand up for Jewish New Yorkers" and refused to condemn Mamdani's rhetoric on Israel and Hamas.
Pressed on whether she could work with Mamdani if elected, Stefanik said she would serve as a "check on these radical positions," noting that nearly half of his district voted against him. She offered only narrow areas of potential agreement, such as holding utility companies accountable.
Stefanik closed by framing her run as a necessary response to the influence of lawmakers like Mamdani.
"I'm running to save New York," she said. "People are saying enough is enough."
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