Zohran Mamdani, who won the Democratic primary earlier in 2025, faces former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, who is running as an independent, and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa, who is trying to land a massive upset.
Voters came out in huge numbers on Tuesday, US time. According to the city's Board of Elections, more than two million voters cast ballots - the first time that has happened in a New York mayoral race since 1969.
A victory for 34-year-old Mamdani would give the city its first Muslim mayor and its youngest leader in generations, while elevating the democratic socialist to political stardom and giving his brand of economic populism one of the most visible political perches in America.
If Cuomo comes out on top, he will have staged a remarkable political comeback four years after resigning as governor over a barrage of sexual harassment allegations.
For Sliwa - the creator of the Guardian Angels crime patrol group and a longtime New York tabloid fixture - a win would put a Republican in charge of the nation's largest city at a time when many New Yorkers are seeking a leader who can keep President Donald Trump at bay.
Mamdani and Cuomo voted on Tuesday morning in Queens and Manhattan, respectively, while Sliwa had already cast his ballot during early voting.
The race has made Mamdani a national figure as he has drawn the ire of Trump and other Republicans, who have tried to cast him as the face of a new, more radical Democratic Party.
Trump has also threatened to take over the city if Mamdani wins, as well as arrest and deport the state assembly member, who was born in Uganda but is a US citizen.
Trump reluctantly endorsed Cuomo on the eve of the election, saying Mamdani would bring "disaster" to the city and encouraging Sliwa backers to vote for the former governor instead.
Mamdani, a state lawmaker, already defeated Cuomo once in the Democratic primary, energising progressives to score a surprise victory over the once-powerful former governor with a campaign that focused on lowering the cost of living in one of the country's most expensive cities.
This time, Cuomo is counting on support from moderates and Republicans, while Mamdani has generated national buzz and won endorsements from big-name progressives, including US Senator Bernie Sanders and US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
He has proposed raising taxes on the richest New Yorkers and using the money to make city buses free and provide free, universal child care. He has also promised to freeze rent for people living in about one million rent-regulated apartments.
Cuomo, 67, has positioned himself as a seasoned executive capable of managing the city's vast bureaucracy, drawing a contrast with Mamdani's relative inexperience.
Cuomo's experience as governor is perhaps also his biggest vulnerability.
He resigned in 2021 following a report from the attorney general that concluded that Cuomo had sexually harassed at least 11 women.
Some of the women complained about unwanted touches, flirting, kisses and suggestive comments. One aide filed a police report accusing him of groping her breast, though a district attorney declined to prosecute.
Cuomo initially apologised for some of his behaviour, saying he had fallen out of step with what is considered appropriate workplace conduct.
However, in recent months, he has been defiant - calling his accusers liars and blaming his downfall on political adversaries.
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