New York Democrats cool to their party’s Big Apple mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani are weighing their options as the 33-year-old progressive makes his own pitch to centrists that they should back him.

The Democratic establishment has been looking for alternatives, but none really satisfy.

Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo last week announced an independent run after losing the Democratic primary to Mamdani, but a number of Democrats who spoke to The Hill have doubts he can win. Some also haven’t forgotten past Cuomo controversies.

Incumbent Eric Adams is also running as an independent, but he has had a scandal-tarred career and his tilting toward MAGA and Trump World hasn’t won him too many friends in the Democratic establishment.

Political observers say there aren’t enough moderates to go around for one — let alone two candidates — and if the establishment wants to prevail, either Adams or Cuomo should exit the race.

“You can't have multiple alternatives,” said Grant Reeher, the director of Syracuse University’s Campbell Public Affairs Institute. “I just don't see any way that Mamdani doesn't win unless one of these folks drops out.”

“If I was a Democratic strategist for the whole party in New York City, and I commanded authority, I would put Adams and Cuomo in a room, and I would say, ‘You guys are going to flip a coin,’” he added.

A HarrisX poll out earlier this month — before Cuomo announced his independent bid — showed Adams trailing with 13 percent of the vote and Mamdani leading with 26 percent, followed by Cuomo at 23 percent, and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa at 22 percent.

© The Hill