“What folks are saying to me is they almost can’t believe that what they experienced after 9/11,” Ms. Hanif said, “is somehow happening again in 2025.”

The accusation, Mr. Cuomo said, was a political tool that Mr. Mamdani was using to divide New Yorkers. “Islamophobia,” Mr. Cuomo said “is not real in this race.”

“What Zohran said publicly is what Muslims have been saying quietly to us for months,” Hassaan Chaudhary, director of Muslim engagement for the Mamdani campaign, said in an interview. “There’s a point where silence becomes complicity, and our communities were done being quiet.”

During a televised debate, Mr. Sliwa falsely accused Mr. Mamdani of supporting “global jihad.” In a radio interview, Mr. Cuomo chuckled as a conservative host on WABC said Mr. Mamdani would cheer another 9/11-style attack. And when the current mayor, Eric Adams recently endorsed Mr. Cuomo, he said the city risked falling into “Islamic extremism” as... See more