A new poll released Tuesday — and Governor Cuomo’s announcement Monday that he will actively campaign for mayor as an independent and drop out of the race in the fall if he is trailing Mayor Adams — is giving hope to the anti-Mamdani coalition of business leaders, moderate Democrats, Republicans, and independents that the battle for Gracie Mansion is just beginning.  

The upset win in the Democratic primary last month by a Democratic Socialist state assemblyman, Zohran Mamdani, shocked business leaders, many of whom were backing Mr. Cuomo. Since then, these executives have advocated for consolidating the rest of the field behind one candidate to beat Mr. Mamdani in November.

“Everybody is saying they’re ABZ,” the president of Empire State Properties, Suzanne Miller, tells The New York Sun about the “Anybody but Zohran” strategy.

Ms. Miller attended a Partnership for New York City event on Tuesday where Mr. Mamdani addressed 150 of the city’s business leaders and tried to reassure them that a Mayor Mamdani wouldn’t “seize the means of production” and would discourage use of the phrase “globalize the intifada.” Ms. Miller says most in attendance weren’t buying it.

“Everyone is revved up,” Ms. Miller says. “People decided to get angry, and there’s more awareness about this election.”

“We’re going to have an epic turnout for the general election,” she says. “We’re going to win.”

A new HarrisX poll is giving her hope. The poll shows the Democratic nominee, Mr. Mamdani, in a statistical tie with Mr. Cuomo and the Republican nominee, Curtis Sliwa. The candidates earn 26, 23, and 22 percent support, respectively. Mr. Adams trails in a four-way race with 13 percent of the vote, with 15 percent undecided.

The poll paints a far rosier outlook for Mr. Sliwa, the Guardian Angels founder, than any other to date. It also shows Mr. Cuomo in a statistical tie with Mr. Mamdani in a three-person race, were Mr. Adams to drop out. In a three-way race without Mr. Cuomo, Mr. Mamdani wins by 10 points.

“These numbers show a volatile race still taking shape,” the chief executive of HarrisX, Dritan Nesho, posted to X. “While the progressive base is fueling Mamdani’s rise, Cuomo’s broad name recognition and moderate appeal make him a formidable general election challenger.”

A Democratic strategist, Hank Sheinkopf, tells The New York Sun that the polls were wrong throughout the primary and that this one needs to be taken with a grain of salt. He says four months in a New York mayoral race is a long time. Anything can happen.

Mr. Cuomo is admitting now that his cautious primary campaign — a Biden basement strategy of sorts — was a mistake. He is making street and subway appearances and doing more interviews since his announcement Monday that he’s “in it to win it.”

“The more exposure he gets with the public, the less he’s liked,” Mr. Sheinkopf says. “Mamdani is the favorite today, unquestionably.”

Mr. Cuomo says he will agree to drop out of the race in the fall if polls show Mr. Adams is in the lead. Messrs. Adams and Sliwa have not agreed to do the same if Mr. Cuomo is leading. Mr. Sliwa is highlighting the HarrisX poll to counter any attempts to push him out. A crowded election field is critical to any path to victory for Mr. Sliwa.

“For the first time since 2009, a Republican for NYC mayor is within the margin of error to win. That Republican is me. The momentum is real,” Mr. Sliwa said in a statement.

President Trump weighed in on Mr. Cuomo’s decision to run as an independent. “I think Andrew would have a good shot,” he said Tuesday. “He’s got to run a good campaign.” 

Another real estate executive tells the New York Sun he is “praying” the field consolidates. “I think the general consensus is that Adams has a much better chance, so basically it’s just kind of pick your poison,” he says.

A billionaire hedge funder, Bill Ackman, says he is backing Mr. Adams in the general election. “My takeaway is that Adams can win the upcoming election and that the Governor should step aside to maximize Adams’ probability of success,” he posted to X.

Another issue in the field consolidation is that the only way to get a candidate’s name off the ballot this late is if the candidate were to move out of state, be appointed to a judgeship, or die. Mr. Adams can’t leave the state because he is the sitting mayor.

“Most business people and residents will take either, which is why they have to unite,” Ms. Miller says of Messrs. Cuomo and Adams. “They need to put their egos down and say, ‘Listen, neither one of us want to be the person that lets New York fail.’”