New Yorkers with second homes in the ritzy Hamptons are being urged to save the Big Apple from Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani — by switching their voter registration from Long Island to the five boroughs, insiders told The Post.
Andrew Cuomo’s surrogates are hoping to convince well-heeled moderates they can impact the mayoral race, where Mamdani is the frontrunner.
“I’ve been trying to get this message out since the primary,” said Steven M. Cohen, chairman of Fix the City, a pro-Cuomo political action committee, who said he has spoken to dozens of people — “some very high profile” — who claimed they’re “definitely changing their registration.
“You don’t win elections because you did one thing right, but by doing one hundred things right, a thousand things right,” Cohen insisted, conceding the movement is part of a broader strategy to boost voter engagement.
“This might be a few thousand votes, but elections have been won and lost on less than a few thousand votes.”
The “longer term play” is about getting people with homes in NYC to “participate in the political process” – and it’s totally kosher, asserted Cohen, who added it’s relatively easy to switch voter registration without tax implications as long as it’s a “legitimate, bona fide” pad.
The push is the reverse of the groundswell movement in 2024, when city folks flipped their voting to the East End in order to vote in a tight race for Suffolk County’s 1st Congressional District between Democrat John Avlon and Republican incumbent Nick LaLota.
Democrats who made the registration switch were crushed when LaLota took the key House congressional seat with 217,461 votes to former CNN analyst Avlon’s 172,700 votes.
The target is Hamptonites “who have deep ties in NYC,” like business owners and restaurateurs with dual locations “who have an interest in what’s going on,” claimed the longtime politico.
“I’m trying to switch,” said Mitchel Agoos, an 87-year-old East Hampton and NYC resident who called Mamdani an “antisemite.”
“He’s a disaster — I want to vote in this election,” added the longtime elder who has voted in Suffolk for decades and is a Curtis Sliwa supporter.
“I’d feel great to vote against him,” he said, adding, “Anybody but that SOB. …It’s a mitzvah to try to defeat him.”
So far, Cohen said he’s encouraged by the interest after people get past the “initial skepticism” over questions about tax implications.
“There are no tax implications at all — that’s part of the message,” insisted Cohen, adding that the state Board of Elections is only concerned that no one votes in two different places.
But not everyone’s convinced.
Hamptons metals magnate and longtime Republican donor, Andy Sabin, told The Post he would “be crazy” to switch voter registration despite wanting to crush Mamdani.
“You open up a can of worms to audits and everything else — you’d be crazy to do it.”
Changing one’s voting address is relatively easy, noted election lawyer, Jerry Goldfeder.
“They just have to send a change of address to the Board of Elections. It’s just a matter of sending in a new, legitimate registration form,” he said.
The Cuomo campaign declined to comment.
