Independent mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo took a shot at Democratic front-runner Zohran Mamdani over public safety issues after visiting the site of Wednesday’s fatal shooting of an innocent bystander in East Harlem.
“Yesterday, a poor woman minding her own business, crossing the street with her walker, tragically lost her life. This is completely unacceptable,” The former governor said in a statement.
As previously reported by the Daily News, 69-year-old Robin Wright had just bought some Chinese food with a friend Wednesday and was on her way back to the apartment she shares with her grandson when she was struck in the face by a stray bullet near E. 110th St. and Madison Ave. around 12:25 p.m.
Police say the East Harlem grandmother was an innocent bystander — the third stray bullet victim in the city over the last 10 days. Two died, with a 17-year-old girl hit in a Bronx shooting clinging to life.
Aug. 28, 2025: Another innocent victim
New York Daily News Front page for Aug. 28, 2025: Grandma with “heart of gold” hit by stray bullet in E. Harlem – 3rd person hit in NYC in last 10 days. Robin Wright was killed by a stray bullet in Harlem Wednesday as she was walking with the help of a walker (top).
In a tweet, Cuomo — who has pledged to hire 5,000 additional NYPD officers if elected mayor — said he visited the site of the shooting to offer a prayer.
“This must end,” he wrote. “We need more police, not fewer. Precision policing, not slogans.”
In a statement after the visit, Cuomo pointed a finger at Democratic mayoral hopeful Mamdani.
“Part of the problem has been anti-police politicians like Zohran Mamdani, who for years has attacked the NYPD as racist, anti-queer and a major threat to public safety,” Cuomo said, calling it “part of the DSA’s radical anti-law enforcement agenda.”
“Make no mistake: This is Mamdani’s own Project 2025,” Cuomo said, likening the Democratic candidate’s police reform platform to the rightwing political initiative aimed at competley revamping the federal governemnt.
A spokesperson for Mamdani’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but Cuomo’s visit prompted a sharp rebuke from Mayor Adams.
At a press conference Thursday evening on citywide violence prevention, Mayor Adams — who is also vying for city hall on an independent ticket — criticized Cuomo without mentioning him by name.
“I find it despicable to hold up the life of a grandmother and use it as a campaign prop, particularly when the laws that you passed has put into place the over-proliferation of this violence in our streets” Adams said.
Since launching his bid to be mayor, Mamdani has changed his rhetoric on policing, saying he wouldn’t defund the NYPD if elected. Where Cuomo has promised to hire more cops, Mamdani has vowed he’d keep the department’s officer headcount flat and launch a new community safety agency focused on helping people with mental illness so that police officers can focus on fighting crime.
