New York City’s mayoral contest is firming up around Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee and self-described socialist who secured his party’s nod in June. A Siena College survey released this week shows Mamdani leading the four-way field with 44 percent of registered voters, ahead of independent Andrew Cuomo at 25 percent, Republican Curtis Sliwa at 12 percent and incumbent Eric Adams, also running as an independent, at 7 percent. The line-up grew over the weekend when Cuban-born businessman Joseph Hernandez announced an independent bid. Hernandez, 52, said he has collected roughly $300,000 in donations and cast himself as the ‘polar opposite’ of Mamdani, promising to prioritize public safety, affordability and technology while adding 10,000 police officers. His entry complicates the path for moderate and conservative voters already divided among Cuomo, Sliwa and Adams. Mamdani’s rise is also drawing intensified scrutiny of his financing. A forensic report published on 17 August by accountant Sam Antar asked the Internal Revenue Service to investigate what he described as a more than $2 billion constellation of tax-exempt charities and social-welfare groups that, through interlocking boards and shared staff, has funneled millions of dollars into political committees supporting the candidate. Antar cited audit findings from Deloitte and Withum that flagged ‘common control’ and other compliance issues among the entities. Neither Mamdani’s campaign nor the organizations named in the report have formally responded to the allegations, but the claims have fueled criticism from business leaders and some elected officials who warn that higher taxes and expanded social-spending proposals could accelerate the city’s loss of residents and employers. With three months until Election Day, Mamdani remains the front-runner, yet the combination of fresh competition and questions about the provenance of his support signal a combative final stretch in the nation’s largest municipal race.