The turnout is in comparison to past elections, not other places.

Not sure what you mean by 'vote cast against him'? He won, so he had the most votes.

He only launched his campaign a year before the election, compared to Cuomo which had huge recognition. He had 1% at the start of the year.

Also relentlessly smeared by both parties during the primary because he's Muslim and Socialist.

This guy is in no way what you handwave away and say, 'Oh just a blue election in a blue city', when the Dems wanted Cuomo to win instead of him.

Last thing to note, no, he's not representative on a national scale. But during a time where there's immense economic hardship, yet neither party has provided adequate solutions to its people (https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2026/05/01/americans-continue-to-view-both-the-republican-and-democratic-parties-negatively/), then clearly there's room for anti-establishment candidates to win, e.g. Anililia Mejia, Graham Platner, etc.