In its latest cold open, Saturday Night Live humorously tackled the New York City mayoral race, featuring well-known personalities like Shane Gillis and the show’s host, Miles Teller.
The sketch began with Kenan Thompson portraying NY1’s Errol Louis, humorously dubbing himself “the least famous person to be impersonated on SNL.” He noted the presence of “two viable candidates and one New York ‘nut.'”
As the candidates introduced themselves, Miles Teller stepped into the role of former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, quipping that he “guided us through COVID and then yadda, yadda, ya, squeeze, squeeze, honk honk.”
Shane Gillis took on the character of Curtis Sliwa, launching into a story about being shot by gangs. Meanwhile, Ramy Youssef, as Zohran Mamdani, jested about distributing free items.
“I know some of you are concerned about the idea of a young socialist Muslim mayor,” he commented, “so let me ease those worries by smiling painfully after every response.”
He further portrayed himself as the choice for those who feel guilty about contributing to gentrification in their neighborhoods.
‘Once you vote for me, you know you’ll feel a little less bad about that chicken and rice shop getting turned into a Sweetgreen, so why don’t you hit me up on that ballot box girl,’ he said.
Things then took a turn when Devon Walker as Eric Adams came out and praised Cuomo.
‘If you like me, you’re going to love this guy,’ he said, before Teller-as-Cuomo reminded him of their plan – and he instead endorsed Mamdani, butchering his name as he spoke.
Devon Walker as Eric Adams came out to praise Andrew Cuomo, played by Miles Teller
Shane Gillis earned praise for his portrayal as Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa
The sketch ended with James Austin Johnson playing Trump coming out on stage and stating that the election was really about him
The sketch wrapped up with James Austin Johnson playing Trump coming out on stage.
‘This election is about housing and taxes, but we all know it’s about me, right?’ he said, as he vowed to be ‘hands on’ in the city.
‘This guy knows about hands-on right,’ he said, turning to Teller-as-Cuomo.
When he then turned to Mamdani, Trump claimed: ‘He’s too young to lead, he doesn’t have the wobbly walk.’
Many online praised the cold open, with one person calling it ‘one of the best cold opens in a while.’
‘LOL who would have guessed that a fictional debate with the [three] New York mayoral candidates would be funny to non-New Yorkers?’ another added. ‘Well done @nbcsnl. Hilarious cold open.’
‘Can’t get over how perfect that SNL cold open was,’ a third said.
The opening sketch was filled with jokes about Cuomo’s sexual advances
James Austin Johnson received praise for his portrayal of President Trump
Kenan Thompson starred as NY1’s Errol Louis, whom he called ‘the least famous person to be impersonated on SNL’
Others praised the actors themselves.
‘Love the guy playing Trump, sooo funny!’ one X user wrote, while another said they had ‘no notes’ about the cold open with Ramy Youssef as Zohran.
‘Shane Gillis becoming an SNL favorite (and being very good at it) is sooo weird,’ another added, after he was unceremoniously booted from the sketch program when old jokes resurfaced of him mocking gay people and people of Asian descent.
He was defended by iconic Saturday Night Live alum Norm Macdonald – who himself had been fired from the show for his OJ Simpson jokes – and ultimately made a triumphant return last year to host the program.
The star-studded sketch came just days before the election, as polls showed Mamdani was still ahead in the polls.
The 34-year-old self-described democratic socialist is set to storm to victory in the election on November 4, the poll by JL Partners for the Daily Mail revealed.
He has a 15-point lead over his nearest rival, former New York state governor Andrew Cuomo.
Self-described socialist candidate Zohran Mamdani remains ahead in the polls
The poll showed that many New Yorkers who do not support Mamdani are convinced he is going to ‘destroy’ America’s biggest metropolis and crater its economy, sending shockwaves across the rest of the country.
They think it could mark a return to the urban decay of the 1980s when the city was blighted by poverty, rampant crime, crumbling infrastructure and abandoned buildings.
Even among Mamdani’s own supporters more think he will make antisemitism in New York worse, rather than better.
Asked for one word to describe what the Big Apple would be like after four years of his left-wing policies, the most common response from non-Mamdani voters was ‘disaster.’
They also said a Mamdani-run New York would be ‘chaos,’ ‘hell,’ ‘broken,’ and a ‘s***hole.’
Among voters who have made up their minds, Mamdani was on 46 percent support, according to the poll.
Cuomo, running as an independent, was on 31 percent, Republican Curtis Sliwa on 22 percent, and the rest was shared among minor candidates.
