As election day creeps closer in a mayoral race that New York Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani is heavily favored to win, critics to his left are voicing concerns over his flirtation with the political mainstream. Detractors have balked at Mamdani’s decision to apologize for his past criticisms of the New York Police Department, questioned whether he’s really a socialist prepared to take on corporate power, and mused that — maybe — he’s a closet Zionist.

The critiques almost perfectly contradict the flack Mamdani has gotten from the political establishment to his right, long considered the biggest barrier in the Queens assembly member’s path to Gracie Mansion. His closest competitor, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, attacked Mamdani in a debate Thursday night on the grounds that he “won’t denounce ‘globalize the intifada,’” claiming the phrase meant “kill all Jews.”

Mamdani has been hailed as a uniquely talented political communicator, but it’s his response to the invocation of that protest cry that has repeatedly drawn ire from his left and his right as he attempts to toe the line.

“I learned that this phrase evokes many painful memories,” Mamdani said Thursday night. “And in hearing that and the distance between that impact and the rationale that some use of saying it, of speaking about the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land, is why I said that I would discourage this language, language that I do not use.”

After Mamdani made similar remarks to

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