Toughness and Trump featured in New York City mayoral candidate’s new ad

NEW YORK — Democrat Scott Stringer’s mayoral campaign will release a TV ad Wednesday casting the bespectacled former city comptroller as an understated tough guy to lead the nation’s largest city.

“Toughest” features Stringer, who has polled behind Andrew Cuomo, Zohran Mamdani and Comptroller Brad Lander, speaking directly to the camera as he walks down a street. The 30-second spot is part of a seven-figure buy and will appear on broadcast, cable and digital channels.

“Look, real New Yorkers know: The loudest guy on the block is never the toughest,” Stringer says as images of Cuomo, Mayor Eric Adams and President Donald Trump are shown.

The ad — Stringer’s second spot of his campaign — will be unveiled hours before nine Democratic candidates square off in the first televised debate ahead of the June 24 primary that is co-sponsored by POLITICO and WNBC. Stringer is expected to make toughness part of his closing argument in the coming weeks.

Stringer defines “tough” in the spot as “taking on party bosses to save rent stabilization laws, fighting corruption as comptroller and saying no to Cuomo’s vicious budget cuts.”

“‘Tough’ is putting New Yorkers first,” he says.

As he did in his first spot, Stringer calls Trump a “schmuck” and pledges to keep the Republican president out of the deep-blue city’s affairs.

Perceptions of mayoral toughness have been a common thread, dating back to John Lindsay calling the job “the second toughest” in America behind being president.

Stringer’s ad follows campaign spots from other candidates who have also cast themselves as assertive figures. Lander, his successor in the comptroller’s office, released an ad featuring him crushing Teslas in a junkyard — a reference to Trump pal Elon Musk. Another Lander video showed the candidate boxing.

The perceived weakness of Cuomo's Democratic opponents has pushed them to show they can be tough. The frontrunning Cuomo has also positioned himself as a tough politician, but critics allege it’s a front for bullying and poor behavior.

Stringer has spent nearly $1.9 million on television ads since launching his race last year, according to media tracking firm AdImpact.

An Emerson College poll last month showed him trailing Cuomo, Mamdani and Lander. The survey found he placed fourth in an 11-candidate field in the first round of the city’s ranked-choice voting system. He received 9 percent of the vote and was eliminated by the eighth round with 13.2 percent.