NEW YORK, Oct 31 (Reuters) – Wall Street and the finance industry have broad misgivings about the prospect of frontrunner Zohran Mamdani becoming New York City’s mayor, but many are hopeful he moderates his positions as they prepare to try and work alongside him.

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“There are a whole bunch of ideas that are well-intentioned. What I agree with is that he has attracted real passion,” said Cromwell Coulson, chief executive at Manhattan-based markets data and trading platform OTC Markets Group. Still, Coulson cited concerns, saying that some people could be driven to leave the city if it becomes an unfriendly place for commerce.

“It won’t be day one, but you will see where our hiring footprints go,” said Coulson, who said he ultimately supports Mamdani’s top rival in the race, former Governor Andrew Cuomo, a moderate Democrat. Republican Curtis Sliwa is also on the ballot in the November 4 election.

Reuters spoke to more than half a dozen other members of the finance community, including executives or representatives of financial firms or industry sectors, who declined to be named talking about politics.

“If the election turns out the way the polls suggest, … let’s hope that the worst fears of what might occur thereafter are not realized and that the new mayor, whoever it might be, continues to realize the importance of the business community to the city,” Peter Orszag, CEO of financial advisory and asset management firm Lazard CEO, said on a recent earnings conference call. Orszag had served under Democratic former President Barack Obama as director of the Office of Management and Budget.

Billionaire investor Dan Loeb has donated $600,000 to Fix the City and $100,000 to Defend NYC. Representatives for both Ackman and Loeb declined comment.

The call with Dimon was previously reported by Bloomberg.

Yasser Salem, CEO of OneNYC, an independent expenditure committee that backs Mamdani, told Reuters in an interview that he is assembling an advisory council of business leaders to work with Mamdani if he prevails.

“We are highly focused on building specific instances and demonstrations of trust” with the business community, Salem said.

Representatives for Mamdani and Cuomo did not respond to requests for comment.

Christina Greer, a political science professor at Fordham University in New York, noted that for tax hikes to be enacted Mamdani would have to work in conjunction with Albany, which must approve any city tax hikes.

“Whatever process will happen will be incredibly slow and may never actually affect” wealthy residents, said Greer.

RIPPLE EFFECTS THROUGH CITY

Real estate could see a ripple effect, with Mamdani pushing for a rent freeze on rent-stabilized apartments, a measure undertaken by former Mayor Bill de Blasio but reversed by the current outgoing mayor, Eric Adams.

A potential rent freeze has spooked many landlords and lenders, said Paul Rahimian, CEO of Parkview Financial, a Los Angeles real estate lender which has a New York City office. Rahimian said the firm was taking a “hold and see” attitude to extending new loans to real estate developers and projects in New York until after the election.

“There are a lot of landlords that are now no longer making money but whose properties are costing them money every year,” he said.

Isaac Toledano, founder and CEO of Miami-based real estate investment firm BH Group, said he anticipated that 2026 would be busy with relocations from New York to Florida if Mamdani wins.

“There are a lot of people that do not agree with what he’s going to do,” said Toledano.

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EXCLUSIVE: The former director of Mossad, Yossi Cohen, confirmed that the joint operation coordinated by the United States and Israel “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear sites, halting its uranium enrichment, and warned that Israel “can come again” if Tehran resumes its nuclear program.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Shurat HaDin conference at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York City this week, Cohen, who led Israel’s intelligence agency until 2021, described the operation as a turning point for Israel’s security and the region’s diplomatic future.

“For many years, everyone knew that Iran was our premier client — and my personal client,” he said, recalling his years as a Mossad operative. “That was the nation and the station in our workflow because of the threat Iran posed to Israel.”

TRUMP’S IRAN GAMBLE PAYS OFF AS WWIII DOOMSAYERS NOW PRAISE ISRAEL-HAMAS CEASEFIRE

“Since June 2025, Iran has been in a different position,” he said. “I can absolutely accept the president’s description that Iran’s nuclear sites were obliterated. I know for sure that Iran doesn’t enrich uranium these days, which is a great achievement. And more than that, Iran knows two things: first, that we can, and we did — with the U.S., in beautiful cooperation and coordination. And second, something even more important — we can come again.”

Cohen praised the Trump administration for its discreet coordination with Israel, the Mossad and the IDF that enabled the joint strike.

Map of US strikes on Iran. (Fox News)

“We destroyed their air-defense systems, their Revolutionary Guard sites, we chased their filthy terrorists in their own bedrooms and beds inside Tehran and other cities,” he said. “We destroyed the nuclear facilities that were threatening the State of Israel up to the level of an existential threat — and they know that we’ve done a beautiful job there.”

The day Israel stole Iran’s nuclear archive

In his newly released book, The Sword of Freedom, Cohen — who worked directly with three U.S. presidents — recalls how he warned President Barack Obama in 2015 that the Iran nuclear deal was dangerous.

“I told him it was risky,” Cohen writes. “He said, ‘Yossi, you are so wrong.’”

That conversation, he says, was a scene later repeated with President Donald Trump. “When Trump took office in 2016, I told him the deal was ‘so wrong’ in principle and practice. He replied, ‘You’re so right. It’s the worst deal ever.’”

INSIDE ISRAEL’S SECRET WAR IN IRAN: MOSSAD COMMANDOS, HIDDEN DRONES AND THE STRIKE THAT STUNNED TEHRAN

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presents material on Iranian nuclear weapons development during a press conference in Tel Aviv, April 2018. (Sebastian Scheiner/AP)

“We love it when the weather is extreme — when everyone else stays indoors.”

A key turning point, Cohen said, was the 2018 Mossad operation to steal Iran’s nuclear archive — a mission that ultimately influenced the U.S. decision to withdraw from the deal.

On Jan. 31, 2018, Cohen watched a live video feed showing a 25-member Mossad squad infiltrating Tehran on a cold, snowy night. “In the Mossad, we love it when the weather is extreme — when everyone else stays indoors,” he said with a smile.

That night, agents stole 55,000 pages of classified documents and 183 compact discs, which they smuggled back to Israel — “not by UPS,” Cohen joked. The materials revealed that while Iran was negotiating with the U.S. and world powers, it was secretly continuing its nuclear weapons work.

Hostage deal and the “day after” in Gaza

Cohen also spoke about the recent Trump administration brokered hostage deal.

“I can’t thank them enough, together with our allies in the Middle East,” he said. “All living hostages are free, and I hope to receive the remaining bodies shortly, as Hamas has committed.”

People wave Israeli and American flags in Hostages Square during a rally supporting hostages and missing families following the Israel-Hamas peace deal. (Dana Reany/Hostages and Missing Families Forum)

He expressed optimism that the end of the war in Gaza could mark the beginning of a new diplomatic era.

“From now on, we will see a better Middle East when this war is practically over,” he said. “Maybe the reconstruction of our relationships in the region will start to resume.”

“More peace treaties will come”

Cohen predicted that renewed normalization efforts would extend beyond the Abraham Accords, which he helped establish during his tenure as Mossad chief.

“Not only will the Saudis be in line,” he said. “I know there are some rumors about Indonesia, I cherish that, of course, and I’m expecting other countries to come and sign peace treaties with the State of Israel.”

He noted that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is expected to visit Washington soon, calling it “an important visit not only for him, but for us in the region.”

TRUMP AND NETANYAHU CELEBRATE ‘HISTORIC VICTORY’ AGAINST IRAN, EYE FUTURE MIDDLE EAST PEACE

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is pictured sitting next to a senior military official in Iran. (Getty Images)

“In the spirit of the American president right now and his beautiful team — Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, Marco Rubio and others,” he added, “I’m expecting to see more peace treaties in the future.”

The Iranian regime and the road ahead

At the Shurat HaDin conference, Cohen also said he believes the overthrow of the Iranian regime is possible, though it may take years.

“The Iranian people suffer under a cruel regime — anyone who dares to protest is hanged or shot,” he said. “But I believe the time has come, and if the world supports it, it will happen.”

Shurat HaDin President Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, who hosted the event, warned of the ongoing political and legal threats facing Israel.

“The war is not yet over,” she said. “Political threats to establish a Palestinian state alongside Israel, and the aggressiveness of the International Criminal Court, are driving an unprecedented rise in anti-Israel sentiment and antisemitism. We must unite all forces working on this issue to fight back — on the battlefield, in the courts, and in the arena of global public opinion.”

Could Cohen one day replace Netanyahu as prime minister?

A file picture taken at the Israeli foreign ministry on October 15, 2015, shows Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) sitting next to Yossi Cohen, who is currently the head of Israel’s National Security Council, and who was named as the 12th head of the Mossad intelligence agency by Netanyahu on Dec. 7, 2015. (GALI TIBBON/AFP via Getty Images)

In the Fox News Digital interview, Cohen also addressed speculation about his political ambitions, following Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s 2018 hint that he could one day be his successor.

“I’m not going into politics right now,” he said. “There’s a long, long way to go before I enter politics. I think the Israeli situation today is relatively stable, and nobody is going anywhere. Next year we’ll have elections for sure, and I don’t think I’ll join.”

However, he did not rule out future involvement in Israel’s foreign affairs.

“I’d love to do whatever it takes to support Israel’s relationships internationally,” he said. “We need better agreements, good ones, with as many countries as we can.”

Soldier reportedly killed in first-known attack in Nigeria by Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, an armed group active in Mali and Burkina Faso.

An al-Qaeda–linked armed group active in the Sahel has claimed responsibility for an attack that killed a soldier in central Nigeria this week, its first known attack in the country.

In a video posted on its Telegram channel late on Thursday, Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) said it launched the attack in Nigeria’s Kwara State in the early hours of Wednesday, killing a soldier and seizing ammunition and cash.

A Nigerian military source confirmed to the Reuters news agency that JNIM had attacked soldiers on patrol, killing one soldier. But the army did not respond to an official request for comment.

JNIM is one of several armed groups operating in West Africa and the Sahel. It previously said it aims to establish an Islamic caliphate while expelling Western-influenced governments.

Formed in 2017, the group’s operations initially started in Mali before they spread to Burkina Faso and parts of Niger. JNIM has also launched attacks in the northernmost regions of Ghana, Ivory Coast, Benin and Togo.

Recently in Mali, JNIM declared a blockade on fuel imported from neighbouring countries. This has crippled parts of the country and forced schools and universities to shut.

In Burkina Faso in May, the group launched a major attack in the town of Djibo, killing about 200 soldiers, and last year it attacked the town of Barsalogho, killing 200 civilians.

The group’s apparent advance into Nigeria comes as Abuja’s government already battles a separate rebellion led by Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).

The years of fighting have killed tens of thousands of people and displaced more than two million more in the north of the country.

Last week, President Bola Tinubu appointed new service chiefs in a sweeping overhaul of the country’s military leadership, saying this was meant to strengthen national security.

On Thursday, without mentioning names, Tinubu told the new military leaders that he was concerned with the recent emergence of new armed groups in the north central, northwest and parts of southern Nigeria.

“We must not allow these new threats to fester. We must be decisive and proactive. Let us smash the new snakes right at the head,” Tinubu said.