The city’s wealthy powerbrokers are opening their pocketbooks to try to stop Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani from reaching City Hall — but it’s still not clear which alternative is the best bet for their cash.

This year’s mayoral race is shaping up to be the first competitive general election in years, with incumbent Mayor Adams running as an independent and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo still in the mix.

The stakes have been ratcheted up as members of the business community, taken by surprise at Mamdani’s upset victory in the primary, scramble to defeat him. But it’s unclear whether Cuomo, who lost by double digits to Mamdani in the primary, or Adams, whose first term was marred by a federal corruption indictment, is the better bet.

Basil Smikle, a Democratic strategist, called the current situation a “solution looking for a problem” with the potential to backfire and wind up helping Mamdani.

“There’s a strong possibility that instead of using those resources to defeat him, they’ll just encourage his base even more,” Smikle said.

A new political action committee against Mamdani, called New Yorkers for a Better Future Mayor 25, formed Tuesday. It’s not yet clear who, if anyone, it will back. Fix the City, a pro-Cuomo super PAC, has continued to rake in donations as it looks to pursue supporting a “free-market candidate,” according to a rep.

Meanwhile, Adams has collected over $1 million in just the past two weeks, as he’s fundraised from the Hamptons to Midtown, according to his campaign. At a fundraiser hosted by real estate giant SL Green, he raked in nearly $1 million.

Mamdani is a democratic socialist running on proposals to make buses and childcare free and to freeze rents for stabilized tenants. To pay for that agenda, Mamdani proposes raising taxes on the city’s top 1% as well as jack up the corporate tax rate. Those priorities have unnerved city business leaders while generating enthusiasm among younger city-dwellers.

Mamdani has focused his campaign on populist messaging, emphasized door-to-door ground outreach and built up his campaign coffers with small dollar donations. On the campaign trail, he slammed Cuomo for sharing a donor base with President Trump and said he’d be beholden to them once in office.

Cuomo collected larger donations and Fix the City, the super PAC in Cuomo’s support, raised roughly $24 million for the ex-governor’s primary run, a record-shattering amount.

The ex-governor’s primary donor base now appears to be split, with some sticking by their candidate and others, like Bill Ackman, announcing a pivot to supporting Mayor Adams.

Cuomo and Adams are widely seen as sharing a similar base of older, more moderate voters who oppose Mamdani’s progressive agenda. Both men have also sharply criticized Mamdani over his views on Israel and Gaza, accusing him of taking antisemitic positions.

It’s possible that Cuomo and Adams could split the opposition to Mamdani if they both remain in the race until November. That has created some uncertainty among donors as they decide who, if not Mamdani, to throw their money to in the already high-spending race.

“Another tactic they could take is… find a way to work with him,” Smikle suggested.

“You may have disagreements, but you know, if you see that organized labor is getting behind him, you have electeds joining him.. That should tell you everything you need to know about the importance of engaging Mamdani voters.”

Mamdani is making his own appeals to the city’s business community.

“My vision of this city is not one where any business leader leaves this city, where any real estate developer feels as if they have no place,” Mamdani said Thursday. “It is a vision of this city where everyone stays, everyone thrives, and we actually make enough room for more to join us.”

Since Mamdani’s primary win, labor and many elected officials have endorsed him. Powerful labor unions including 32BJ, the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council and the United Federation of Teachers have also backed Mamdani. Rep. Adriano Espaillat, who is hugely influential among many of the city’s Latino voters, threw his weight behind Mamdani on Thursday.