Are you rich if you earn $183,000 annually in New York?

The most recent drama in the fight for City Hall has centred on a question that might seem absurd in much of the rest of the United States but is all too relevant in New York City, one of the most expensive places on the planet.

- Eliza Shapiro

Is someone making US$142,000 (S$183,000) a year rich?

That's the annual salary earned by Mr Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic candidate for New York City mayor – an amount that his chief rival, former governor Andrew Cuomo, argues is too much to be living in a rent-stabilised apartment, as Mr Mamdani does.

"You make US$142,000 a year plus stipends, and your wife works, too, meaning you together likely make well over US$200,000," Mr Cuomo said on social media. "No matter which way you cut it: Zohran Mamdani is a rich person. You are actually very rich."

Mr Mamdani, who lives in a one-bedroom apartment in Astoria, Queens, has consistently said he considers himself privileged and financially comfortable. Aside from his salary as a state Assembly member, he owns land in Uganda, where he was born, valued at between US$150,000 and US$200,000. And he has said he plans to move out of his apartment, which costs US$2,300 a month.

Mr Cuomo pays about US$8,000 a month for his rental in the Sutton Place neighbourhood of Manhattan, and earned more than half a million dollars in consulting fees in 2024. His net worth is estimated at US$10 million.

The debate over what salary makes a New Yorker wealthy has highlighted how warped the citywide conversation about money has become.