In the final weeks of the Democratic primary for mayor of New York City, former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has held on to his lead in the polls.

He has centered his campaign on the idea that the city is in crisis and needs a strong manager to address quality-of-life issues.

His message appears to be resonating with New Yorkers who say the city is heading in the wrong direction. But he faces a crowded field of primary candidates, including Zohran Mamdani, a progressive state lawmaker from Queens who is polling in second place.

Ahead of the June 24 primary election, the leading Democrats in the race visited the New York Times newsroom for interviews. We plan to publish excerpts from those interviews, and this is the first in the series; our conversation was edited for length and clarity.

We asked Mr. Cuomo, 67, questions about 10 themes, with the occasional follow-up, from thorny policy issues to how much he pays in rent.

We’ve written previously about where Mr. Cuomo stands on key issues, the sexual harassment allegations that led to his resignation in 2021 and a federal investigation into his handling of nursing home deaths during the pandemic.