Andrew Cuomo Test Drives a Warmer, Friendlier Version of Himself

There were stops at a pizzeria in Queens, a coffee shop in Harlem and a few places in the Bronx. The childhood home got a visit. Hands were shaken, smiles were exchanged.

Tuesday was Day 1 of former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s reimagined and reinvigorated campaign to become mayor of New York City, a corrective bid to what even his allies conceded had been a lackluster effort to win over voters.

The appearances reflected the first faint signs of a different sort of Cuomo campaign taking shape — one that seemed inspired in part by the go-anywhere, talk-to-anyone strategy successfully deployed by Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist and state assemblyman who captured the Democratic primary.

But in Mr. Cuomo’s hands, the shift in approach served a very particular mission: portray Mr. Mamdani as a socialist enemy of New York City, and convey Mr. Cuomo’s regret for neither effectively nor energetically delivering that message during the campaign.

Sitting across from his daughter, Mariah, at Gaby’s Pizza in Queens, Mr. Cuomo took responsibility for his lackluster primary campaign, saying, “I did not communicate my vision effectively.”

“There was this play it safe, make no mistakes attitude,” he added, as a fleet of campaign videographers recorded his every move. “That was not who I am. It’s not what New Yorkers expected from a campaign.”