Last night, the three New York City mayoral candidates took the stage for a wide-ranging, heated debate, ushering in the final days of a contentious campaign.
Zohran Mamdani, the socialist frontrunner and state assemblyman, squared off against former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, running as an independent, and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa, founder of the Guardian Angels. Mamdani and Cuomo’s heated exchanges were the focal point of the evening, with Sliwa often fighting to get a word in edgewise.
The next mayor of NYC will oversee a $115 billion budget and manage a workforce of 300,000 people. The moderators scrutinized each candidate’s resume, with no candidate leaving the second question of the debate unscathed.
Cuomo spent a large part of the night defending himself from allegations of sexual harassment brought against him and his mishandling of the COVID pandemic, topics raised frequently by Mamdani and the moderators.
“You have the management experience, but you resigned from office amid sexual harassment and COVID-related scandals,” Telemundo’s Rosarina Bretón asked. “Why should voters trust you have the character to be mayor?”
Cuomo defended himself by noting all sexual harassment cases had been settled or dismissed, and later called the COVID-related accusations “politically motivated.” Cuomo then jumped into his executive experience, noting that the budget he managed as New York Governor is twice the size of the New York City budget. He listed several of his accomplishments as Governor, including minimum-wage laws, paid family leave, and construction projects such as LaGuardia Airport.
Cuomo used the remainder of his time to issue what appeared to be a direct blow to Mamdani, declaring the role of mayor as “no job for on-the-job training.”
When Cuomo announced his candidacy with a 17-minute campaign ad, many viewed his election to the office as a foregone conclusion. But on June 24, Mamdani shocked New York with a decisive primary victory, upsetting Cuomo 56% to 44% in the final ranked choice vote tally.
Sliwa, a longtime fixture in New York City, pitched himself as the only candidate who really understands New Yorkers, having spent the most time in the city’s outer boroughs and riding public transit. Sliwa insisted he wasn’t running for “a title or paycheck,” and pledged he would staff his administration with the “best and brightest” who have dedicated their lives trying to improve the city of New York.
Moderators addressed Mamdani’s lack of experience, asking the assemblyman if he was “ready to lead the nation’s largest and greatest city in the world?”
“I have the experience of being a New Yorker.” Mamdani began, “I’ve paid rent in the city, waited for a bus in the city, and bought groceries in the city.”
Mamdani also added “watching a politically broken system, securing $500,000 in debt relief for taxi drivers, and delivering five no-fare buses” to his management skills.
Mamdani’s answer led to a heated exchange between him and Cuomo.
“He literally has never had a job,” fired Cuomo, “He interned for his mother. Any day you could have a hurricane, God forbid a 9/11, a health pandemic. If you don’t know what you’re doing, people could die.”
Mamdani spent the rest of the night rebuffing two attacks: his extreme views on Israel and Hamas, and his untenable socialist policy proposals. Moderators pressed Mamdani on his refusal to condemn the slogan “globalize the intifada,” which many view as a call to arms, and on lyrics from his 2017 rap career praising the “Holy Land Five” — men who were convicted of funneling dollars to Hamas in 2008.
Thanking the moderators for the opportunity to explain his past rhetoric, Mamdani told potential voters that after conversations with Jewish New Yorkers, he now “discourages this language.”
That wasn’t enough for Cuomo, who repeatedly accused Mamdani of refusing to condemn Hamas.
Controversial statements have haunted Mamdani throughout the campaign. In 2020, he publicly supported defunding the police and government housing over private property ownership. Today, he champions a platform that includes increasing the $17 minimum wage to $30, free child care, free buses and subways, government-run grocery stores, and rent freezes for rent-stabilized tenants.
Mamdani’s policies would cost the city $10 billion. This week on Fox News, Mamdani said he would raise taxes on the 1% by 2% to pay for his plans. However, Governor Kathy Hochul pledged to reject his tax hike proposals, an obstacle Mamdani attempted to dodge during the debate.
When asked, Mamdani declined to use the debate stage to endorse Hochul. So did Cuomo and Sliwa.
Since the debate, Mamdani has maintained his double-digit lead in the polls.
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