Highlights From Final NYC Mayoral Debate

New York City mayoral candidates Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani, his primary opponent Andrew Cuomo, and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa squared off on Oct. 22 in a final bid for the seat that current Mayor Eric Adams is vacating in 2026.

Adams dropped out of the race on Sept. 28.

The 90-minute debate took place at LaGuardia Community College in Queens less than two weeks away from Election Day on Nov. 4.

Sliwa won a random drawing on live television, allowing him to be first to present opening remarks.

“This is a campaign about you, the people,” he said. “We’re not going to be silenced anymore. We’re going to fight to make New York City safer again and to make New York City affordable again.”

Sliwa founded the crime patrol group Guardian Angels and previously ran for New York City mayor in 2021 but lost to Adams.

Cuomo, who was second to present his opening speech, lost the Democrat primary to Mamdani in June and is running as an independent.

He started by cheering on the New York Knicks basketball team who were playing against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Madison Square Garden.

“I hope we get an update on the score,” Cuomo said. “New York is the greatest city on the globe but we are at a pivotal moment. Voters are going to have to decide in this election what candidate has the plan to save the city and what candidate can get it done.”

Cuomo further promised to hire 5,000 new police, cut taxes, and grow jobs.

The lifelong Democrat served as governor of New York from Jan. 1, 2011, to Aug. 23, 2021, and worked as the U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) under former U.S. President Bill Clinton.

Mamdani is an active member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and has served as a member of the New York Assembly representing the borough of Queens since 2021.

In his opening remarks, Mamdani said his vision for the city centers on the future.

“I am the sole candidate running with a vision for the future of this city,” he said. “I have plans for our future. My opponents only have fear.”

The moderators took turns questioning the candidates on issues such as making the Big Apple more affordable.

Housing in New York City, for example, is the second most expensive in the United States, costing about 1.5 times the national average, according to World Population Review data.

Mamdani vowed to deliver 200,000 new affordable homes across the five boroughs while freezing rents for more than 1 million rent-stabilized apartments.

“I believe that tenants across our city deserve relief and I also believe that city governments can work to alleviate the pressures for landlords of those units without having to put that burden on those same tenants,” he said.

He previously said this would be funded mostly through tax hikes on those earning over $1 million a year and corporations operating in the city.

Cuomo touted his experience as HUD secretary as evidence of his ability to build affordable housing and proposed a new means test for eligibility to secure rent stabilized housing.

To help New Yorkers afford housing, Sliwa promoted the idea of requiring big realtors to pay a vacancy tax.

“They are holding off on apartments … they are not putting them out on the market because they want to flip the building,” he said.

About 45 minutes into the debate, Mamdani and Cuomo began hurling insults at each other. Sliwa ended the mudslinging with a comedic remark criticizing both of his opponents.

“Zohran, your resume could fit on a cocktail napkin and, Andrew, your failures could fill a public school library in New York City,” he said.

When asked if they would keep Jessica Tisch as New York Police Department commissioner, all three agreed they would. Tisch was promoted to the position by Adams.

After Cuomo said Mamdani, if elected, would decriminalize prostitution, Mamdani pointed out that Cuomo’s former aide Charlotte Bennett, 29, was in the audience as he rehashed the former governor’s 2021 resignation due to allegations of sexual harassment by Bennett and other women.

Bennett sued and the lawsuit was settled in April. Cuomo was succeeded by Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul, who is the current governor.

“You have spent more than $20 million in taxpayer funds to defend yourself, all while describing these allegations as entirely political,” Mamdani said to Cuomo. “You have even gone so far as to legally go after these women. One of those women, Charlotte Bennett, is here in the audience this evening. She cannot speak up for herself because you lodged a defamation case against her.”

Cuomo has denied the allegations as political and false.

“My legal situation was fully litigated,” he said. “I was dropped from the cases.”