The three men vying for the post of mayor of New York City were not shy in launching venomous attacks on their rivals in the final debate before the November 4 election on Wednesday evening.
The event pitted Democratic candidates, front-runner Zohran Mamdani, against former Governor Andrew Cuomo, an independent, and Republican Curtis Sliwa.
Recent surveys have given Mamdani a double-digit lead over his two rivals.
What happened in the NYC mayoral debate?
Mamdani, a 34-year-old member of the New York State Assembly, was attacked largely because of his perceived inexperience.
Cuomo, 67, told her, “You’ve never had a job. You’ve never accomplished anything,” while Sliwa insisted, “Zohran, your resume could fit on a cocktail napkin.”
Mamdani, a Muslim, was also targeted for his pro-Palestinian advocacy, with Sliva also accusing him of supporting “global jihad” despite Mamdani’s support of religious pluralism.
Cuomo also said it would be a “dream” for US President Donald Trump – who has described Mamdani as a dangerous “communist” – if the latter had won.
“Oho [Trump] He has said that if Mamdani wins he will take over New York and he will do so. Because he has no respect for her. He thinks he’s a kid and he’s going to kick his tuchus,” Cuomo said, using the New York slang word for ‘behind.’
Cuomo has come under fire from both other candidates over sexual harassment allegations, forcing him to step down from office in 2021.
The former governor, who denies any wrongdoing, responded to Mamdani’s comments in this regard: “If you want to be in the government, you have to be serious and mature.”
Sliwa, 71, accused his two rivals of “fighting like kids in the schoolyard” and tried to prove his seriousness as a candidate, although he did not shy away from making some sharp comments himself.
He told Cuomo, “Andrew, your failures could fill a public school library in New York City.”
Both he and Cuomo have urged each other to drop out of the race so that anti-Mamdani votes can be united behind one candidate.
Agreement on ICE raids
However, despite their differences, all candidates criticized raids by immigration officials targeting vendors in Manhattan this week, during which 14 were arrested.
Cuomo said Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents are exceeding their capacity to deal with crimes like selling counterfeit bags.
Mamdani said he would oppose such federal interference in the city if he became mayor, calling ICE “a reckless entity that cares little about the law and even less about the people they are supposed to serve.”
The winner of the mayoral election will replace incumbent Eric Adams, who dropped out of the mayoral race as an independent amid falling polling numbers. Adams was under federal indictment on multiple fraud charges until President Donald Trump urged a New York judge to drop the charges earlier this year.
Edited by: Elisabeth Schumacher