Mamdani, Cuomo and Sliwa fling zingers in New York mayoral debate as they try to win over voters

New York City’s three mayoral contenders had a fiery debate on Wednesday night in their final televised face-off less than two weeks before voters decide the city’s next leader on 4 November.

Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani, independent Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa participated in a tense and often chaotic discussion. The current mayor, Eric Adams, who dropped out of the race weeks earlier, once again did not attend.

“It’s us versus them,” Sliwa declared in his opening remarks, grouping Cuomo and Mamdani together despite their mutual disapproval of one another.

Mamdani opened by accusing both rivals of focusing more on urging each other to drop out than on offering new ideas. The former governor’s allies have urged Sliwa to withdraw to consolidate anti-Mamdani votes, though it is unclear how many conservatives would back Cuomo.

Cuomo claimed Mamdani “has no new ideas” and merely rehashed ideas from former mayor Bill de Blasio, prompting Mamdani to fire back: “I have plans for our future, my opponents only have fear.”

Beginning with the topic of ICE raids in New York, Cuomo said federal immigration agents should not focus on quality-of-life offenses like street vending, calling those a police matter. He added he would have personally called Donald Trump to rein in ICE.

Sliwa countered that, unlike Cuomo and Mamdani, he would “negotiate with Donald Trump and try to get the best deal possible”. Mamdani hit back, calling Cuomo “Donald Trump’s puppet”.

The two then sparred over which candidate Trump preferred. Cuomo claimed Trump wanted Mamdani elected so he could “come in and take over the city”, calling the progressive “Trump’s dream”.

The debate later turned to the city’s record 150,000 homeless students. Mamdani spoke about plans to double a program pairing shelter families with city workers for regular check-ins. Cuomo said the “homeless rate has more than doubled” since he left office, without clarifying his figures.

Sliwa quipped, “You didn’t leave. You fled from being impeached,” earning one of the night’s loudest rounds of applause.

On housing, Mamdani said he would “freeze the rent” but also help landlords. Cuomo defended past rent hikes as needed and insisted Mamdani could not freeze rents because he doesn’t control the city’s rent guidelines board.

“If you want a candidate for mayor who tells you everything he can’t do, then Andrew Cuomo is your choice,” Mamdani replied, clarifying that the mayor appoints board members.

When the “City of Yes” zoning reforms came up, Sliwa opposed them while Cuomo and Mamdani voiced conditional support. Pressed further, Mamdani said: “I have not yet taken a position on those ballot amendments.”

Questions about Mamdani’s support for Jewish New Yorkers dominated the middle portion of the debate. Cuomo cited a letter from 650 rabbis claiming Mamdani threatened “the safety and dignity of Jews in every city”. He accused the Muslim candidate of helping “stoke the flames of hatred against Jewish people”.

Sliwa went further, alleging Mamdani supports “global jihad”. Mamdani replied, “I have never, not once, spoken in support of global jihad,” and suggested this attack was being fabricated because he was the first Muslim on the verge of leading the city.

He added that he would ensure the safety of Jewish children and expand a new public-school curriculum on Jewish history “so that children in this city learn about the beauty and the breadth of the Jewish experience”.

All three candidates said they would retain Jessica Tisch, the city’s police commissioner.

Things heated up even more between Cuomo and Mamdani nearly halfway through the debate after the latter was questioned on being evasive or unclear on his ideology.

Mamdani initially said: “When it comes to our schools, I believe that every single child should have an excellent public education.” He then mentioned public school funding and a need for greater literacy levels, but did not further explain his plan for overhauling schooling in New York City. He switched gears and called out Cuomo specifically for taking so long during his tenure as governor to establish more housing.

Cuomo immediately fired back to note that the governor doesn’t build housing, prompting Mamdani to interject: “Not if it’s you!”

Things quickly escalated as the men talked over each other with increasingly louder comebacks. Cuomo, again, mentioned Mamdani’s inexperience while Mamdani took aim at Cuomo for his shortcomings as governor.

“You don’t know how to run a government and you don’t know how to handle an emergency,” Cuomo said to Mamdani at one point.

After being told by moderators to keep order, Sliwa weighed in and said his fellow candidates were “fighting like kids in the school yard”. Of Mamdani, Sliwa said, “Your résumé could fit on a cocktail napkin,” while of Cuomo he said, “Your failures could fill a public school library.”

One moderator, Errol Louis, had to remind the candidates that “they know how this works”, warning them against talking over one another.

Sliwa described his son’s experience with gang violence and said the perpetrators got only “a pat on the wrist” under juvenile law. Later, amid a discussion of psychiatric hospital capacity, Cuomo jibed that he’d “save one for Sliwa”.

When asked whether they would accept a potential Eric Adams endorsement, Cuomo said yes while Mamdani and Sliwa said no.

“Absolutely not – put that crook in jail!” said Sliwa.

During candidate questioning, Mamdani confronted Cuomo about harassment allegations against the former governor, noting accuser Charlotte Bennett was in the audience: “What do you say to the 13 women who you sexually harassed?”

Cuomo dismissed this, saying Mamdani was not “mature” and that the cases were dropped, though litigation is still ongoing.

During the debate, one of Cuomo’s accusers – Lindsey Boylan – called out Cuomo on X and celebrated Mamdani for mentioning the allegations.

“I am one of these women. I have been legally abused by Andrew Cuomo for years after being harassed as his staffer. Now he wants to be mayor. Shame on you Cuomo and thank you ⁦[Mamdani]⁩ for speaking out on this injustice,” she wrote.

Speaking about Rikers Island, Sliwa and Cuomo opposed the mandated 2027 closure while Mamdani supported it, calling the jail a “stain on the history” of New York. Cuomo warned its closure would “release 7,000 criminals into New York City”. Mamdani said Adams has made it “nearly impossible” to meet the deadline but pledged to try.

The exchange devolved again into bickering. Cuomo touted infrastructure projects such as the Second Avenue Subway and the Mario Cuomo Bridge to highlight his experience. Mamdani retorted: “You will hear from Andrew Cuomo about his experience as if we don’t know about it. We experienced your experience! The issue is your experience!”

Discussing wages, Mamdani said New York was becoming “a museum of where working-class people used to be able to live”, proposing to phase in a $30 minimum wage.

“Zohran Mamdani deals with fantasies, not reality,” Sliwa replied.

The candidates also clashed over Mamdani’s plan for universal free buses. Cuomo said it would “subsidize the rich”.

In a contentious debate full of quarrels and zingers, the night ended rather predictably, with all three mayoral candidates declining to name a candidate that they would like to see run for president in 2028.

Election day for the New York City mayoral race is Tuesday, 4 November. Early voting begins on 25 October and runs through 2 November.