NYC mayoral debate recap between Mamdani, Cuomo, Sliwa
Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa sparred during their first general election debate of the NYC mayoral race. FOX 5 NY’s Briella Tomassetti has a recap of the night.
NEW YORK CITY – Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa sparred on Thursday night during their first general election debate of the New York City mayoral race.Â
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The candidates discussed a wide range of topics, from how best to tackle climate change to the city’s congestion pricing to education in NYC’s public schools and the ongoing saga that is the Gaza war.Â
NYC mayoral debate highlights
JUMP TO: AFFORDABILITY l CRIME l TRUMP
The three men also berated each other over their past comments and actions. Sliwa, for example, repeatedly went after Cuomo for the barrage of sexual harassment allegations that ultimately led to his resignation as the state’s governor in 2021.Â
Sliwa, who took off his signature red beret for the debate stage, found himself caught in the middle – literally and figuratively – with him positioned between his two opponents as they lobbed attacks at one another. At one point, Sliwa complained that he was not getting enough speaking time, saying, “I am being marginalized out of this.” Meanwhile, Cuomo continued to bring up Mamdani’s past comments about defunding the police.Â
NEW YORK, NY – OCTOBER 16: (L-R) Mayoral candidates, Independent nominee former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa and Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani participate in a mayoral debate at Rockefeller Center on October 16, 202
“He has a distant relationship with the truth,” Cuomo said of Mamdani.
The three primary issues that candidates focused on, however, were affordability, crime and President Donald Trump. Let’s delve into what happened:
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Mamdani has made affordability the cornerstone of his campaign, and the debate was no different. He focused on his plan to freeze rent for all stabilized tenants, for example, and his proposal to make MTA buses and child care free.Â
Cuomo and Sliwa said these proposals were too pricey and unrealistic on the debate stage. Mamdani’s campaign estimates that it would cost about $6 billion to fund his universal child care proposal, for example.Â
“It’s been an hour and 20 minutes of this debate, and we haven’t heard Gov. Cuomo say the word affordability.”
— Zohran Mamdani on Andrew Cuomo
Prior to the debate, Mamdani called Cuomo “the architect” of NYC’s affordability crisis, and during the debate, he continued to go after him.Â
“It’s been an hour and 20 minutes of this debate, and we haven’t heard Gov. Cuomo say the word affordability,” Mamdani said.Â
Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani speaks during a mayoral debate, Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis, Pool)
On affordability, Cuomo said that he sees the concept as a “new fancy word for an old problem” – the fact that working-class New Yorkers are struggling to make ends meet.Â
Sliwa focused on his plan to convert commercial spaces into affordable housing, which is outlined in his platform. He also said that the property tax system in NYC needs reform, a point he’s also made on the campaign trail and which all of the candidates seem to agree on.Â
The candidates were also asked during the debate how much they personally spend on groceries and housing.
Mamdani said his apartment costs $2,300 per month, and he spends about $125 to $150 per week on groceries. Sliwa said he spends about the same on groceries, but pays $3,900 per month in housing costs. Cuomo came after Mamdani for his rent-stabilized apartment, which he’s done in the past, before sharing that he spends about $7,800 on housing each month and about $150 per week on groceries.Â
The three candidates also clashed over crime in the city, another key issue in the race.Â
Cuomo and Sliwa criticized Mamdani’s proposal for the creation of a Department of Community Safety, which would be tasked with responding to mental health crises and combating homelessness. Sliwa called diverting police officers away from mental health calls “another fantasy,” while Cuomo said that both a police officer and a mental health professional should respond in situations such as these.Â
“That’s why he won’t hire more police when everything else says we need more police.”
— Andrew Cuomo on Zohran Mamdani
Police officials have said that 911 operators would in fact need training on how to make the distinction between someone calling because a crime is occurring or someone calling because they’re experiencing a mental health crisis.Â
In criticizing Mamdani for his past comments about the NYPD, Cuomo said that difference between me and the assemblyman is he doesn’t like the police.
Independent candidate former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks during a mayoral debate, Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis, Pool)
“That’s why he won’t hire more police when everything else says we need more police,” he added.Â
Mamdani acknowledges on his campaign website that the police have a “critical role to play” in managing public safety, but that “right now, we’re relying on them to deal with the failures of our social safety net—which prevents them from doing their actual jobs.”Â
He plans to keep the NYPD officer headcount the same, but cut the department’s overtime spending. Cuomo and Sliwa, on the other hand, both want to add several thousand additional officers to the force if elected.
The president has been deeply involved in the race. He’s threatened to withhold federal funding from the city if Mamdani wins the election, for example. During the debate, Trump was brought up in relation to several topics.Â
“You think you’re the toughest guy alive, but let me tell you something, you lost your own primary, rejected by your own Democratic Party.”
— Curtis Sliwa on Andrew Cuomo
“If the assemblyman is elected, Mayor Donald Trump will take over in New York City, and it will be Mayor Trump,” Cuomo said.
Cuomo and Mamdani both criticized the President’s immigration crackdown during the debate, whereas Sliwa focused more on the importance of immigrants to New York City’s workforce.Â
Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa speaksduring a mayoral debate, Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis, Pool)
All the candidates agreed that they would resist efforts from the Trump administration to deploy the National Guard to New York City.Â
“The president is going to back down to you?” Sliwa said. “You think you’re the toughest guy alive, but let me tell you something, you lost your own primary, rejected by your own Democratic Party.”
Cuomo’s donor base also came up. One PAC, Fix the City, reportedly spent more than $20 million on TV adds for Cuomo criticizing Mamdani. As The New York Times notes, “there have been multiple examples of donors to this group and others who have backed President Trump and are now supporting groups helping Cuomo. Cuomo has claimed this is because of the president’s ties to New York City.Â
“I don’t need the president’s assistance,” Mamdani said during the debate. “And what I’d tell the president is if he ever wants to come for New Yorkers in the way that he has been, he’s going to have to get through me as the next mayor of the city.”
The Source: Information was sourced from the debate directly, as well as The New York Times, The Associated Press, The CITY, The American Prospect, Newsweek, the candidates’ campaign platforms, social media and previous FOX 5 NY reporting.Â