Zohran Mamdani was attacked over his thin resume, Republican Curtis Sliwa strove to prove his seriousness as a candidate and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo was pressed on the sexual harassment allegations that drove him from office in a contentious final debate in New York City\u2019s mayoral race.<\/p>\n
While Mamdani, the frontrunner, began by accusing his rivals of being consumed by fighting \u2014 suggesting he would try to focus instead on his vision for New Yorkers \u2014 the state assemblymember joined them in mud as he tried to create viral social media moments, included inviting one of Cuomo\u2019s accusers to appear in the audience.<\/p>\n
Cuomo, running as an independent after losing the Democratic primary to Mamdani, fared better Wednesday than during their first debate. He used its focus on the day-to-day of running the city to showcase his political experience.<\/p>\n
Though he has urged Sliwa to drop his bid to avoid splitting the anti-Mamdani vote, he didn\u2019t bring up his request during the debate. Instead he worked to cast Mamdani, a 34-year-old democratic socialist, as out of his league, highlighting his pro-Palestinian advocacy and\u00a0President Donald Trump\u2019s threats<\/a>\u00a0to take over the city if he wins.<\/p>\n Here are some key takeaways from the debate:<\/p>\n Barbs all around<\/p>\n Mamdani had said he planned to keep his focus on issues, like affordability, that have fueled his momentum and earned him national attention, but he landed plenty of digs against his rivals, whom he accused of spending more time calling on each other to drop out \u201cthan actually proposing their own policies.\u201d<\/p>\n Cuomo and Sliwa, he said, \u201cspeak only in the past because that is all they know.\u201d He said Cuomo is \u201ca desperate man, lashing out because he knows that the one thing he cares about, power, is slipping away from him.\u201d<\/p>\n Cuomo, meanwhile, touted his experience.<\/p>\n \u201cYou have never had a job. You\u2019ve never accomplished anything,\u201d he said, insisting Mamdani lacks the merit and qualifications to run the nation\u2019s biggest city or handle its emergencies.<\/p>\n Sliwa accused both men of \u201cfighting like kids in a school yard,\u201d but piled on as well.<\/p>\n \u201cZohran, your resume could fit on a cocktail napkin. And, Andrew, your failures could fill a public school library in New York City,\u201d he quipped. He also made frequent references to Cuomo\u2019s decision to resign as governor amid a barrage of sexual harassment allegations, which Cuomo denies.<\/p>\n Local issues and the Canal Street raid<\/p>\n While the race has often been dominated by questions about the Israel-Hamas war, Trump and other national subjects, the candidates Wednesday were peppered for specifics about crime, the subways and the notorious Rikers Island jail complex.<\/p>\n Mamdani came under fire after he declined to take a position on a set of initiatives that will appear on the November ballot.<\/p>\n Mamdani also said as mayor he would ask New York City\u2019s police Commissioner Jessica Tisch to remain in her post. Mamdani, who was deeply critical of the city\u2019s police in the past, has been trying to moderate his most contentious positions.<\/p>\n