![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/101625_mayoral_debate-11.jpg\")
Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani speaks during a mayoral debate, Oct. 16, 2025. Credit: Pool Photo by Angelina Katsanis\/AP<\/p>\nThe three mayoral candidates on Thursday spoke over each other, traded barbs and made their pitches for why they deserve to lead New York City in the first general election debate.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, who leads the polls, fought back attacks from his opponents. Meanwhile, GOP nominee Curtis Sliwa and independent former Gov. Andrew Cuomo tried to portray the frontrunner as too untested and reckless to become mayor.<\/p>\n
Still, Mamdani maintained his poise when defending himself, and he was able to briefly describe his proposals and strike Cuomo.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you want more of the same, vote for Andrew Cuomo, if you want an actual approach to lower crime, look at our Department of Community Safety,\u201d Mamdani said at one point, before launching into his plan to dispatch mental health outreach workers to respond to mental health crises.<\/p>\n
Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani speaks during a mayoral debate, Oct. 16, 2025. Credit: Pool Photo by Angelina Katsanis\/AP<\/p>\n
Cuomo found himself under fire not just from Mamdani, but from Sliwa, too, as the former governor attempted to hit both his rivals.<\/p>\n
Appearing without his signature red beret, Sliwa attempted to paint Cuomo and Mamdani as two-of-a-kind.<\/p>\n
At one instance, he called Cuomo and Mamdani the \u201carchitect and the apprentice\u201d of several policies he said made the city less safe, including bail changes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Most of the first hour of the debate was dominated by questions about international issues before discussions on local issues like affordability or education.<\/p>\n
A big chunk of the evening was spent discussing Mamdani\u2019s former social media posts. Cuomo, for instance, brought up Mamdani\u2019s 2020 posts calling the NYPD racist and anti-queer<\/a> following George Floyd protests. Months later, he tweeted criticism<\/a> of the police\u2019s overtime budget.<\/p>\n \u201cAndrew Cuomo is a politician of the past, and all he can speak about are the tweets of the past in 2020,\u201d Mamdani said. \u201cThose are tweets which I have apologized for to New Yorkers and police officers directly, and they are not what I am actually running on.\u201d<\/p>\n The Democratic primary winner \u2014 who maintains a double-digit lead in the polls \u2014 was questioned at length about his criticism of Israel. The candidates also sparred about how they\u2019d handle the National Guard and how they would stand up to President Donald Trump.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sliwa \u2014 who said he has not spoken to the president in years and is not fully aligned with the Make America Great Again backers \u2014 said his opponents had \u201chigh levels of testosterone\u201d when it came to dealing with the president. He would be different, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can be tough, but you can\u2019t be tough if it\u2019s going to cost people desperately-needed federal funds,\u201d he said, adding that he would negotiate to keep the Gateway Tunnel from New Jersey to New York, but was fine with the cancellation<\/a> of the Second Avenue Subway extension in East Harlem.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you try to get tough with Trump, the only people who are going to suffer from that are the people of New York City,\u201d Sliwa added.<\/p>\n Cuomo hit at Mamdani\u2019s relative lack of experience, claiming Mamdani has never had a job before \u2014 although he\u2019s been an assemblymember since 2021 and previously worked as a housing counselor.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you look at the failed mayors, it was the ones that had no management experience, don\u2019t do it again,\u201d Cuomo said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Mamdani and Cuomo went back and forth on the latter\u2019s decision to send sickened seniors back to nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic, which is reportedly<\/a> under investigation by the Department of Justice.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIf we have a health pandemic, then why would New Yorkers turn back to the governor who sent seniors to their deaths in nursing homes? That\u2019s the kind of experience that\u2019s on offer here today,\u201d Mamdani said. \u201cWhat I don\u2019t have in experience I make up for in integrity. And what you don\u2019t have in integrity, you could never make up for in experience.\u201d<\/p>\n The moderators then asked candidates to weigh in on local issues, including housing, education, policing and immigration.<\/p>\n![\"Republican](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/101625_mayoral_debate-10.jpg\")
Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa arrives to participate in a mayoral debate at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, Oct. 16, 2025. Credit: Pool Photo by Angelina Katsanis\/AP<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/101625_mayoral_debate-12.jpg\")
Independent candidate and former Governor Andrew Cuomo speaks during a mayoral debate, Oct. 16, 2025. Credit: Pool Photo by Angelina Katsanis\/AP<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/101625_mayoral_debate-6.jpg\")
Mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani arrives at 30 Rockefeller Plaza for the first mayoral debate, Oct. 16, 2025. Credit: Samantha Maldonado\/THE CITY<\/p>\n