Final NYC Mayoral Debate: Mamdani Under Fire from Cuomo and Sliwa

In a heated final mayoral debate at LaGuardia Community College, front-runner Zohran Mamdani faced intense pressure from his opponents, former Governor Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa, just 13 days before the November 4th election. The 34-year-old Democratic nominee and Queens assemblyman, known for his socialist platform, found himself visibly sweating as both rivals repeatedly challenged him to provide clear answers on critical policy issues. The debate highlighted the stark contrast between Mamdani’s limited political experience and Cuomo’s controversial record as a three-term governor, while Sliwa played the role of both aggressor and, surprisingly, occasional ally to Mamdani against Cuomo.

Throughout the 90-minute exchange, Mamdani struggled to articulate concrete plans when pressed on education reform, public safety, and housing solutions. When asked about his opposition to mayoral control of schools and his support for state class size mandates, he offered generalizations about “the crisis in front of us” without specific remedies. His proposed Department of Community Safety, which would dispatch social workers to mental health calls and domestic violence situations, received similar criticism when he merely stated such approaches “worked elsewhere” and that he would “trust dispatchers” to determine when police involvement was necessary. On housing, Mamdani’s response about “streamlining processes of private sector construction” lacked substantive details for addressing the city’s housing crisis. Perhaps most surprisingly, he admitted he “had not reviewed” ballot proposals that would appear alongside his own name in the upcoming election.

Cuomo, 67, performed more confidently than in the previous debate, highlighting his achievements including the LaGuardia Airport redesign and the Second Avenue subway extension. He repeatedly mocked Mamdani as a “good actor who missed his calling,” particularly when attacking the candidate’s signature “rent freeze” platform. “Freeze the rent sounds great, yeah, it affects about 25% of the number of housing units in the city of New York. It’s not a new idea. Bill de Blasio did it,” Cuomo stated, later adding, “I’m going to deep freeze the rent. People think it applies to all of them… And by the way, it’s all because the mayor doesn’t have the power to do it anyway. The Rent Guidelines Board does, and he doesn’t control the Rent Guidelines board, so nothing is going to happen. It’s just the old political blather, Mr. Mamdani.” Cuomo also suggested he could stand up to “hyper-aggressive” President Trump if elected, unlike Mamdani, whom Trump has labeled “my little communist,” saying Trump “thinks he’s a kid and he’s going to knock him on his tuches.”

The debate wasn’t without challenges for Cuomo, however, who struggled to address his resignation amid sexual harassment allegations from 13 women – one of whom, Charlotte Bennett, attended the debate in what appeared to be a Mamdani campaign stunt. Mamdani seized this opportunity to cast Cuomo as “Donald Trump’s puppet” and argued that the former governor’s “experience” was precisely what had led to New Yorkers’ current problems with housing, public transportation, and nursing home deaths during the pandemic. “You will hear from Andrew Cuomo about his experience, as if the issue is that we don’t know about it,” Mamdani remarked. “The issue is that we have all experienced your experience.” This exchange highlighted the complex dynamic between the candidates, with each trying to position the others as more problematic than themselves.

Curtis Sliwa, whose tan line from his signature red beret was visible throughout, proved to be an unpredictable factor in the debate. While he joined Cuomo in criticizing Mamdani’s proposals as “fantasy” and told the front-runner “your resume could fit on a cocktail napkin,” he also turned his fire on Cuomo, shouting “You fled from being impeached!” during one heated exchange. Despite growing calls for Sliwa to drop out of the race to give second-place Cuomo a better chance against Mamdani, the Guardian Angels founder couldn’t resist attacking both opponents. This three-way dynamic created some unexpected moments, including when Mamdani was asked how he would vote in a ranked-choice election and replied, “Myself number one, and Curtis number two,” to which Sliwa responded, “Oh, please don’t be glazing me here, Zohran,” drawing laughter from the audience.

Political analyst Andrew Kirtzman summarized the night, noting it was “Mamdani’s weakest performance this cycle” as “both his opponents were in rare form, and ganged up on him all night. At one point they were literally laughing at him from both sides.” However, Kirtzman pointed out a critical dilemma for Cuomo’s chances: “The problem for Cuomo, though, is that he needed both of them to have a bad night. If Sliwa’s numbers don’t fall there is no way Cuomo can win. But Sliwa had a terrific night. He has grown as a candidate this year – it’s impressive.” With less than two weeks until Election Day, this final debate may have shifted the dynamics of the race, but whether it will significantly impact the final outcome remains to be seen. Mamdani still appears to be the front-runner, despite his performance, while Cuomo’s comeback bid continues to face substantial obstacles, not least from Sliwa’s refusal to step aside and give the former governor a clear shot at challenging the Democratic nominee.