The primary mayoral common election debate of 2025 on Thursday evening noticed Zohran Mamdani and Gov. Andrew Cuomo commerce ferocious blows, whereas Curtis Sliwa assailed them each in between complaints of being “marginalized” on the talk stage.
The three-way scrum over the course of two hours was outlined by repeated entanglements between Mamdani, the Queens Meeting member and Democratic nominee, and Cuomo, the previous governor who misplaced the Democratic main and is now working as an impartial.
Sliwa, the Republican nominee, was actually caught between each and, at occasions, went after both or each candidates; he often muscled his means into the dialog when moderators tried to get Cuomo or Mamdani to rebut the opposite’s accusations.
Settlement was scarce all through the hard-hitting affair, as to be anticipated with lower than three weeks remaining earlier than the Nov. 4 election. The three candidates hit one another over their expertise on the job, coping with President Trump, stances on the Israel-Hamas conflict, and lots of different points.
Typically, the assaults between Mamdani and Cuomo turned private.
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Queens Meeting Member Zohran Mamdani shake palms after the Oct. 16 NYC mayor’s race debate — a hard-hitting affair wherein each traded private assaults at each other.Angelina Katsanis/Pool through REUTERS
The previous governor slammed Mamdani over his lack of govt expertise, criticisms of Israel, and his stance on policing, all in an try and land a blow that might assist Cuomo catch as much as the Democratic nominee.
“This is no job for on-the-job training,” Cuomo mentioned, referring to Mamdani, who’s 33 and has served within the Meeting for 4 years. “And if you look at the failed mayors, they’re ones that had no management experience. Don’t do it again.”
In response, Mamdani touted his lived expertise rising up within the metropolis and made a pointed comment in regards to the sexual harassment allegations that brought about Cuomo to resign from workplace. Cuomo strongly denies these allegations.
“What I don’t have in experience, I make up for with integrity,” Mamdani mentioned.
“And what you don’t have in integrity you could never make up for with experience,” he added, addressing Cuomo.
The previous governor, in the meantime, accused Mamdani of by no means holding a “real job” earlier than profitable election to the New York State Meeting in 2020.
“He literally has never had a job,” Cuomo mentioned. “This is not a job for a first-timer.”
Cuomo’s assaults come as he’s working out of time to slim Mamdani’s lead, because the state lawmaker nonetheless holds a double-digit benefit over him. Though Cuomo gained 10 share factors in a Quinnipiac ballot following present Mayor Eric Adams’ departure from the race, he’s nonetheless behind Mamdani by 13 factors.
Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa and Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani take part in a mayoral debate, in New York, Oct. 16, 2025.Angelina Katsanis/Pool through REUTERS
Sliwa, who additionally confronted questions over his lack of expertise, blasted each Mamdani and Cuomo over their time in workplace, describing the pair because the “architect and the apprentice” of insurance policies equivalent to no-cash bail, which Sliwa blamed for an increase in crime throughout the town.
“Thank God I’m not a professional politician,” Sliwa mentioned.
Cuomo, Sliwa query Mamdani’s Center East statements
Impartial candidate and former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks throughout a mayoral debate, in New York, Oct. 16, 2025.Angelina Katsanis/Pool through REUTERS
Cuomo additionally went after Mamdani over his sharp criticism of the Israeli authorities and pro-Palestinian advocacy.
He charged that Mamdani wouldn’t condemn Hamas, the militant group that controls the Gaza Strip, and took concern with the Meeting member for saying that Israel has the best to exist as a state with “equal rights” between Jewish Israelis and Palestinians, quite than as a Jewish state.
“If you notice, the assemblyman still won’t say he believes that Israel has the right to exist as a Jewish state,” Cuomo mentioned. “He is a divisive personality.”
Mamdani responded, “I’ve said time and again that I recognize Israel’s right to exist. I’ve said that I will not recognize any state’s right to exist with a system of hierarchy on the basis of race or religion.”
Mamdani then turned the tables on Cuomo, claiming that it took Mamdani profitable the Democratic main for Cuomo to “set foot in a mosque.”
“They (Muslims) want equality, and they want respect. And it took me to get you to even see those Muslims as part of this city — and that, frankly, is something that is shameful,” Mamdani mentioned.
Sliwa, in the meantime, alleged that Jewish residents “do not trust” Mamdani to maintain them secure from antisemitic assaults.
Mamdani responded that he can be a mayor who represents “every single person” who calls New York Metropolis house and mentioned he was “so thankful” to listen to the considerations and opinions of Jewish voters throughout the election marketing campaign.
Coping with Trump
Earlier than the talk, Mamdani marched from Trump Tower to Rockefeller Middle.Photograph by Lloyd Mitchell
All three candidates acknowledged that they might resist Trump’s makes an attempt to deploy the Nationwide Guard into the town, with Cuomo declaring that he would make the president “back down.” That reply prompted a rebuttal from Sliwa, who chided the previous Governor for shedding the Democratic main in June.
“The president is going to back down to you? I know you think you’re the toughest guy alive, but you lost your own primary,” Sliwa mentioned.
Cuomo mentioned he would get entangled in “ugly” battles with the president and pledged to combat Trump “every step of the way” if he attacked New York Metropolis, referencing his prior tussles with Trump throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
“If you come after New York, you know what I’m going to do. You know it’s going to be ugly,” Cuomo mentioned.
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo shakes palms with supporters exterior Rockefeller Middle on Oct. 16, 2025.Photograph by Lloyd Mitchell
Mamdani mentioned he would search to work with Trump to assist decrease the price of dwelling for New Yorkers, however in any other case strongly criticized him for overseeing the alleged political prosecution of his enemies in addition to the “largest deportation campaign in American history.” He vowed to supply heavy resistance if the president tried to hold out his immigration insurance policies if he have been elected mayor.
“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,” Mamdani mentioned.
Mamdani additionally accused Cuomo of asking Trump for assist in the continuing mayoral election, which the previous governor strongly denied, stating that he final spoke to the President in July 2024 following a failed assassination try in Pennsylvania.
“What distinguishes me from Andrew Cuomo is the fact that he has gotten on the phone with that same president… asking him how to win this race,” Mamdani mentioned. “That’s something I can do myself.”
Cuomo, in the meantime, warned that Trump would goal New York Metropolis if Mamdani is elected.
“If the Assemblyman is elected mayor, Donald Trump will take over New York City, and it will be Mayor Trump,” Cuomo mentioned.
Supporters of Curtis Sliwa exterior Rockefeller Middle on Oct. 16, 2025.Photograph by Lloyd Mitchell
Sliwa, then again, mentioned he would negotiate with the President, referencing the current freezing of $18 billion of federal funding designated for the Second Avenue Subway and the Hudson River tunnel undertaking. Sliwa mentioned he can be prepared to relinquish the Second Avenue Subway growth in East Harlem with the intention to safe funding for the Hudson River tunnel undertaking.
“You can be tough, but you can’t be tough if it’s going to cost people desperately needed federal funds,” Sliwa mentioned.
Early voting begins in a little bit over per week on Saturday, Oct. 25, and runs via Sunday, Nov. 2. Election Day is on Nov. 4.
