The second and final mayoral debate on Thursday featured clashes between frontrunners Andrew Cuomo and Zohran Mamdani as Brad Lander, who’s polling in third place, sought to raise his profile after a New York Times opinion panel backed the City Comptroller.
Cuomo and Mamdani traded attacks on age, experience and donor bases, with exchanges sometimes delving into the personal. Lander, the city’s comptroller, took jabs at Cuomo’s sexual harassment allegations and handling of the pandemic as governor.
The debate, hosted by NY1, WNYC Radio and The City, was the last showdown among the candidates before early voting begins Saturday. City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, state Sen. Zellnor Myrie, former Comptroller Scott Stringer and ex-hedge fund owner Whitney Tilson also appeared on the debate stage.
Here are five key takeaways from the evening:
Inexperience v baggage
Cuomo, 67, attacked Mamdani as inexperienced and unprepared for the challenges of City Hall, a theme Cuomo’s campaign has been hitting hard in the final stretch of the campaign.
“To put a person in this seat at this time with no experience is reckless and dangerous,” Cuomo said.
Mamdani, he added, has “accomplished nothing.”
Mamdani, 33, countered by saying he would hire the “best and the brightest” in his mayoral administration and pointed to his management of over 36,000 campaign volunteers. He said that he’s had conversations with former Adams administration official Maria Torres-Springer, and de Blasio administration alum Steve Banks.
“I have never had to resign in disgrace,” Mamdani said, biting back at Cuomo.
Later on, Speaker Adams chimed in with a pointed question at Mamdani, asking if he believes he was more qualified to be mayor than her.
Mamdani replied that, like all the candidates onstage, he believes himself the best pick for mayor, and that his campaign specifically worked to address affordability.
An energized Lander laces into the frontrunner
Lander came to the debate stage with new energy after receiving an endorsement from a New York Times opinions panel.
He admitted in his opening remarks that he was not the “flashiest” candidate on the stage, but landed a series of blows on Cuomo on the two issues that helped chase the governor from office: Sexual harassment allegations and COVID controversy.
“I don’t want to have to tell her don’t go to work at City Hall because the mayor is a sexual harasser,” the comptroller said, referring to his daughter.
”Let’s be clear, he has experience, but leadership is not inviting 25-year-old young women into your office, as he admitted he did, and then ask them … whether they would date older men,” Lander said.
Cuomo said that five district attorneys looked at the allegations against him but that “nothing has come of them whatsoever,” and he pointed out that no charges resulted from it. He has apologized to anyone he said felt uncomfortable.
Lander also brought up Peter Arbeeny, whose father died from COVID after a stay in a nursing home, asking Cuomo if he would “finally apologize to Peter and other grieving New Yorkers?”
Israel, Gaza and antisemitism charges
The frontrunners faced questions from moderators and each other on supporting both Jewish and Muslim New Yorkers, with each candidate accusing the other of sowing division.
A moderator pressed Cuomo on allegations from the Muslim community that he has never visited a mosque during his time in public office. Cuomo said he does “believe I have,” but when pressed on this said that he couldn’t remember “off the top of my head,” and said that he’d have to check the record.
“I welcome them, I love them, I’m not Mr. Mamdani, I’m not antisemitic,” the former governor said.
Mamdani countered by bringing up a flier prepared for a super PAC in support of Cuomo that appeared to have been altered to make his beard appear darker and bushier. The flyer was not sent out.
“The reason he doesn’t have a message to Muslim New Yorkers is because he has nothing to say to us,” Mamdani said.
Mamdani, was criticized by Cuomo and Tilson for his pro-Palestinian stance and support of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.
He responded to a question on his stance by the moderators by saying he would protect Jewish New Yorkers and said that his campaign prioritized “unity and not division,” unlike Cuomo’s.
Mamdani defended his use of the term “genocide” to describe the war in Gaza, saying that to ignore what is happening there leads to “dehumanization in our city.”
Coalitions forming
Whitney Tilson, a former hedge fund manager, acted as a wingman for Cuomo throughout the debate. When moderators asked for a show of hands on whether the candidates had selected their second-place choice, only Tilson raised his hand, answering that he would rank Cuomo.
Cuomo did not indicate he would rank Tilson.
“I’m well aware of where I’m pulling, and so it doesn’t really matter. And so I didn’t ask for his endorsements,” Tilson said after the debate.
Mamdani and Lander formed an alliance, as well. When Cuomo slammed Lander for being from St. Louis, Missouri, Mamdani came to his defense.
“Brad Lander is more of a New Yorker than Andrew Cuomo is,” Mamdani said.
Lander and Mamdani announced on Friday, after the debate, that they were cross-endorsing each other.
Cross-endorsements have become increasingly common in New York, given the ranked-choice voting system the city adopted for the first time during the 2021 local elections. Under that system, candidates who trail after the first round of vote tabulations could eventually prevail if they are ranked on enough ballots featuring other candidates in the No. 1 slot.
Cuomo ducks out, suffered verbal missteps
The former governor, whose campaign has been marked by a lack of media access, slipped out of the theater as other candidates spoke to reporters to recap the debate.
Unlike in last week’s first debate, in which he largely avoided verbal flubs, Cuomo stumbled several times Thursday night, including by using the phrase “illegal immigrants.” After a jab from Lander, Cuomo corrected himself, using the phrase “undocumented immigrants” instead.
On several occasions, Cuomo also mispronounced Mamdani’s last name. Mamdani, a South Asian candidate originally from Uganda, took offense, telling the Daily News after the debate it shows the former governor’s lack of “respect” for New Yorkers of different backgrounds.
Jon Reinish, a Democratic strategist, hopped in front of the cameras in Cuomo’s place after the debate. In response to questions about Cuomo’s whereabouts and why he had left early, Reinish enumerated Cuomo’s achievements on gay marriage and gun safety.
