The final New York City mayoral debate Wednesday night turned combative as Democratic front-runner Zohran Mamdani faced sharp attacks from both independent candidate Andrew Cuomo and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa.

The 90-minute debate at LaGuardia Community College saw Mamdani repeatedly pressed for clear answers on education, public safety, housing, and ballot measures with less than two weeks remaining before the Nov. 4 election.

Cuomo and Sliwa repeatedly challenged Mamdani, accusing him of evading questions and offering vague policy explanations.

New York, NY – July 20, 2020: New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo makes an announcement and holds media briefing at Port Authority Administration Building at JFK

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“Don’t be a politician,” Sliwa said when Mamdani avoided taking a stance on ballot proposals, adding that he was merely “appreciative that those measures will be on the ballot.”

Cuomo interjected, “Oh, what a shocker,” while mimicking Mamdani’s gestures to mock his response.

The 34-year-old Queens assemblyman, who has run on a progressive platform emphasizing rent freezes and community policing reforms, struggled to provide detailed responses to key policy questions.

On education reform, Mamdani reiterated his opposition to mayoral control of schools and support for the state’s class size mandate, but he did not outline specific steps to address ongoing dysfunction in the public school system.

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On public safety, Mamdani promoted his plan for a Department of Community Safety to send social workers to mental health and domestic disturbance calls alongside the NYPD.

When pressed for specifics, he said similar programs had worked in other U.S. cities and added, “I trust the dispatchers who would be receiving these calls to make the determination as to whether there was any indication of violence.”

On housing, Mamdani said the city needed to “streamline the processes of private sector construction across the city” to address the housing shortage but offered no timeline or plan for implementation.

He also declined to take a position on several upcoming ballot measures, saying repeatedly, “I have not reviewed the proposals.”

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Cuomo, appearing more assertive than in the previous debate, highlighted his accomplishments as governor, including the LaGuardia Airport redesign and the first phase of the Second Avenue Subway project.

He also declared he was prepared to “stand toe-to-toe with a hyper-aggressive President Trump” if elected mayor.

He cited the President’s description of Mamdani as “my little communist,” adding, “He thinks he’s a kid and he’s going to knock him on his tuchus.”

Cuomo then went on saying:

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“You’ve never had a job. You’ve never accomplished anything… You’ve literally never proposed a bill on anything you are talking about in your campaign. You had the worst attendance in the assembly, and you gave yourselves the highest raise in the United States of America. You went from $110K to $140K, and then you never showed up for work and you missed 80% of the votes.”

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Cuomo also criticized Mamdani for posing in a photograph with Ugandan Deputy Prime Minister Rebecca Kadaga, who has supported anti-gay legislation.

“He’s a great actor, he missed his calling,” Cuomo said while ridiculing Mamdani’s rent freeze proposal.

“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 later added, “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.”

When Mamdani attempted to assure Jewish voters he would represent them fairly, Cuomo interrupted, “You are the savior of Jewish people?”

Cuomo also faced his own challenges during the debate, including renewed scrutiny over the sexual misconduct allegations that led to his 2021 resignation.

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When asked about the 13 women who accused him of harassment, Cuomo struggled to provide a clear answer.

One accuser, Charlotte Bennett, attended the debate as part of a Mamdani campaign effort to remind voters of the former governor’s past controversies.

Mamdani countered by labeling Cuomo “Donald Trump’s puppet,” arguing that Cuomo’s long tenure contributed to ongoing crises in housing, transportation, and the state’s pandemic response.

“You will hear from Andrew Cuomo about his experience, as if the issue is that we don’t know about it,” Mamdani said.

“The issue is that we have all experienced your experience.”


Sliwa joined in the exchanges, calling Mamdani’s proposals “fantasy” while also taking shots at Cuomo.

“Your resume could fit on a cocktail napkin,” Sliwa said to Mamdani, later shouting at Cuomo, “You fled from being impeached!”

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Despite speculation that Sliwa might bow out to consolidate support behind Cuomo, the Guardian Angels founder maintained a combative presence, attacking both opponents throughout the night.

Analysts said Mamdani’s performance was his weakest of the campaign cycle.

“Both his opponents were in rare form, and ganged up on him all night,” communications specialist Andrew Kirtzman said.

“At one point they were literally laughing at him from both sides.”

Kirtzman added that while Mamdani struggled, Sliwa’s strong performance could complicate Cuomo’s path to victory.

“The problem for Cuomo, though, is that he needed both of them to have a bad night,” Kirtzman said.

When asked how he would rank his opponents in a hypothetical ranked-choice election, Mamdani replied, “Myself number one, and Curtis number two.”

Sliwa quipped in response, “Oh, please don’t be glazing me here, Zohran,” drawing laughter from the audience.