Andrew Cuomo was the main punching bag at Thursday’s first general election mayoral debate, with Democratic front-runner Zohran Mamdani and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa repeatedly ganging up on the former governor, knocking him on everything from his reliance on billionaire donors to what Mamdani is spinning as his collegial relationship with President Trump.
Cuomo, who’s running as an independent in the Nov. 4 mayoral election, swatted back, mostly at Mamdani, contending the 33-year-old democratic socialist doesn’t have the experience to be mayor while also painting him as ideologically extreme on issues like taxation, policing and the Israel-Hamas war.
“His divisiveness is chronic,” Cuomo said at one point during the often testy two-hour debate, held at the NBC studios at 30 Rockefeller Plaza.
In making that argument, Cuomo cited Mamdani’s past support for defunding the NYPD — a position he has walked back as a mayoral candidate — and what he described as the Democratic nominee’s overly harsh criticism of Israel, such as his reluctance in a Wednesday night TV appearance to call on Hamas to lay down arms and unwillingness to acknowledge Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state.
The Hamas comment put Mamdani on a backfoot as he shifted his stance from the night before. “Of course I believe that they should lay down their arms,” said Mamdani, a vocal supporter of Palestinian rights.
Shifting gears, Mamdani, on many occasions with backing from Sliwa, countered that Cuomo’s a stalwart of the status quo whose style of leadership is out of step with what New Yorkers need at a time of a spiraling cost of living crisis and federal funding threats from Trump’s administration.
“If you want more of the same, vote for Andrew Cuomo,” Mamdani said, accusing him of lacking “integrity,” citing, among other things, his resignation as governor in 2021 amid sexual and professional misconduct accusations he now denies.
Slliwa, who’s polling in third place behind Cuomo and Mamdani, blasted both his opponents. But keen to attract some of Cuomo’s politically moderate supporters, Sliwa singled out Cuomo as his main target, tearing into him over public safety reforms he enacted as governor and also questioning whether he’d be able to work with Trump or stand up to him.
“You think you’re the toughest guy around,” Sliwa told Cuomo, seeking to ridicule his claim that he’s best equipped to deal with Trump because of his long record in government.
“I agree with Curtis,” added Mamdani, who accused Cuomo of being “Trump’s puppet,” citing overlapping donors as well as the president’s apparent preference for the ex-governor’s campaign. Trump was reportedly engaged in efforts to push Mayor Adams to exit the race as part of an effort to make it easier for Cuomo to take on Mamdani.
Thursday’s showdown made for an unusual dynamic, as the front-runner in a mayoral race is typically the main target in a debate setting.
According to polls, the Nov. 4 election remains Mamdani’s to lose. He’s edging out Cuomo by 13% and Sliwa by 30% in the most recent survey of the race conducted earlier this month by Quinnipiac University.
Thursday’s debate, which at times delved into deeply personal issues like Mamdani’s religion and Cuomo’s family history, came just over a week before early voting begins Oct. 25.
This year’s campaign is no typical mayoral race, as Cuomo, a lifelong Democrat, runs as an independent in the Nov. 4 contest even though he lost June’s Democratic mayoral primary to Mamdani by a 12% margin. Adams, who was also running as an independent, abandoned his bid for reelection last month amid record low approval ratings.
The race has also become a test for the two ideological factions of the Democratic Party, with Cuomo representing the more moderate, traditional guard, while Mamdani has emerged as an icon for the left since his upset primary victory.
That theme came up on several occasions during Thursday’s debate, as Cuomo tried to make the case Mamdani isn’t a real Democrat.
“You’re not a Democrat, you’re a democratic socialist,” he fumed at Mamdani before accusing him of not supporting Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election.
Mamdani affirmed he did vote for Harris and later declared: “Mr. Cuomo lies again and again and again.”
While he mostly focused his ire on Cuomo, Sliwa did join the ex-gov in knocking Mamdani’s affordability agenda as unrealistic. The Democratic nominee’s agenda includes promises to freeze the rent for stabilized tenants, make public buses free and drastically expand subsidized child care, all of it bankrolled by tax hikes on millionaires and corporations that would need to be approved by the state.
“Your fantasies are never going to come about,” Sliwa told Mamdani.
One of the most tense moments of the debate was when Cuomo accused Mamdani of not being “representative of the Muslim community.”
Mamdani, who’d become the first Muslim mayor in New York history if elected, said it was “shameful” for Cuomo to deliver that line of attack.
On a lighter note, the candidates found some agreement when the moderators asked for their favorite mayor of New York City. Both Mamdani and Cuomo named Fiorello LaGuardia, while Sliwa offered up Rudy Giuliani.
After the debate, neither Cuomo nor Mamdani stuck around to answer questions from reporters, though both camps issued written statements touting their respective successes.
Sliwa, who did stop to talk to reporters, said that in his view neither Cuomo nor Mamdani presented a good vision for the city’s future during the debate.
Originally Published: October 16, 2025 at 9:55 PM EDT
