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The three mayoral candidates on Thursday spoke over each other, traded barbs and made their pitches for why they deserve to lead New York City in the first general election debate.
Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, who leads the polls, fought back attacks from his opponents. Meanwhile, GOP nominee Curtis Sliwa and independent former Gov. Andrew Cuomo tried to portray the frontrunner as too untested and reckless to become mayor.
Still, Mamdani maintained his poise when defending himself, and he was able to briefly describe his proposals and strike Cuomo.
“If you want more of the same, vote for Andrew Cuomo, if you want an actual approach to lower crime, look at our Department of Community Safety,” Mandani said at one point, before launching into his plan to dispatch mental health outreach workers to respond to mental health crises.
