Elaina Batista and Zendrah Bonnick, Asst. Social Media Editor & Staff Writer
On Thursday, Oct. 16, three of the leading candidates for the New York City mayoral election took the stage at Rockefeller Center to debate some of the most pressing issues facing New Yorkers.
Zohran Mamdani spoke as the democratic nominee, Andrew Cuomo as the independent nominee and Curtis Sliwa, the founder of the Guardian Angels, as the Republican nominee.
The debate lasted for two hours and each candidate was given one minute to respond to questions and 30 seconds for rebuttals. This was the first general election debate between Mamdani, Cuomo and Silwa.
The candidates disagreed on a number of local and global issues, including how they would deal with the Trump administration and the recent ceasefire agreement in Gaza, as well as concerns like crime, policing, affordability, housing and transit.
The debate began with the candidates being asked why they believe that voters should trust them or whether they are qualified to be mayor. Andrew Cuomo responded by stating, “I got government to work… This is no job for on the job training.”
Cuomo initially entered the race as a Democrat, but after losing the party’s nomination and Mayor Eric Adams withdrawing from his re-election bid, Cuomo switched to run as an independent.
Mamdani was then asked how he was prepared to lead New York City given his lack of executive experience. He responded by noting that he has served in the New York State Assembly for five years and outlined his priorities, including advocating for the working class and increasing funding for public schools. He concluded by saying, “I have the experience of being a New Yorker, someone who actually paid rent in this city before I ran for mayor.”
In response to the same question, Silwa stated how he does not declare himself to be all knowing.
“I will hire the very brightest and best in their fields who have dedicated their lives to trying to improve the city of New York…but what I will say is thank God I’m not a professional politician,” Silwa said in the debate.
Throughout the debate, President Donald Trump and the extent of his authority were repeatedly mentioned, along with how his influence could affect the city. According to Cuomo, Trump would depose Mamdani and weaken his position.
When addressing the topic of cost of living/affordability, more specifically rent in New York, Mamdani says that he plans to freeze the rent for more than two million rent stabilized tenants and build over 200,000 “truly affordable” homes across the five boroughs to ensure people in New York have more housing.
An intended consequence of this would be a reduction in the number of people priced out of housing in the city. Cuomo attacked Mamadai’s plan to freeze rent and claimed it does nothing for homeowners or people who are being priced out, emphasizing that rent stabilized apartments should be reserved for the “most rent burdened.”
When Silwa was asked to describe his plan to help renters, he stated that his whole goal is to, “improve not remove,” and that in order to keep New Yorkers in the city, property tax needs to be cut.
A central piece of Mamdani’s campaign is the idea of free buses for all. In the debate, he elaborated that his plan to make this possible if elected is, “replacing the revenue that the MTA currently gets from buses, revenue that is around 700 million dollars… making buses free does not only provide economic relief but also public safety.”
Mamdani claimed this plan will be executed by raising the taxes on the top 1% of New Yorkers by 2%, which would raise four billion dollars, in addition to also raising the state’s top corporate tax rate, which would raise five billion dollars.
Both Cuomo and Silwa disagree with Mamdani’s free bus proposal and believe that the rate of fare evasion is already too high. However, Cuomo slightly diverged from Silwa who was opposed to the implementation of free public transportation, instead proposing free subways and buses for working families.
According to a poll conducted by Siena University and The New York Times, Mamdani is up by 56%, Cuomo at 24% and Silwa at 15%.
At its conclusion, the debate demonstrated that each candidate has a distinct vision for the city’s future. From rent policy and transit finance to public safety and national politics, Mamdani, Cuomo and Sliwa presented opposing goals and governing styles. While their policies frequently conflicted, the debate provided voters with a better understanding of how each candidate would address frequently discussed issues of affordability, transportation, local administration and managing federal interference.