Key moments in the final NYC mayoral debate of 2025

If Zohran Mamdani made the first mayoral debate look easy – even fun, Andrew Cuomo left the second one swaggering. Maybe it was the ticking clock, maybe it was Red Bull. But Cuomo was more assured, landing sharper critiques of Mamdani’s lack of executive experience. “My friend doesn't really understand government,” Cuomo said. “I allocated more funding for housing than any governor in the history of the state, all right. I did things! There is no reason to believe you have any merit or qualification for 8.5 million lives. You don't know how to run a government, you don't know how to handle an emergency.” 

Cuomo needed a successful performance. With the start of early voting mere days away, it was the independent candidate’s last wide-reaching opportunity to close the gap between him and Mamdani, who has maintained a double digit lead in the polls. Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa meanwhile remained resolute that he’d be remaining in the race despite the mounting pressure for him to drop out. 

Public interest in the race has soared in recent weeks with more than 2.4 million viewers tuning into last week’s debate – a 190% viewership increase from when candidates in the Democratic primary squared off on June 4. The second debate, moderated by Errol Louis of Spectrum News NY1, Katie Honan of The City and Brian Lehrer of WNYC, competed with the Knicks home opener, so it’s not clear whether as many New Yorkers will have tuned in. Cuomo himself scooted out of the debate venue and raced across town to catch the second half of the Knicks game, sitting next to his frenemy Mayor Eric Adams who only a few months ago called him “a snake and a liar.” 

Here are five key moments from the 90-minute debate.

Mamdani squirms on ballot proposals 

Mamdani repeatedly refused to take a public position on the three controversial housing-related ballot questions that’ll go before New Yorkers next month, dodging moderators’ questions about his stance. The exchange prompted one of the most contentious moments of the debate as Cuomo and Sliwa eagerly seized on Mamdani’s reluctance.

“I’m appreciative that those measures will be on the ballot and that New Yorkers will be able to cast their votes for them,” Mamdani said of the measures, immediately prompting taunts from his opponents. “That’s not an answer, what’s your opinion Zohran? Come on!” Sliwa, who opposes the measures, goaded, pointing at Mamdani. Cuomo then mimed dancing, as if to suggest Mamdani dancing around the question. “Answer the question for once,” Cuomo said. The former governor has previously voiced support for the three proposals. 

With mere days to go before the start of early voting, pressure has mounted on Mamdani to take a stance. While the development boosting proposals would likely benefit him as mayor, he’s clearly hesitant to do so – likely not wanting to upset any of his supporters. City Council leadership strongly opposes the measures as do some of the unions that have endorsed his campaign. 

Sliwa and Cuomo unite (briefly)

Sliwa has been unwilling to cooperate with Cuomo’s pressure to suspend his campaign, but he did seem willing to work with the former governor on one thing: using inflammatory language to once again paint Mamdani as an antisemite. After Mamdani promised to “be the mayor who doesn’t just protect Jewish New Yorkers, but celebrates and cherishes them,” both used fire imagery.

Cuomo said Mamdani “stoke(s) the flames of hatred against Jewish people” and Sliwa called Mamdani an “arsonist” and repeated the false claim that Mamdani had called for “global jihad.” Mamdani, who recently released campaign materials in Hebrew, remained sanguine in the face of the attacks. To Cuomo, Mamdani said what New Yorkers “deserve is a leader who takes (antisemitism) seriously, who roots it out of these five boroughs, not one who weaponizes it as a means by which to score political points on a debate stage.”

After Sliwa piled on, Mamdani drew cheers when he said, “frankly, I think much of it has to do with the fact that I'm the first Muslim candidate to be on the precipice of winning this election.”

Charlotte Bennett in person

Candidates were given the opportunity to ask a question of an opponent, and Mamdani made the most of that opportunity. Addressing Cuomo, who resigned in 2021 after being accused of sexual harassment, Mamdani revealed that one of his accusers, Charlotte Bennett, sat in the audience. Bennett accused Cuomo of asking her inappropriate questions about her sex life and implying he wanted to sleep with her. Cuomo has denied those allegations.

“You sought to access her gynecological records,” Mamdani said, referencing Cuomo’s aggressive legal defense strategy. “She cannot speak up for herself because you lodged a defamation case against her. I, however, can speak. What do you say to the 13 women you harassed?” Cuomo responded, “If you want to be in government, then you have to be serious and mature.” He reiterated that criminal cases against him were dropped. A federal lawsuit from the state trooper accusing Cuomo of sexual harassment continues, while the trooper’s state case was dismissed.

A moment of unity on Canal Street raid 

A jarring raid by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on street vendors on Canal Street Tuesday made for a timely question on how each of the candidates would respond to an increasingly aggressive ICE. Apart from the city’s sanctuary city protections that prohibit local collaboration on civil immigration enforcement, the city is limited in its ability to interfere with ICE. Cuomo said he would use his experience negotiating with Trump to deal with ICE overreach – which the former governor said Tuesday’s raid was an example of. “He puts his finger in your chest, and you have to put your finger right back in his chest,” Cuomo said of how the president should be handled. But he went on to say that if Trump didn’t relent and call off ICE, he would have the NYPD “come in and stop them.” It’s unclear exactly what that would look like.

Mamdani said he would end collaboration between City Hall and ICE. While the city is bound by sanctuary laws and City Hall said they had no involvement in Tuesday’s raid, Mayor Eric Adams has also committed to working with the Trump administration’s deportation efforts.

Sliwa has previously said that he would put a referendum on sanctuary city policies on the ballot if elected. But speaking to Tuesday’s raid, Sliwa said, “the feds should not have stepped into this situation.”

Everyone wants Tisch 

There might not be a lot that the candidates agree on, but New York City Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch’s competency is at least one thing. On Wednesday, Mamdani officially joined Sliwa and Cuomo in committing to keep the well-respected commissioner on if elected, confirming reporting from The New York Times that he’d ask Tisch to continue leading the NYPD if he’s elected mayor. 

“Eric Adams stacked the upper echelons of the NYPD with corruption and incompetence,” Mamdani said. “Commissioner Tisch took on a broken status quo, started to deliver accountability rooting out corruption and reducing crime across the five boroughs.”

The decision could appeal to apprehensive moderate voters and placate New Yorkers who’ve urged Mamdani to keep her on – and help combat concerns about previous critical statements he’s made about the NYPD before his mayoral campaign. It’s unclear at this point though whether Tisch would accept as she’s yet to publicly weigh in.