In their efforts to carve out breakout moments and stunt their opponents’ momentum, the candidates for New York City mayor did not shy away from attacking one another during the first general election debate on Thursday, often levying deeply personal insults.
Much of the cross-talk took place between the race’s two leading contenders, State Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee, and his closest opponent, former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo. The men sparred over Mr. Mamdani’s qualifications and past comments about law enforcement as well as Mr. Cuomo’s record as governor and strained relationships with some New York voters.
But Curtis Sliwa, the Republican candidate for mayor, also panned both his opponents, often in very colorful terms. In many of his answers, he painted Mr. Mamdani, a democratic socialist, as a far-left political novice and the former governor as a failed relic of old-school Democratic politics.
Here are 10 of the most memorable lines of attack from the debate:
Cuomo to Mamdani: ‘He interned for his mother’
Mr. Cuomo revisited one of his favorite lines of attack against Mr. Mamdani — his relative lack of political experience — in an allusion to the assemblyman’s work for his mother, the filmmaker Mira Nair. (Mr. Mamdani worked as a music supervisor on one of her films, “Queen of Katwe.”) Mr. Cuomo suggested that Mr. Mamdani’s only job before becoming a lawmaker was the work he had done on his mother’s movie sets. In fact, Mr. Mamdani worked on a handful of political campaigns and for a housing nonprofit before running for office.
“This is not a job for someone who has no management experience to run 300,000 people, no financial experience to run a $115 billion budget,” he said. “He literally has never had a job. On his résumé, it says he interned for his mother.”
Sliwa: ‘There’s high levels of testosterone in this room’
In a meta moment halfway through the debate, Mr. Sliwa pointed out the tensions between Mr. Cuomo and Mr. Mamdani after the two engaged in a heated argument over how they would respond if President Trump sent the National Guard into New York City. Mr. Sliwa, who as founder of the crime-stopping group the Guardian Angels is himself no stranger to macho posturing, made an observation before outlining his own relationship with the president.
“Well, first of all, there’s high levels of testosterone in this room. I’ve had a love-hate relationship with Donald Trump that goes back over 30 years,” he said. “But I know one thing: We have Andrew Cuomo. We have Zohran Mamdani. They want to take on Donald Trump. Look, you can be tough, but you can’t be tough if it’s going to cost people desperately needed federal funds.”
Mamdani to Cuomo: ‘Why would New Yorkers turn back to the governor who sent seniors to their death?’
Mr. Cuomo pointed to his handling of the pandemic to underline the need for experienced leadership should another calamity befall the city. Mr. Mamdani responded by pointing to the thousands of New Yorkers who died in the state’s nursing homes during the crisis, when Mr. Cuomo was governor, before defending his relatively thin record as less important than Mr. Cuomo’s character.
“And if we have a health pandemic, then why would New Yorkers turn back to the governor who sent seniors to their death in nursing homes? That’s the kind of experience that’s on offer here today,” he said. “What I don’t have in experience I make up for in integrity. And what you don’t have in integrity you could never make up for in experience.”
Mamdani: ‘This is what New Yorkers are sick of’
After each candidate was asked whether they would hypothetically attend a final championship game for the Mets or Knicks if they were held on the same night, Mr. Cuomo vacillated, saying he would “go half and half.” Mr. Mamdani said that kind of both-sides answer was an example of what has frustrated so many voters in the city.
‘This is what New Yorkers are sick of,” he said. “Just pick a team.”
Sliwa to Cuomo: ‘You’re no Mario Cuomo’
In one of the most personal attacks of the evening, Mr. Sliwa compared the former governor with his father, Mario Cuomo, who occupied the state’s governor’s mansion for three terms. During an exchange about policing and public safety, he suggested the junior Cuomo was not as impressive as his father.
“When you were governor for eight years, your parole board released 43 cop killers back into the street. Your father, when he was governor, released none,” he said. “I knew Mario Cuomo. You’re no Mario Cuomo.”
Mamdani to Cuomo: ‘He couldn’t name a single mosque.’
In becoming the first Muslim candidate to win New York’s Democratic primary, Mr. Mamdani has elevated the role of Muslim New Yorkers as a key voting bloc. But during the debate, Mr. Cuomo said he did not think that Mr. Mamdani was most representative of the city’s Muslim communities. Mr. Mamdani rebutted by asking Mr. Cuomo to name the mosques he has visited while on the campaign trail.
“It took Andrew Cuomo being beaten by a Muslim candidate in the Democratic primary for him to set foot in a mosque,” he said. “He had more than 10 years, and he couldn’t name a single mosque, at the last debate we had, that he visited.”
Cuomo: ‘He gave the finger to the Christopher Columbus statue.’
After levying a laundry list of criticisms against Mr. Mamdani for his past views throughout the debate, Mr. Cuomo added one more barb during its final, rapid-fire round: Mr. Mamdani’s negative opinion of Christopher Columbus.
“He gave the finger to the Columbus Day statue,” he said. “That’s what we call a disgraziato.”
Sliwa: ‘Come on. This is New York City.’
Mr. Sliwa threw cold water on Mr. Mamdani’s public safety plan, which aims to use mental health workers to help members of law enforcement respond to some 911 calls. Mr. Mamdani’s plan is modeled after one that Eugene, Ore., adopted — an idea the Republican said was not realistic.
“Zohran. Boy, another fantasy that’s not reality,” he said. “Eugene, Oregon — have you ever been to Eugene? I’ve been to, I’ve been to Eugene. Come on. This is New York City.”
Cuomo: ‘The assemblyman is a mini me B.D.B.’
In condemning Mr. Mamdani’s proposals, the former governor did not shy away from comparing his rival to the city’s former mayor, Bill de Blasio — a stinging indictment, as Mr. Cuomo holds Mr. de Blasio in very low regard.
“The assemblyman is a mini me B.D.B.,” he said. “He’s Bill de Blasio Lite.”
Mamdani: ‘They can track their Uber Eats block by block’
In response to a question about how to fix 311, New York’s response line for public complaints, Mr. Mamdani compared the system’s slow response time to the minute-by-minute updates that apps like Uber Eats provide to customers.
“I’ve spoken to New Yorkers time and time again who are frustrated by the fact that they can track their Uber Eats block by block, but when they call 311 for them to come to their apartment, it’s just a question of hoping and praying that they do,” he said.
Maya King is a Times reporter covering New York politics.
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