Will Thursday’s Debate Be a Game Changer?

This is The Sprint for City Hall, a limited-run series on the critical race for mayor of New York City.

We’re three weeks out from the election and two days away from the first debate of the fall campaign. In this edition we’ll look at the state of the race headed into the debate, check in with a “very concerned New Yorker” from Long Island and share a snapshot from the campaign trail.

We’ll start with the news.

A cease-fire agreement is underway in the Middle East. The war has been a huge point of friction in the mayor’s race, and all three of the candidates struck notes of hope, though their emphasis and tone sharply differed. Here’s how Zohran Mamdani, Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa, the Republican nominee, reacted.
Mamdani, a democratic socialist and the Democratic nominee, is quietly waging a charm offensive aimed at New York’s most powerful capitalists, with mixed results.
The New York Times Magazine is out today with a deeply reported profile of Mamdani. Takeaways are here.
Here’s a look at the relationship between Mamdani and New York’s attorney general, Letitia James — “a partnership between two high-profile Democrats with prominent places on Mr. Trump’s enemies’ list,” Jeffery C. Mays wrote.
James also headlined a rally for Mamdani on Monday, her first public appearance since she was indicted after President Trump’s pressure campaign. More on that below.
Affordability has been a central theme of the race, and Mamdani in particular has emphasized the issue. This story, about what it takes to afford having three children in the city, vividly illustrates why questions about the cost of living feel so urgent to many New Yorkers right now.