Zohran Mamdani and Andrew Cuomo clash over policy and handling Trump in a fiery NYC mayoral debate

Andrew Cuomo and Zohran Mamdani both opened Thursday’s New York mayoral debate by saying a future headline about their first year in office would celebrate lowering costs for New Yorkers.

Andrew Cuomo and Zohran Mamdani both opened Thursday’s New York mayoral debate by saying a future headline about their first year in office would celebrate lowering costs for New Yorkers.

The next 50 minutes of the debate — aired on NBC New York and Telemundo New York, in partnership with Politico — turned into an all-out brawl over issues including crime, the war in Gaza and President Donald Trump as the candidates tore into one another in deeply personal ways.

During one back-and-forth focused on which candidate has the right experience for the job, Mamdani, a state assemblyman, blasted Cuomo, the former governor, for his handling of nursing homes during the Covid pandemic. Cuomo, who resigned from office amid allegations of sexual harassment, which he denies, had just said the mayorship was “no job for on-the-job training.”

Mamdani 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, the Democratic nominee, and Cuomo, running as an independent after losing the Democratic primary in June, were joined onstage by Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa, with the three clashing over how to handle the police department and mental health calls, the education system, taxes and the business climate in New York City.