Andrew Cuomo and Zohran Mamdani both opened Thursday’s New York City 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 each other 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.”

“What I don’t have in experience, I make up for in integrity,” Mamdani said. “And what you don’t have in integrity, you could never make up for in experience.”

Democratic nominee Mamdani and Cuomo, running as an independent after losing the Democratic primary in June, were joined on stage 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.

Mamdani, a self-described Democratic socialist, enters the stretch run of the election with a commanding lead, though Cuomo has closed some ground since Mayor Eric Adams dropped out of the contest.

Trump has sought to influence the outcome of the race and has repeatedly threatened to withhold federal funding from New York should Mamdani wins the contest next month. And the president’s influence in New York was a central discussion of the debate.

Each candidate was asked when they had last spoken with the president, with Cuomo saying he believed it was after the attempt on Trump’s life in 2024. Sliwa said it had been many years, while Mamdani said he never has never spoken to Trump.

But Mamdani did express willingness to work with Trump to lower costs — before attacking Cuomo over reports that he had discussed the race with the president.

“I don’t need the president’s assistance,” Mamdani said. “And what I’d tell the president is, if he ever wants to come for New Yorkers in the way that he has been, he’s going to have to get through me as the next mayor of the city.”

Cuomo said he never had such a conversation with Trump and talked up past “bloody battles” with the president during Covid.

“I’d like to avoid them,” Cuomo said.

Mamdani also attacked Cuomo for not taking a strong enough line in defending state Attorney General Letitia James, who was recently indicted on federal charges after Trump had called for her prosecution.

“I said political weaponization of the justice system is wrong,” Cuomo said. “Both sides do it. It’s wrong when Donald Trump does it. It’s wrong when they did it to [James] Comey. It’s wrong when Comey did it to Hillary” Clinton.

Sliwa cut in and said New Yorkers will suffer if either Cuomo or Mamdani takes on Trump.

“Look, you can be tough, but you can’t be tough if it’s going to cost people desperately needed federal funds,” Sliwa said. “Zohran Mamdani, the president has already said it’s going to take $7 billion out of the budget right from the start if you’re elected mayor. People are going to suffer in this city, people who need those federal funds. What I would do is sit and negotiate.”

While Sliwa sought his openings in the debate, Mamdani and Cuomo were the main event, often ignoring his jibes — except to agree when the Republican was attacking the other candidate.

Democratic divides

Meanwhile, Mamdani and Cuomo battled over who is a real Democrat, too. Mamdani said that voters who believe there is no difference between the Democratic and Republican parties should vote for Cuomo, while voters who want a mayor to stand up to Trump and his donors should back him.

Cuomo then said Mamdani isn’t a Democrat, focusing on his membership in the Democratic Socialists of America and accused him of not voting for former Vice President Kamala Harris last fall. (Mamdani said voters should leave their presidential primary ballot blank if they disagree with then-President Joe Biden’s handling of the war in Gaza.)

“If you want to look for me on the ballot, you’ll find me as the Democrat,” Mamdani said.

The war in Gaza took up a significant portion of the debate. Mamdani has accused Israel of carrying out a “genocide” and, in a Fox News interview on Wednesday, declined to say whether Hamas should forfeit their weapons following the recent ceasefire agreement.

“Of course I believe that they should lay down their arms, I’m proud to be one of the first elected officials in the state who called for a ceasefire and calling for a ceasefire means ceasing fire,” Mamdani said. “That means all parties have to cease fire and put down their weapons.”

“And the reason that we call for that is not only for the end of the genocide, but also an unimpeded access of humanitarian aid,” Mamdani said. “I, like many New Yorkers, am hopeful that this ceasefire will hold.”

Cuomo responded that Mamdani is refusing to “denounce Hamas” and separately said the state assemblyman was speaking in “code” with his answer — and that code signaling that Israel “does not have a right to exist as a Jewish state.” Mamdani responded that Cuomo was acting as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “legal defense team during the course of this genocide.”

He added that conversations with Jewish New Yorkers had led him to discourage the use of the phrase “globalize the intifada,” a phrase he said he does not use.

“And what I’m looking to do as the first Muslim mayor of this city is to ensure that we bring every New Yorker together, Jewish New Yorkers, Muslim New Yorkers, every single person that calls the city home, they understand they won’t just be protected, but they will belong,” he said.

Cuomo attacked Mamdani for not explicitly denouncing the phrase.

“He is a divisive personality across the board,” Cuomo said.

Handling crime and costs

On crime, Mamdani said he had spoken to police officers to apologize for past anti-police postings, and he said that he is not running on those ideas, attacking Cuomo for not focusing on his actual plans. Cuomo said Mamdani “doesn’t like the police” and “that’s why he won’t hire more police.”

“When everyone else says, we need more police,” Cuomo said. “He wants to use social workers on domestic violence calls, which are very dangerous, and he’s told you what he thinks. He thinks the police are racist, wicked, corrupt, and a threat to public safety.”

Mamdani said that as a state assemblyman he learned “that to deliver justice means to also deliver safety, and that means leading a city where you recognize the bravery of the men and women who join the NYPD and put their lives on the line.”

“It means representing the Muslims who were illegally surveilled in my district and the Black and brown New Yorkers who have been victims of police brutality,” Mamdani said.

The second half of the debate featured more discussion on cost of living and affordability. Each candidate was asked what they paid in groceries and rent: $2,300 for Mamdani, $3,900 for Sliwa and $7,800 for Cuomo.

Cuomo was deeply critical of Mamdani’s plans for affordable housing and free bus service while talking up his own experience as governor and secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

“I just have to say it’s been an hour and 20 minutes of this debate, and we haven’t heard Governor Cuomo say the word affordability,” Mamdani said. “That’s why he lost the primary.”

Mamdani criticized Cuomo for having the support of billionaire hedge fund executive Bill Ackman, to which Cuomo said “there are a lot of New Yorkers who support me, and there are a lot of Jewish New Yorkers who support me because they think you’re antisemitic.”

“So it’s not about Trump or Republicans,” Cuomo said. “It’s about you.”

The two candidates did have one point of agreement when asked to identify the best-ever mayor of New York City. Both shouted out former Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia.

“We agree,” Mamdani said.