Part 2 of the FINAL NYC Mayoral Debate takes a shocking turn as Andrew Cuomo fights back hard against Zohran Mamdani! After being TORCHED in Part 1, Cuomo delivers a fiery comeback — grilling Mamdani over Jewish safety, hate crimes, and rising antisemitism in New York. The exchange gets intense as both clash over Gaza, policing, and NYC’s future.
#NYCMayoralDebate #ZohranMamdani #AndrewCuomo #MayoralDebateNYC #NYCMayorPolls #MamdaniDebate #NYCMayoralElectionDebate #FinalNYCMayoralDebate #NYCMayorDebateHighlights #NewYorkMayoralDebate #NYCMayorDebateTonight #NYCDebate #NYCMayorDebate #MayoralDebate #WhoWonNYCMayorDebate
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Zohran Mamdani Claims Victory Over Andrew Cuomo; Faces Eric Adams and Republicans Ahead :: https://www.oneindia.com/international/zohran-mamdani-victory-over-cuomo-next-obstacle-adams-011-7783515.html?ref=DMDesc
Zohran Mamdani Claims Victory Over Andrew Cuomo; Faces Eric Adams and Republican Challenges Ahead :: https://www.oneindia.com/international/zohran-mamdani-victory-over-cuomo-challenges-ahead-011-7783483.html?ref=DMDesc
Andrew Cuomo Sued By Former Aide For Sexual Harassment :: https://www.oneindia.com/international/andrew-cuomo-sued-by-former-aide-for-sexual-harassment-gen-3690137.html?ref=DMDesc
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#NYCMayoralDebate #ZohranMamdani #AndrewCuomo #MayoralDebateNYC #NYCMayorPolls #MamdaniDebate #NYCMayoralElectionDebate #FinalNYCMayoralDebate #NYCMayorDebateHighlights #NewYorkMayoralDebate #NYCMayorDebateTonight #NYCDebate #NYCMayorDebate #MayoralDebate #WhoWonNYCMayorDebate
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Zohran Mamdani Claims Victory Over Andrew Cuomo; Faces Eric Adams and Republicans Ahead :: https://www.oneindia.com/international/zohran-mamdani-victory-over-cuomo-next-obstacle-adams-011-7783515.html?ref=DMDesc
Zohran Mamdani Claims Victory Over Andrew Cuomo; Faces Eric Adams and Republican Challenges Ahead :: https://www.oneindia.com/international/zohran-mamdani-victory-over-cuomo-challenges-ahead-011-7783483.html?ref=DMDesc
Andrew Cuomo Sued By Former Aide For Sexual Harassment :: https://www.oneindia.com/international/andrew-cuomo-sued-by-former-aide-for-sexual-harassment-gen-3690137.html?ref=DMDesc
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NewsTranscript
00:00I will ask the the public safety question and we'll start with you Mr.
00:08Sliwa the issues of crime and disorder on the streets the NYPD says the crime
00:12is going down in all major category most major major categories but to New Yorkers
00:18they're still concerned with disorder and their own unique perception of crime
00:21do you think addressing quality of life concerns helps prevent more serious
00:26crimes and how would you deploy the city's police force to deal with those
00:30serious violent crimes and also quality of life offenses like disorderly
00:34conduct and retail theft Mr. Sliwa. First off I've been in all 350 neighborhoods I'm
00:38the only candidate that's on the subway each and every day I've yet to hear from
00:43one New Yorker who said they feel safer either in the subways or the streets and
00:48Eric Adams constantly heckering at us like it's the perception the perception no
00:54it's the reality of crime we need 7,000 police officers we are badly understaffed
01:00we need to get police officers in the subways actually patrolling
01:04the moving cars where people are most threatened and most frightened
01:09and we need to bring back the homeless outreach unit
01:12that was disbanded when de Blasio took a billion dollars out of the budget
01:16these were men and women police officers who already had with them
01:21medical nurses and healthcare practitioners but it was de Blasio who abolished it and
01:26they've been talking about bringing something back ever since
01:30but they never do it because I'm out there in the subways every day and I never see it
01:34and when I'm mayor it gets done on day one the homeless outreach unit
01:39is put back into the NYPD thank you Mr. Mamdani you know when I hear from New Yorkers
01:45of where they feel least safe they will often tell me the subway system and when they explain those
01:51moments to me what they are often explaining is a mental health crisis in our city and a crisis of
01:56homelessness that has only continued to grow and that is why at the heart of our public safety agenda
02:02is a groundbreaking proposal to not only reduce crime but address these very moments of unease for
02:07New Yorkers across the five boroughs by creating a department of community safety that will be focused on the
02:13mental health crisis focused on homelessness and will ensure that police officers can focus on
02:18serious crimes because in 2020 the response time for those officers was less than 11 minutes today
02:25it's closer to 16 minutes and that's because every year they are now responding to 200,000 mental
02:31health calls when those are calls that could by and large be taken by experts trained on responding to
02:36that very crisis thank you Mr. Cuomo
02:41the you know the answer is always a new government agency it's manage the system manage the public
02:50safety system we know how to do this mayor David Dinkins did it when we had a real crop crime problem
02:57hire more police officers of course you have to deal with the mentally ill of course that deal that
03:03requires mental health specialists with police because the situation can be dangerous but hire the
03:115,000 more cops because they're all quitting because they're getting worked too hard you're gonna have to
03:16raise the starting salary because nobody wants to be a cop today the way they're treated put 1500 in the
03:24subways forget this Zoran idea of not prosecuting misdemeanors prosecute misdemeanors those are quality of life crimes
03:34and that's very important yes the subways are scary but it's scary in their neighborhood too
03:40so those those quality of life crimes also have to be addressed
03:50no matter how many times Andrew Cuomo describes it as my idea or my policy I have never once stated
03:56that we were not going to prosecute misdemeanors and that is what you see from the former governor
04:01is someone who spends more time talking about the platforms of other organizations and other
04:06individuals than the one that I've actually put forward or the one that he is supposed to be
04:10running on now we'll hear from Brian for another question
04:13excuse me one second can I just on a particular crime can I just respond can I just respond to
04:19that accusation when it's misdemeanors of felonies no cash bail releases them back into the streets
04:25and both of you are for no cash bail I want to move on you'll get your opportunities I think
04:31because I want to bring up a particular crime concern and that is violence among younger New Yorkers
04:36specifically teenagers my question is what is your stance on the statewide raise the age law which
04:44increase the age of adult criminal responsibility from 16 years old to 18 for most crimes police
04:50commissioner tish says quote the mentality on the street is that nothing happens to those under 18
04:58who possess a gun so would you support modifying raise the age in any way and Mr. Mamdani since you just
05:05announced that you would invite commissioner tish to stay on would you go along with her on this
05:11I would not support changes to the state's legislation and I would not support them because
05:15the major issue with the implementation of that legislation has been the fact that there is hundreds
05:20of millions of dollars that was supposed to be delivered alongside that law that is still
05:26languishing in Albany and I am excited to be the next mayor of the city to finally fight for the money
05:31that this city is owed to ensure that we deliver it to our young people across the five boroughs
05:35Mr. Palma the what I was referring to before is uh Zoran is a member of the DSA Democratic Socialists
05:46of America they have a charter he gives them three percent of his salary he has said multiple times
05:51I am a DSA member I pledge allegiance they say abolish jails defund police don't enforce misdemeanors
05:59go to my website andrewcuomo.com it's right on the front page now is he lying to the DSA is he
06:05lying to New Yorkers lying to everybody who knows on the raise the age I passed the law I support the law
06:12it's uh we were one of only two states that put 16 and 17 year olds in adult prisons uh it was inhumane
06:21it was cruel and unusual and I'm proud of that law it's administered by local governments some are doing
06:27it better than others if Zoran thought that there was money locked up in Albany maybe he should have
06:32gone to Albany and proposed a bill to release it once again the architect of raise the age Governor Cuomo
06:41the apprentice to him Zoran it's personal for me my oldest son Anthony last October was the victim of
06:49a vicious gang assault that could have killed him and what happened to these juveniles cut free because
06:57they went to family court not criminal court so how can both of you look at me I almost lost my oldest
07:05son to gang violence and the perpetrators went to family court and got a little pat on the wrist
07:12and was sent home to do it again and again no we need to start charging juveniles who commit violent
07:20crime in criminal court and I'll appoint criminal court judges who follow the law and don't just
07:27release them because of no cash bail clear difference between you on that Miss uh Errol you pick it up
07:33okay candidates um I've got uh individual questions for you and we're going to try and pick up the pace a
07:38little bit here I'd like you really just explain kind of where you're coming from Mr. Mamdani you've
07:42called for reorganizing the NYPD to create this department of community safety that among other
07:46things would handle calls involving people in mental health distress your opponents have disparaged this
07:52as sending social workers rather than cops into dangerous situations like domestic violence disputes
07:58explain really what you have in mind and please include any evidence that this approach would work
08:04absolutely what my opponents are clinging to is the past because that's all that they know what
08:11I am proposing is something that will address the needs of New Yorkers in the present we speak and hear
08:17from New Yorkers across the five boroughs who outline how the mental health crisis is one of the major
08:22challenges in this city and yet what we have in our city is asking those same police officers who are
08:27being asked to respond to shootings respond to murders to also respond to these calls I trust the dispatchers
08:33who would be receiving these calls to make the determination as to whether there was any
08:37indication of violence if there is no indication of a threat of violence then we would set the mental
08:43health experts and providers to respond to those same incidents the reason I believe in the efficacy
08:48of this approach is because of the fact that it has been delivered elsewhere in the country so no matter
08:53how often you hear those on this stage tell you that something cannot be done know that there are others in
08:59this same country who have seen it and it is time for that same policy to come to New York City
09:04okay Mr. Sliwa and Mr. Cuomo I have a similar question for both of you the department currently
09:10fields about 33,000 officers down from 37,000 in 2018 public safety budget approaching 10 billion
09:16dollars Mr. Sliwa you want to hire 7,000 more cops Mr. Cuomo says 5,000 more cops each of you make the case
09:23for why you think that's necessary especially given the fact that for uh crime decline for much of New
09:30York City crime declines over the last 20 years happened while the size of the force was also
09:36declining and not rising Errol I have to revisit the last uh debate for a second when Zoran
09:42was basing this policy on what they do in Eugene Oregon you've never been to Eugene Oregon I have
09:48are you out of your mind and then Columbus Ohio this is New York City a major metropolitan area
09:56with thousands of 911 calls domestic abuse emotionally disturbed persons and you want
10:02to have social workers go out there and risk their life and by the way they're not going to get the
10:07results that a trained professional police officer can get that's why we so desperately need 7,000 new
10:14cops we'll use the Boston model which is pay now in lieu of taxes they do at a harvey university and the
10:21other university we'll raise a billion dollars get them vetted trained and out into the streets so they
10:27can be seen in all the neighborhoods and most importantly do the job they were sworn to do and
10:32i will make sure that their insurance the qualified immunity that was stripped from them the only civil
10:38servants who are not protected by the taxpayer is returned so that they can freely go out and do
10:44what they were trained to do it's to protect all of the people of New York City okay Mr. Cuomo
10:51there is nothing new here we've had mentally ill homeless people going back to the Billy Boggs case
10:59right under the Ed Koch administration I ran homeless services not just for David Dinkins but also for
11:05President Clinton I've worked in every state all the large cities on all homeless programs I've spent
11:11dozens of nights out bringing trying to bring mentally ill people in it can be done with mental health
11:20workers and police workers you cannot tell from a phone call if a person is going to be dangerous and I
11:28have seen personally many times a person who seemed very calm and sedate explode into rage why because
11:37there's sometimes a symptom of mental illness so there's nothing new here it just has to be done
11:43and managed yes you need more police you need more police first of all Errol because they're quitting
11:49because there are not enough to staff the force and they're working overtime and weekends and their
11:57family life is destroyed so you have the highest attrition rate in modern history you have to hire
12:055,000 just to slow down the attrition okay thank you 40,000 beds for mental health and the state hospital
12:13system by the time you fled fearing impeachment you cut the budget down to 4,000 beds shame on you for putting
12:21those emotionally disturbed persons in the street you don't know what you're to look what there's one
12:27better i'm going to say for you but the no one is saying about to go back to willow brook that's when
12:34there were 40,000 people in mental institutions we left that 40 years ago when we rented the community
12:41based housing we're going to stay in this century guys yeah the the next um well we're going to do our
12:48lightning round where each candidate will answer our questions with a brief response usually yes
12:52or no i'm going to do the first couple uh candidates if you had the power would you keep kill or modify
12:58the congestion pricing program just say one of those words keep kill or modify mr one and done dead
13:04mr mamdani keep keep okay um would you expand decrease or keep the same number of so-called safe
13:12injection sites for drug users in the city mr mamdani can you say the options again
13:17expand decrease or keep the same keep the same mr cuomo keep close them down okay
13:27the last two mayors proposed allocating one percent of the city budget for parks will you
13:31make the same pledge here tonight mr sliwa and another one two percent keep your hands off the
13:36parks you greedy developers one percent mr cuomo one percent okay two percent two percent
13:46another lightning round question the city recently enacted a 15 mile per hour speed limit for e-bikes
13:53and of course there are the other motorized two-wheelers that also frequently ignore red lights and other
13:59traffic laws if you are mayor would you direct the nypd to ramp up speeding tickets and other moving
14:06violations on the motorized two-wheelers mr cuomo yes this is a dangerous situation for many people
14:14mr mamdani yes or no i would actually build on the city council's progress and holding the apps
14:20accountable like doordash and grubhub to ensure that there weren't incentives for breaking those
14:24street traffic lights increase ticketing the riders i do not think the police should be the ones
14:30dealing with the failures of these app companies license them register them and yes to enforcement
14:37on them all right uh there is a ballot question to align mayoral election years with presidential
14:44election years in the future do you support this mr sliwa absolutely not all the attention would go to
14:51the presidential election not to the mayoral election and all the down ballot elections all of
14:57our city council people that's a no mr mamdani i haven't yet taken a position on any of the ballot
15:01reference oh shocker again again and again and again yes thank you so much first question do you
15:12support having a casino in the five boroughs like it's a full casino and do you have a favorite among
15:17the three current contenders mr sliwa no only if the community wants it mr mamdani i'm personally
15:23skeptical of casinos but voters did choose to bring them to new york city and unlike andrew cuomo and
15:28donald trump i don't view the law as just a suggestion do you have a favorite of the three
15:32no i don't have favorites of mr cuomo um i do not i have not reviewed the proposals i was not in
15:40i did not vote it's not so hard to say i did let me just just so you understand some facts
15:46i did not vote to bring the casinos to new york city i did casinos in upstate new york
15:53as economic development measures i had no part of these three casinos how they were done
16:00i think it's highly problematic and i think there's going to be a lot more to come
16:10if there is a rank choice election how would you vote mr mamdani if there was a rank choice election
16:15in this you'd have to rank these myself number one and curtis number two mr sliwa oh please don't be
16:22glazing me here's all right are you kidding
16:29mr sliwa do you want to have a answer i support rank choice voting but i'd only vote for myself
16:33mr cuomo
16:34i love that zoron and curtis ticket idea i don't know i'm just enamored with it i would just rank
16:43myself uh would any of you accept mayor adams's endorsement mr mondani no mr cuomo yes i would mr
16:51sliwa absolutely not put that crook in jail where he belongs and final uh a fun one be careful
16:57what is what is your favorite live music venue in new york city mr sliwa oh chain smokers
17:03um under the k bridge i'm presumed that's right the kashusko bridge uh mr mondani forest hill stadium
17:11mr cuomo under the kashusko bridge have you seen a show under the k bridge who who'd you see
17:18uh no i picked up my daughter's at a show that's as close as i got candidates it's time for the
17:24cross-examination round that's where each candidate gets a chance to ask one question of one rival
17:30the order was selected at random we're going to begin with curtis sliwa zoron you talk about
17:36free free free but we know that somebody's got to pay for it and that's you the taxpayers
17:44and that's going to lead to bankruptcy the only reason that zoron is on the stage is because of
17:50the failed governor cuomo who was rejected by the democrats in the primary and rejected by 13 women
17:57who charged you with sexual harassment do you ever know that no means no you know what no means what
18:05your question is to mr who's your who is your question we can bifurcate it right no no you know
18:11you can't who is your question it's to cuomo okay your response mr cuomo i'm not sure what the man said
18:20but uh the the situation uh my legal situation as we discussed before was fully litigated i was
18:32dropped from the cases um if anyone has a legal situation to talk about i think it's mr sliwa
18:41who runs the guardian angels and apparently as a charitable donation but never filed any tax returns
18:50for the guardian angels and has been accepting charitable donations which is just a crime and tax fraud
18:58so i think that's the person who was explaining to do okay your turn to ask a question mr cuomo
19:05to zoron i believe as we've stated that you have been a divisive force in new york and i believe that's
19:13toxic energy for new york it's it's it's with the jewish community it's with the italian american
19:20community when you give the columbus statue the finger it's with the sunni muslims when you say
19:26decriminalize prostitution which is haram it's the hindus uh but then you uh take a picture with rebecca
19:36cadaga deputy prime minister of uganda you take a picture with your father you're smiling he's smiling
19:45she's known as rebecca gay killer cadaga question you're a citizen of uganda you took the picture
19:53you said you you didn't know who she was it turns out you did how do you not renounce your citizenship
19:59or demand bds against uganda for imprisoning people who are gay just by their sexual orientation isn't
20:12that a basic violation of human rights my politics is consistent and my politics is built on a belief
20:25in human rights for all people and that extends to queer and trans new yorkers and it extends to queer
20:31and trans ugandans and had i known that the first deputy minister was the architect of that legislation
20:37i would not have taken that photo and yet i also know that this constant attempt to smear and slander
20:44me is an attempt to also distract from the fact that unlike myself you do not actually have
20:50a platform or a set of policies to protect those same new yorkers here all you have are the insults
20:55that you have lobbed at every single opportunity you have okay that's it cross examination is just
21:03the question and answer your turn to ask a question mr cuomo in 2021 13 different women who worked in
21:15your administration incredibly accused you of sexual harassment since then you have spent more than 20
21:22million dollars in taxpayer funds to defend yourself all while describing these allegations
21:29as entirely political you have even gone so far as to legally go after these women one of those
21:37women charlotte bennett is here in the audience this evening you sought to access her private
21:45gynecological records she cannot speak up for herself because you lodged a defamation case against her
21:52i however can speak what do you say to the 13 women that you sexually harassed
22:06if you if you want to be in government then you have to be serious and mature
22:10uh there were allegations of sexual harassment they were then went to five district attorneys fully
22:20litigated for four years the cases were dropped right you know that as a fact so everything you just
22:26stated you just said was a misstatement which were accustomed to from the state was a misstatement
22:31because the cases the cases were dropped that's what happened and uh my question to you you still
22:40didn't answer why won't you say bds against uganda if it's saying gays should be imprisoned for being
22:47gay okay you have no problem with bds against israel but no bds for uganda this is just one question one
22:55answer we all heard it thank you very much candidates brian our next topic is education the next
23:02mayor will oversee the largest school system in the united states as you know with roughly 900 000
23:08students thousands of schools and billions of dollars in budget we have an education question
23:14for each of you mr mamdani you said you would give up mayoral control of schools and share decision
23:20making with various stakeholders but in the last debate you said you're still for mayoral accountability
23:27for educational outcomes this has confused some people about how you can give up final authority but
23:33still hold yourself accountable can you try to clarify that i remain opposed to mayoral control
23:40and i also believe that the mayor is accountable for that which happens in this city i will not shirk
23:44that accountability even when we are putting together a system that has greater involvement for
23:50parents for educators for students look one in 300 americans is a student in the new york city public
23:56school system this is a system where we are failing to deliver excellence to students to teachers to
24:04parents and it is time to have a mayor who understands not only the crisis in front of us but the fact that
24:10we have to change our ways if we want to change our results and that is what we are running on a plan
24:16for the future not to simply relitigate the past mr sliwa you recently proposed reducing the education
24:22budget by ten billion dollars or about twenty five percent to help pay for tax cuts but your website
24:29includes things like quote hire more therapists expand services for students with learning differences
24:37build new vocational high schools restore arts programs expand athletic programs and increase teacher
24:44pay to attract and retain top talent those are all exact quotes from your website how do you defund the
24:50education department by twenty five percent to cut taxes add in the trump administration's various cuts
24:57and do all those expansions at the same time well let me tell you you have a bureaucracy at the tweed
25:03courthouse perfect place to house the department of education because of the corruption in the top
25:08ranks you have 13 deputy chancellors you have about 50 department heads nobody at the school level ever
25:16deals with them forty one thousand dollars we pay per student and teachers still have to reach into
25:21their pockets to pay for basic supplies you cut at the top contracts that have been negotiated that
25:29have not been overseen you will save millions and millions of dollars and yes you open up the schools
25:35as it was when i went to public school after school center night center weekend center not just sports but
25:41culture plays musicals people used to be able to take instruments home when they were in band and
25:48orchestra that attracted children one-third of our children don't even come to school each day and we need
25:54more vocational training like we had when i was growing up that's been depleted and more charter schools we
26:01need to raise the cap and have more charter schools for the children who have been waiting to get in for years
26:07and katie has an education question for mr cuomo thanks brian mr cuomo there's currently a state law
26:14to reduce class sizes in the city you recently described the law as quote reckless and proposed
26:19that popular schools be exempted from this law you also want to start closing low performing schools
26:24one of the most controversial policies of mayor bloomberg would you defy the class size law and if you close
26:31existing schools rather than work to improve them what specifically helps the kids learn more
26:37and where yeah the common denominator on all these things is the question is uh what is your plan to
26:45change things and what is your ability and experience to do it these these are management challenges
26:53and uh i have managed large bureaucracies the department of education we lost one million students
27:01what's happening is young families have to make a decision when their child has to go to school
27:06they're deciding to go to the suburbs go to jersey they're not going to sacrifice their kid
27:10so it is a uh terrible problem for the entire city uh the shrinking public school system i would
27:18double the gifted and talented programs double the number of specialized high schools keep the sh sat
27:25uh and keep mayoral control it is wholly inconsistent to say i think it's a top priority but i want to give
27:35up mayoral control but i want to be a mayor who runs grocery stores forget the grocery stores run the
27:41department of education it was the most single uh uh instrumental reform mayor bloomberg was right
27:50uh the mayor in boston and chicago don't give up mayoral control would you defy the law the class size
27:55law the problem the class size law it's a nice idea the state didn't send the money the state has not
28:01been doing its fair share for the city if you have a nice idea that's nice and send the money and just a
28:06fact check i don't think we lost a million students we have just about under a million students in the
28:10do we system but just a quick show of hands i'm sorry yes and just a show of hands no talking who
28:15is in favor of the cell phone band and band in schools raise your hands everyone has raised their
28:21hands they all are in favor of the cell phone band thank you okay um candidates i want to talk
28:26about rikers island under city law the jail complex on rikers is supposed to close in 2027 that's
28:33something that the next mayor is going to have to navigate uh the population however has only gone
28:37up it's surpassing 7 000 detainees and a judge this year put rikers on a path toward federal receivership
28:44so here's the question as mayor will you commit to the closure of rikers island as required and if
28:49not what is your alternative plan we'll start with you mr sliwa number one the architect for the closing
28:56of rikers island is on this stage that's former governor andrew cuomo he was the first
29:02and his apprentice is orhan mandami no you keep rikers island open there are seven functioning
29:08buildings three others that need to be rehabbed you can move those who have mental health issues
29:13and give them the treatment they need as long as they're detained on rikers island some people do a
29:19year of time if they're given that in the courts rather than be shipped upstate so there are a variety
29:24of inmates we have allocated eight billion dollars for four community jails the price tag is now up to 16
29:31billion and we'll only house four thousand of the seven thousand guess what we keep the inmates on
29:37rikers island and we turn those four units in the neighborhoods into affordable housing that we've all
29:43been clamoring for what about the law that requires the closing oh you go into court you fight fight fight
29:50you'll fight for the taxpayers and you'll fight to keep inmates on rikers island so that we don't just
29:56have to lock up toothpaste in new york city but we lock up inmates mr cuomo the uh zuron has said idana
30:06the law closing rikers in 2027 you can't you can't unless you intend to release all the people on rikers
30:15island which is the democratic socialist policy the county jails are not going to be built
30:21it was a mistake the whole plan was a mistake uh they are years late billions over budget i would
30:30say scrap the county jails build new jails on rikers island provide uh ferry and bus transportation for
30:40people from the other boroughs to visit on rikers island and then use the existing four sites for
30:48commercial residential but you cannot close rikers on 2027 because there's no place to put the people
30:55unless you're going to release 7 000 people well you're you're familiar with the idea that a law
31:01has passed it's supposed to be followed even if it's difficult even if the the the timeline is screwed
31:07up even if the money's not there yeah so then which is our position then you're saying release the 7 000
31:14people and i'm saying i'm not going to release 7 000 criminals into new york city there is no one on
31:22this stage that is saying that yet andrew cuomo repeat it again and again what i have said time and
31:28again i'll repeat it again is that yes we have to close rikers island rikers island is a stain on the
31:36history of this city and that this current administration has made it nearly impossible
31:43to do so by the stipulated timeline so what i will do is everything in my power to try and meet that
31:50deadline knowing that eric adams has made it so difficult because he's had no interest in actually
31:56following through on it and as much as you will hear about experience and running a government what
32:01andrew cuomo doesn't seem to understand is the city has already entered into contracts for these
32:07borough-based jails and to end those contracts would be to incur massive fiscal penalties but that's not
32:13something that he seems to care about even as he speaks about the fiscal stewardship of this city
32:23you want to talk to me about running government or managing projects i built the second avenue subway
32:29moynihan train hall of course there's costs incurred the question is going to be how much more does it
32:45cost to finish the jail and are you better off uh cutting your losses that's the question in the
32:52discussion and you sit down with the contractor and you negotiate but your position of i'm going to
32:59close it on 2027 the question is is yes or no do you close it in 2027 you still have an answer you will hear from andrew cuomo about his experience as if the issue is that we don't know about it the issue is that we have all experienced your experience the issue is that we experienced you taking a five million dollar book deal while you sent seniors to their deaths in nursing homes
33:27nursing homes the issue is that we experienced you cutting funding for the mta to send money to upstate skiers
33:33the issue is that we saw you give 959 million dollars in tax breaks to elon musk the issue is your experience
33:41the only thing the issue is the issue is you have no experience you've accomplished nothing you haven't
33:52proposed the bill on anything and you still haven't said if you're close like this in 2027
33:59i got the answer to the questions i was asking thanks very much let's move on
34:03my next question is about another law that's already on the books
34:07the city has a climate law local law 97
34:11that will require a large percentage of the buildings in the city to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40
34:18by 2030 or face financial penalties as you know some co-ops condos and landlords are afraid of crushing
34:25expenses but buildings account for 70 percent of the city's climate pollution emissions so reduction would
34:33need to include that sector you all have taken different positions on this i want our viewers and
34:38listeners to hear each of you uh starting with mr cuomo in this case would you abide by and make others abide
34:46by local law 97 as it stands as it stands uh is as it stands you're going to have to
34:58be flexible in the application what's going to happen now is uh many many companies will just
35:08pay the fine because it's cheaper than actually following the rules and that's the last thing you
35:15want that accomplishes nothing right it's just another tax in essence on these units uh so there's going
35:22to have to be flexibility it's the right intent it's the right goal but how you implement it has to deal with
35:30reality and the costs again otherwise i can tell you i've had this conversation with many of them
35:37they've they're not even going to try they're just going to pay the fine what kind of flexibility if
35:42it's going to be timing and what do we mean and can it be phased in
35:46the climate crisis is one of the most pressing crises facing this city and we deserve to take
35:55it on with the urgency it requires it is right now easier to pay the fine than to actually comply with
36:01this legislation we have to ensure that we make it easier for condo and co-op owners to follow these
36:07laws and we do that by eliminating the application fees for j51 by extending that tax credit by also
36:15creating a one-stop shop in new york city government that procures at a large scale
36:20heat pumps and the very kind of infrastructure needed to comply we've seen this happen before
36:25with clean energy work that's been done in woodside houses it's time to bring that kind of work right
36:30here so that we can ensure full compliance i'm the only one on this stage totally opposed to local 97
36:37100 000 condo and co-op owners their maintenance fees will go up 30 percent they won't have enough reserve
36:44fees you're going to see massive flight from the co-ops and condos now they want to electrify everything
36:52well there's a man on the stage who took indian point offline that was 25 of our electrical output
36:58we haven't been able to meet the needs since and as a result they're now starting to build because
37:03of the city of yes that i'm opposed these lithium-ion battery warehouses where staten island 38 brooklyn
37:1112 8 in queens 4 in the bronx and none in manhattan oh no they're going to electrify and they don't
37:20have the electrical output so i say no to local 97 and when our mayor i tell all my commissioners for
37:26a monkey wrench into the process we slow it down because we want these condo owners and co-op owners
37:32to stay mr cuomo you were name checked on indian point uh i think i was uh indian point
37:41was a danger it is the it was the uh nuclear power plant most closely located to the densest
37:52population there was no nuclear plant on the globe that close to a city there were 20 million people in
37:58what was called the kill zone before i became attorney general there had been a number of lawsuits to
38:05stop it what we did is we brought cables down from upstate new york down the hudson river we have nuclear
38:13upstate uh we're in rural areas to bring that nuclear power down the cables and then on that basis
38:22substitute for indian points power yes or no electricity rates are too high to pay because of
38:27you andrew cuomo just yes or no would any of you support new nuclear power plants to help bring down
38:34the rising cost of utilities in new york state just yes or no mr shlewa of state they are already
38:41starting yes mr mondani i think it's something worth exploring mr cuomo is that a yes yeah oh uh yes
38:50yes katie we're going to move on now to the economy mith donnie you're proposing to raise the city's
38:57minimum wage to thirty dollars an hour by 2030. how would you get the state legislature to go along
39:02with your plan and do you think it's realistic to feel that a small business owner would have to pay
39:08every employee this amount especially when the city currently doesn't mandate that figure for its
39:13own public employees and i have separate questions for mr sliwa and mr cuomo so this would be something
39:19where the city would have to start doing so as well because any law that we want new yorkers to
39:23follow the city should be following it itself and the reason that we put forward thirty dollars by 2030
39:29is that that's the minimum that a new yorker needs to be paid to be able to afford to live in this city
39:34and what we are looking at right now is the possibility of the place that we know and love
39:39becoming a museum of where working class people used to be able to live our proposal that we've put
39:45forward would be phased in over a longer period of time for small business owners to ensure that they
39:50could deal with this and it's also one that we are confident we would be able to accomplish because
39:55of the fact that we are seeing from new yorkers time and time again the absence of it is pushing
39:59them to live in jersey city to live in pennsylvania to live in connecticut because they can't afford to
40:04live in new york city thank you and for mr sliwa and mr cuomo if you're not in favor of a thirty
40:10dollar minimum wage what are your plans to raise the salaries of workers in new york city we'll start
40:14with you mr sliwa first off uh zohan mandami deals with fantasy not reality look at all the uber
40:20drivers look at all the taxi drivers the lyft drivers they will now have driverless cars that's
40:28what they're pushing ai that's going to be wiping out so many jobs especially for young men and women
40:34who went to school got their four years of college two-year degree and they're making 155
40:40000 and then they get wiped out you know what the corporate sector is going to do they're going to
40:45bring in robotics zoron stop dealing with fantasy and start dealing with reality you're pushing
40:52businesses out because you want to tax them i'm the only one here who wants to cut the corporate taxes
40:57the income tax the property tax we can cut in order to keep business here but if you raise the minimum
41:03wage too high they're going to end up going in a different direction and they're not going to hire
41:09workers it's going to be robots and driverless cars and ai and i'm opposed to that thank you mr cuomo
41:17yeah uh i half agree with curtis uh there is uh zoron does have socialist theory uh colliding with
41:28practical reality i went through this we raised the minimum wage to the highest in the united states of
41:33america new york set the bar we set it at fifteen dollars every other state said that's crazy when
41:41we did it uh people in the state said that was crazy when we did it but it was calibrated it was doable
41:49we phased it in in different parts of the state we phased it in with small businesses we gave them
41:54assistance because if you raise it too high and i believe 30 is too high i would raise it to 20.
42:02if you raise it too high you do two things people lose their jobs you bankrupt the businesses you're
42:10talking about basically doubling payroll and you can have a negative effect where literally businesses
42:18close and people lose their jobs and overall again it's another tax on corporations another reason to
42:28leave new york another reason to pack up the family and get on i-95 and go to south carolina and florida and
42:36texas all right candidates we are coming down the home stretch i want to alert our media part partners
42:44especially we're going to go over by five minutes and um we're going to have brian lead a conversation
42:50about transit right and we're going to have to do this very briefly uh to each of you because you each have
42:55transit things to answer to mr cuomo you say the city should take partial control of new york city
43:01transit away from the mta which is mostly controlled by the state would the city then have to foot
43:07more of the bill and if this is a good idea why didn't you propose it as governor the uh the capital
43:16first of all new york city owns the new york city transit authority
43:20not the mta it leases the trains and subways to the mta and then the question is the division of
43:28responsibility new york city does the safety along with the mta the problem the mta is having
43:36is the capital construction projects it has been an ongoing problem i came in i took over moynahan and
43:43finished it i took came in and took over second avenue subway the l train tunnel the capital
43:50construction projects are way overdue on the city to pay i would say no there is a budget set my only
43:58point is the mta which is a labyrinth bureaucracy set up by rockefeller which should have never been
44:04done in the first place uh it's an overwhelming task for the greatest managers and i hire both of them
44:12but let the city manage the capital construction from the mta budget mr momdani
44:19make your case briefly for your proposal for free buses for everybody even those who can afford to
44:25pay you know first i'll just say that one of the most celebrated leaders of the new york city transit
44:30was andy byford who had such a terrible experience one working under andrew cuomo that he would
44:35rather work under donald trump right now the proposal that we have put forward addresses the fact that today
44:43in the wealthiest city in the wealthiest country in the history of the world one in five new yorkers
44:48cannot afford the bus fare it would cost 700 million dollars a year to make the slowest buses in the
44:55country fast and free and by doing so we would generate more than double in economic revenue for new
45:02yorkers across the city it would be something that would reduce assaults on bus drivers it would increase
45:08ridership on those buses and it would actually have environmental impacts as fewer new yorkers would
45:13drive their own car or take a taxi and would instead get on the bus and i know all of this
45:17because i delivered it as a state assembly member who won the first free buses in new york city's
45:22history and and mr sliwa your your website according to my reading has a section on transit safety
45:28but nothing on transit service do you have any core proposals for improving it oh sure first off uh
45:34zoran i get a good belly laugh oh all right i'll keep practicing i got you i get a good belly laugh
45:41every time i hear you say free fare in the subways half the people don't pay anyway how about fair
45:47enforcement i'm the only one who says we have all kinds of fair programs for the indigent and the poor
45:53but if you don't pay your fare there needs to be enforcement and by the way i've taken this subway
45:58almost every day of my life since i was five the worst time was the summer of 2017.
46:03the summer of hell andrew cuomo when you were running the subway system as the head of the
46:11i don't trust you with anything to do why would you how would you make it better oh very simply
46:18everybody pays their fare enforcement more cops in the subway system and by the way we can get more
46:25people to voluntarily actually sponsor their subway system stations clean it up and beautify them and
46:32add some life so the community has input into the subway that they have to go through the sleaze and
46:38slime all the time all right candidates we've got just a couple of minutes let's have another quick
46:44lightning round where each candidate will answer my questions with a quick response usually yes or no
46:51name one person you'd like to see run for president in 2028 mr sliwa wow in 2028 man i'm dealing right now
46:59with 20 25. mr bomb donnie my only focus is on november mr cuomo uh i haven't thought it through okay
47:09uh we have a city of hundreds of languages and cultures can you greet new yorkers in a language
47:14other than your own mr cuomo ciao buenos dias okay have you decided on the schools chancellor mr sliwa
47:29yes i would ask bob holden who's taught 40 years he leads democrats for sliwa okay mr mondani no i haven't
47:36decided on a chancellor okay uh should people be arrested for the solicitation of sex mr sliwa no
47:46the the johns yes the pimps the madams and the absentee landlords okay mr mom donnie no mr cuomo
47:55uh zoron's decriminalization for prostitutes johns and pimps would be a disaster on the quality of life
48:03they should be arrested you say should people be arrested for soliciting sex it is a criminal
48:08offense i would keep it as it is okay um last question can you name one thing that new york
48:12got right during the kovid crisis mr sliwa new york got right oh wow he didn't get anything right
48:20during the kovid crisis no mr mondani it only took me 15 minutes to get my vaccine shot when i went for
48:27that and that was an efficient experience mr quorum thank you for the compliment that was a city run
48:33all right no it wasn't
48:38thanks so much gentlemen that is going to do it for for this debate i would like to thank the candidates
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