2025 NYC Democratic Mayoral Primary Debate

Announcer (00:34):

… crushing costs. Pushing New Yorkers out. Crime concerns from the subways to the streets. Fears of deportation in a city built by immigrants. The greatest city in the world at a tipping point with challenges from Washington Heights to Washington DC. Who will lead the way as the city's next mayor? Live from Rockefeller Center, the first Democratic primary debate for New York City Mayor with City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, former state assemblyman, Michael Blake, former governor, Andrew Cuomo, City Comptroller Brad Lander, State Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, State Senator Zellnor Myrie, State Senator Jessica Ramos, former comptroller, Scott Stringer, and former hedge fund manager, Whitney Tilson. Sponsored by News 4 New York, Telemundo 47, Politico, the New York City Campaign Finance Board and NYC Votes. Here now, News 4 New York anchor, David Ushery.

David Ushery (01:41):

Good evening, everyone from 30 Rock, and welcome to the first Democratic primary debate for New York City mayor. I'm joined by my colleague, News 4 governor affairs reporter, Melissa Russo, Sally Goldenberg, senior New York editor for Politico, and Telemundo 47 anchor, Rosarina Breton. This is a two-hour debate live on all NBC New York and Telemundo 47 streaming and digital platforms, Politico.com, TeleXitos, and YouTube. This first hour, also live on channel four, the leading democratic contenders are here tonight. Their positions on stage were chosen by random draw. Few rules for the candidates for traditional question and answer, you'll have one minute to respond and we'll offer 30-second rebuttals at the moderator's discretion. We'll also be asking some questions where… We're looking for shorter answers, a lot of ground we want to cover, candidates. And we also reserve the right to cut off your microphone if you ignore the rules, but, of course, we don't want to do that, the goal is here for you to hear each other and for New Yorkers to hear everything you have to say. Good luck to you all. We'll begin with Melissa Russo.

Melissa Russo (02:45):

Thank you, David. Good evening, everyone. It's good to have you. We're going to begin tonight with the issue that polls show is number one for New Yorkers, and that is affordability. The cost of everything is squeezing residents in our city. New housing can take years to build, and we'll get to your plans on that a little bit later in the debate, but right now, we're interested in how you would help residents immediately. So what's your one big idea to make the city more affordable now and how will you pay for it? We'll begin with you, Ms. Adams.

Adrienne Adams (03:19):

Thank you so much. Thank you for having me this evening. I'm actually the only candidate on this stage who is actually doing the work already. We have a housing plan already. I have built and delivered 120,000 new units of housing, and now with the new proposal that we have in front of us, we have over 80,000 new units of housing that will be coming up and will be affordable to the people of the city of New York. New York is not affordable. I'm a mother, a grandmother, and I want my children to stay here just like real New Yorkers want their children to stay here.

Melissa Russo (03:53):

Thank you, Ms. Adams. I should remind everyone, this is a 30-second answer. We'll go to you next, Mr. Lander.

Brad Lander (03:59):

Thank you, Melissa. Good evening, everyone. I'm Brad Lander. I'm the New York City comptroller. I'm a lifelong affordable housing activist and I'm a proud Brooklyn dad. Tonight, I'll show you that I'm the only one in this race with the progressive values to make this city more affordable with the public integrity to sweep away the corruption of Eric Adams and Andrew Cuomo, and with the proven management experience having already delivered over 50,000 affordable homes to actually deliver on my promises, I'll get 500,000 homes built over the next 10 years.

Melissa Russo (04:31):

Okay, we're going to move on to Ms. Ramos. I want to remind everyone, the question is, what is your one big idea to make the city more affordable now and how will you pay for it? 30 seconds, Ms. Ramos.

Jessica Ramos (04:42):

Thank you, Melissa. Good evening, buenas noches to everyone watching at home. Thank you so much for holding this forum. Affordability has been top of mind for New Yorkers since before the pandemic, but the pandemic only exacerbated the conditions for New Yorkers. This is why I set out as chair of the labor committee in the New York State Senate to raise the minimum wage to tie it to inflation, and I'm proud to be the last person to have done that. I'm the only person on this stage tonight who has already had a desk at the mayor's office, and this is why I know that the first thing I want to do on day one is enact a mental health emergency so that-

Melissa Russo (05:20):

Okay.

Jessica Ramos (05:20):

… we can keep our streets safe.

Melissa Russo (05:21):

Okay, Ms. Ramos. Mr. Myrie, your big idea, I haven't heard many big ideas yet, so if you can answer the question, please, in 30 seconds. Your big idea to make the city more affordable now and how will you pay for it?

Zellnor Myrie (05:33):

Thank you, Melissa. I don't have one big idea. I have three. I want to deliver one million homes over the next 10 years. I want universal afterschool for every kid in this city from age three to grade 12, and I want to extend pre-K and 3-K past 2:30 PM to 6:00 PM. My parents came here 50 years ago, worked in factories to put food on the table where union members sent me to public schools, and that's how I became a state senator and why I'm standing on this stage tonight. That same opportunity needs to be restored for so many New Yorkers, and that is why new leadership is needed, not the leaders of the past that caused the problem.

Melissa Russo (06:07):

Thank you, Mr. Myrie. Mr. Cuomo?

Andrew Cuomo (06:09):

Thank you. Thank you very much and thank WNBC and Telemundo for hosting today, and buenas noches. I'm running for mayor because I think the city is in real trouble. I think we have a management crisis between the Adams and Lander administration. I think we have a fiscal crisis where the city is actually spending more every year than it is taking in, and I think we have a societal crisis where we have division and hate. On affordability, raise the minimum wage, put more money in people's pocket, more child care, afterschool care, and-

Melissa Russo (06:43):

Okay, Mr. Cuomo.

Andrew Cuomo (06:45):

… then, of course, build affordable housing. I was the HUD secretary. I know how to do it.

Melissa Russo (06:48):

Thank you. I'm turning it over to Rosarina.

Rosarina Breton (06:51):

Thank you, Melissa. Bienvenidos a todos. Thank you so much for being here tonight. We're going to ask the same question again, but please listen carefully. You have 30 seconds to answer. What is your one big idea to make the city more affordable now and how will you pay for it? Again, 30 seconds. Mr. Tilson.

Whitney Tilson (07:06):

Yeah, thank you for having me. Now may take a couple of years, but I think we need to address the housing crisis. Most of the people on this stage have called to freeze the rent, but I want to go one better. I think we need to drop rents by 20% by unleashing the private sector to build a lot more housing. This isn't pie in the sky. New York did this 100 years ago. Austin has done it just in the past three years. So the key is, though, is to ease the zoning restrictions and all the other regulations that are tying-

Rosarina Breton (07:38):

Thank you, Mr. Tilson. Thank you very much. Mr. Mamdani.

Zohran Mamdani (07:41):

Good evening. Thank you so much for having me. We are live here in the most expensive city in the United States of America. One in four New Yorkers are living in poverty and I'm running to be your next mayor to make this city affordable. I will do so by freezing the rent for more than two million rent-stabilized tenants by making the slowest buses in the country fast and free and by delivering universal child care. And I will pay for this by taxing the 1%, the billionaires and the profitable corporations that Mr. Cuomo cares more about than working-class New Yorkers. I will ask them to pay their fair share so we can have a city that everyone can afford-

Rosarina Breton (08:14):

Thank you so much for that. Mr. Blake-

Melissa Russo (08:16):

Can I jump in for one moment? Mr. Mamdani, how will you convince Albany to pass that tax increase? Because from what we've heard from Governor Hochul, it's not really something that she's thinking about doing. How can you guarantee that will happen?

Zohran Mamdani (08:28):

So I have experience in this actually because, in my first year in the state legislature, I came to Albany where we had a governor then who didn't want to raise taxes on billionaires and corporations. That was then Governor Cuomo. And we actually overcame his objections, raised $4 billion in new annual revenue and finally funded the very public schools that he had starved for so many years.

Rosarina Breton (08:46):

Thank you very much.

Melissa Russo (08:46):

Okay.

Rosarina Breton (08:47):

We have to go with Mr. Blake now.

Michael Blake (08:49):

As a South Bronx native family of Jamaican immigrants, the way we actually address affordability is by ending credit scores and increasing income limits for housing applications and having universal child care that is happening not just after school but throughout the weekends. We pay for this by having a vacant apartment tax for those that are not living in New York City by withholding taxes to DC that Trump tries to take against us and making sure… As much as I love the Knicks and I'm sorry they fired Thibs, but they had to, you have to tax what's happening at Madison Square Garden. That is how you pay for it. That is how we have affordability-

Rosarina Breton (09:23):

Thank you, Mr. Blake. Mr. Stringer.

Scott Stringer (09:25):

I want to actually put forth a program that can get done for young families and for the people who built this city. And it's very simple. We need to use city-owned vacant land, 1,000 properties and transform that land into affordable housing. That property should go to not-for-profits, to limited profit developers, not the luxury developers that fund Andrew Cuomo's campaign, but the developers that can actually build the Mitchell-Llama 2.0 that we need. We owe it to the people who built this city and are now fleeing the city because they can't afford to live here, and we need to welcome the next generation of New Yorkers who will be here if we give them hope, and opportunity, and affordability.

Rosarina Breton (10:02):

Thank you, Mr. Stringer.

David Ushery (10:03):

Sally Goldenberg.

Sally Goldenberg (10:04):

Thank you. Now let's turn to President Trump who looms large over the city given his proposed funding cuts and his interest in hometown affairs. Democrats say they want a mayor who will stand up to him. Mr. Cuomo, you've branded the president a bully. Mr. Stringer, you called him a schmuck. And Mr. Lander, you put his name on a car and crushed it in a TV ad. But voters want to know how you'll actually deal with the president if you are elected mayor. We have questions for each of you and you'll all have one minute to answer. Mr. Cuomo, we'll start with you. You have experienced collaborating and battling the president. Currently, his justice department is investigating you following a criminal referral from Congress alleging you lied during testimony about your involvement in a report that undercounted nursing home deaths during COVID. With that probe underway, how do you ensure voters that you would not be compromised in your dealings with the president if you were elected mayor?

Andrew Cuomo (10:59):

Yeah. Well, this is what Mr. Trump does, right? He started an investigation against me, against Kathy Hochul, against Senator Chuck Schumer, against Hillary Clinton. This is one of his tactics. I know how to deal with Donald Trump because I've dealt with him before. Many times, we've had many encounters, we fought on a daily basis through COVID, and I won many of those battles. I fought him on ICE. This is not the first time he's brought ICE to New York. He's done that before, and we fought him, and we won. So he can be beaten, but he has to know that he's up against an adversary who can actually beat him. And I can tell you this, I am the last person on this stage that Mr. Trump wants to see as mayor and that's why I should be the first choice for the people of the city to have as mayor.

Sally Goldenberg (11:59):

To follow up on that though, Democrats also raised some concerns about your testimony, so it wasn't only Republicans. But just putting partisan politics aside for a minute, how would you respond to voters about the congressional findings of your involvement in that report?

Andrew Cuomo (12:14):

Yeah. First, putting partisan politics aside is virtually impossible nowadays. It's so toxic out there. The issue of COVID became a political football right away. It still is a political football between Democrats and Republicans and even within the Democratic Party and within the Republican Party. And it's unfortunate. We should have been learning from the experience and finding out how we could be better prepared for the next time. But, unfortunately, in this toxic environment, it's been nothing but politicized over and over again.

Sally Goldenberg (12:54):

Okay, we have to move on, but I just want to just add that the question was how would you respond to the allegations, but we have to move on.

David Ushery (13:02):

Melissa.

Melissa Russo (13:02):

Okay. Mr. Mamdani, you have said that Mr. Trump's Department of Justice can't be trusted, and that was after the news broke of Mr. Cuomo's alleged reported DOJ investigation. First, quickly, just a yes or no answer, do you think that President Trump is unfairly targeting Mr. Cuomo?

Zohran Mamdani (13:22):

No, I don't think that it's unfair, but I have no interest in believing that they're actually pursuing justice.

Melissa Russo (13:28):

Okay. Second part of my question-

Zohran Mamdani (13:30):

And to be clear, it's not unfair because Andrew Cuomo did lie to Congress, but, ultimately, we know that the Trump justice department and the Trump administration as a whole is interested more in vindictiveness and persecution of political enemies than in anything to do with justice.

Melissa Russo (13:44):

Okay, so moving forward, you are also a socialist, and because of that, why wouldn't President Trump target you and, by extension, target New Yorkers? You have one minute.

Zohran Mamdani (13:55):

President Trump will target whomever is the next mayor of the city. President Trump even targeted his, in many ways, accomplice, Mayor Eric Adams, who has collaborated with the Trump administration at almost every opportunity. And still, in the midst of that collaboration, we saw that New Yorkers are being taken off the streets in their apartment building lobbies, we have $80 million being taken of our city bank account.

(14:18)
So I don't think there's any question that there's any mayor here that will be free from being attacked by Donald Trump. What's more important however, is that we have a mayor who will actually fight back, and that's what I will do. I am Donald Trump's worst nightmare as a progressive Muslim immigrant who actually fights for the things that I believe in. And the difference between myself and Andrew Cuomo is that my campaign is not funded by the very billionaires who put Donald Trump in DC. I don't have to pick up the phone from Bill Ackman or Ken Langone. I have to pick up the phone for the more than 20,000 New Yorkers who contributed an average donation of about $80 to break fund-raising records and put our campaign in second place.

Melissa Russo (14:55):

Mr. Cuomo-

David Ushery (14:57):

Okay, Mr. Mamdani, thank you. Mr. Cuomo, you want to respond to that?

Andrew Cuomo (14:58):

Yeah, please. Mr. Mamdani is very good on Twitter and with videos, but he actually produces nothing for him to accuse me of lying. He also called President Obama a liar and said President Obama was evil, so take everything with a grain of salt. Donald Trump would go through Mr. Mamdani like a hot knife through butter. He's been in government 27 minutes, he passed three bills. That's all he's done. He has no experience with Washington, no experience in New York City. He would be Trump's delight.

David Ushery (15:31):

All right. Brief response, Mr. Mamdani, then we have to move on.

Zohran Mamdani (15:33):

Look, it's true that I don't have experience with corrupt Trump billionaires who are funding my campaign. I don't have experience with party politics and insider consultants. I do have experience, however, with winning $450 million in debt relief for thousands of working-class taxi drivers and actually delivering the working-class people-

Melissa Russo (15:50):

Thank you, Mr. Mamdani. Mr. Lander? Mr. Lander, you've presented yourself as a tough-talking Trump resistor, but as mayor, you're expected to deliver including aid for the city. So how can you do that if you're always at war with the president? You have one minute.

Brad Lander (16:07):

Look, when Donald Trump and Elon Musk stole that $80 million from New York City's bank account, I uncovered it, I rang the alarm bell, and I forced the mayor into court to get it back. You stand up and fight, you go into court when you are in the right. One week after he was elected, I became the first financial officer anywhere in the country to lay out where all that federal money comes into our budget with a really concrete plans for how we put money in reserve so we'll be able to respond.

(16:35)
But, look, with all the corruption that's in Washington, we can't have corruption here in New York City as well. It's not only that Andrew Cuomo lied to Congress, which is perjury, he also lied to the grieving families whose loved ones he sent into those nursing homes to protect his $5 million book deal, that's corrupt and that's what I crushed in that junkyard. So when I'm mayor, I will stand up to Donald Trump. I will make sure that we've got a budget that's ready so when they come for our Medicaid, we've got an independent authority ready to keep providing reproductive healthcare, housing, and education for-

Melissa Russo (17:12):

Mr. Cuomo, would you like to respond?

Andrew Cuomo (17:12):

Yeah, please. Mr. Lander is a little loose with the facts. If he wants to talk about the facts on nursing homes, we'll talk about the facts. He's just parroting Trump's allegations-

Brad Lander (17:23):

I said it long before he did.

Andrew Cuomo (17:24):

… which were actually disproven by the federal government now-

Melissa Russo (17:28):

Which ones are you talking about specifically?

Andrew Cuomo (17:30):

In terms of the rate of deaths in nursing homes, New York is number 38 out of 50. Number 38. Only 12 states had a lower rate of death, which is really something when you consider that we had it first and worse than anyone else. And when it comes to corruption, Mr. Lander knows corruption, because his office approved $500,000 of contracts to organizations associated with his wife-

Melissa Russo (17:58):

Okay.

Andrew Cuomo (17:58):

… which he said his-

Melissa Russo (17:59):

But I would really just like to clear-

Andrew Cuomo (18:01):

… deputy approved even though the deputy reported to him.

Melissa Russo (18:02):

I would just like to clear one thing up, Mr. Cuomo.

Andrew Cuomo (18:04):

It's started the corruption of the city-

Brad Lander (18:06):

It's a lie and you know it. Every word.

Andrew Cuomo (18:10):

Yeah.

Melissa Russo (18:10):

I hear you. But the question is whether or not it's political and whether or not your congressional testimony was truthful, were you, now that you've had time to reflect, involved in producing that report that undercounted those nursing home deaths?

Andrew Cuomo (18:22):

Oh, there was no doubt that my administration produced the report and it did not undercount the deaths.

Melissa Russo (18:27):

Okay, but you're still saying you were not involved in producing it.

Andrew Cuomo (18:30):

It's very clear. That's the Trump line, the MAGA line. Right? Because this was during the Trump re-election.

Melissa Russo (18:38):

Okay.

Andrew Cuomo (18:38):

The New York reports always counted the number of deaths where they occurred, in a nursing home or in a hospital.

Melissa Russo (18:47):

Okay.

Andrew Cuomo (18:47):

Now that all the dust is-

Melissa Russo (18:50):

Okay, we have to move on though. We have to give other people a chance. We'll all have a lot more time on other subjects [inaudible 00:18:55].

David Ushery (18:54):

All right. Hold on, candidates, we can't hear you if you're all talking.

Michael Blake (19:00):

All right. Will you acknowledge the deaths?

Andrew Cuomo (19:01):

Okay. No-

Michael Blake (19:02):

I mean, it's a very black and white. Did you lie to Congress or will you acknowledge the deaths? 15,000 people died and he still won't answer your questions.

David Ushery (19:09):

All right. Here's the chance to answer the question as Melissa presented it. Mr. Cuomo.

Andrew Cuomo (19:13):

No. I told Congress the truth. No, we did not undercount any deaths. When they are all counted, we're number 38 out of 50, which I think shows that compared to what other states went through, we had it first and worst and that only 12 states had a lower rate of death, we should really be thanking the women and men who worked in those nursing homes and didn't [inaudible 00:19:40].

Sally Goldenberg (19:40):

A very quick yes-or-no follow up, if I may, just the question is, were you involved in the producing of that report? It's just a yes-or-no question.

Andrew Cuomo (19:48):

I was very aware of the report. I spoke to it at press conferences multiple-

Melissa Russo (19:58):

No, before it was released, Mr. Cuomo. The question is about the production of the report. Okay. We're going to move on. We're not getting an answer. We're not-

Andrew Cuomo (20:00):

I stand by the report.

Sally Goldenberg (20:01):

It was just a whether or not you were involved.

Melissa Russo (20:03):

Let's move on.

David Ushery (20:03):

Okay.

Melissa Russo (20:03):

Mr. Myrie, Mayor Adams and Governor Hochul have negotiated with Trump, former Governor Cuomo has as well. As mayor, what experience would you bring to the table with President Trump?

Zellnor Myrie (20:15):

Well, let me just say, to the people watching at home who are afraid to send their children to school, to the families who are afraid to show up to court proceedings, seeing agents snatch people up, doing the right thing, I want to speak directly to you in this moment because you're not hearing that communication. You're not hearing about a mayor that is going to stand up and have a backbone to stand up for our city. I'm the son of two undocumented immigrants who came here for opportunity. My parents could take me to school, they could take me to the hospital without fear of deportation because they knew the city would have their back.

(20:51)
That's the mayor that I'm going to be. One that stands up when necessary. Of course, we're going to work with the president when it's in the best interest of the city. But what he has demonstrated over these past six months that he is not interested in helping the city. We have to grow our tax base so that we can be independent from the federal government and that's why I have a plan to deliver one million homes over the next 10 years. That's why I want free afterschool for every kid in this city, and it's why I want to extend pre-K and 3-K to 6:00 PM.

Melissa Russo (21:20):

Thank you, Mr. Myrie. Rosarina?

Rosarina Breton (21:22):

Thank you, Melissa. Ms. Ramos, [foreign language 00:21:23], you talked about fighting President Trump, but you also said in a campaign questionnaire that you seek partnership with him. How do you envision working together with him? You have a minute.

Jessica Ramos (21:37):

We have already seen a very clear blueprint about how to elegantly school President Trump, and we saw it in Mexican President Claudia Scheinbaum and how she led on negotiating the tariff scandal with the president. And so I'm here to say that not only should my administration litigate to protect immigrants, to protect gender-affirming care, but we should be ready to withhold our federal taxes when Trump unlawfully takes away funding from the things that we need. We have to play chess and we have to be smart, and our taxpayer dollars are our leverage.

Rosarina Breton (22:14):

Thank you, Ms. Ramos. Mr. Stringer, the next question goes to you. Fighting Trump has been a key element of your campaign. Is there anything that Trump wants that you will be willing to give him in exchange for something that the city needs? You have a minute.

Scott Stringer (22:31):

Look, this is why it's so critical to elect a mayor with real experience, experience negotiating, experience understanding what the stakes are here. Look, Donald Trump is coming for New York City. He's hell-bent on collapsing the social safety net. He wants to pick kids off the streets, but he also wants to destroy everything we've built in America in this city.

(22:56)
So I know how to fight him because I fought him, and Trump won. When he was coming after us, I managed to divest $4 billion from fossil fuel. I divested from private prisons. I divested from gun manufacturers. He didn't slow me down. He sped me up. But right now, we need a mayor who's going to put aside a billion dollars in a very, very rainy day fund. We need a mayor who's going to insist that the banks and the next comptroller come to the table and strategize about how we have a short-term plan to get the city to the congressional elections. No one has more experience in city government knows how to do that than me.

Rosarina Breton (23:29):

But, Mr. Stringer, the question is, if he wants something in exchange, will you give it to him?

Scott Stringer (23:34):

I'm not quid pro quo-ing with Trump. What I'm going to do, and this is my strategy, is I'm going to organize the same thing that happened during the days when Ford said to New York, "Drop dead. We're going to go to the business community." I'm going to go to our congressional leadership, Schumer and Jeffries. I'm going to organize this city and the city government to wage a fight in Washington to protect the epicenter of the national economy which is New York City.

Rosarina Breton (24:01):

Thank you very much. We're going to move on to Mr. Tilson now, and the question goes to you saying you've been blasting Mr. Trump since 2016 when you call him El Diablo in Spanish, the devil. As mayor, how can you make a deal with him? We talking about pact with the devil.

Whitney Tilson (24:23):

Look, I think I've been fighting Trump and Trumpism since long before then, since he came down that escalator 10 years ago this month. But I do think we Democrats have to stop giving Trump gifts like when we let ourselves be defined by our far left, by socialists, with their defund the police nonsense and open borders, et cetera. One area that I do agree with Trump is that when a socialist like Zohran here tweets that the NYPD is, quote, wicked and calls to defund and dismantle the NYPD, that that is madness that is costing us elections and it's why Trump has doubled his share of the New York City vote in the last three elections from 17% to 30%. We've got to move away from the far left and the socialism that's sinking our party and our city.

David Ushery (25:11):

Brief response, Mr. Mamdani.

Zohran Mamdani (25:13):

I want to be very clear that police have a critical role to play in creating public safety. And when I speak to those very officers on the beat in the rank-and-file, I hear from them a frustration that where they join the force to tackle serious crimes, we are instead now asking them to play the roles of mental health professionals and social workers. And that is why we are putting forward a plan to create a department of community safety that will tackle gun violence, homelessness, the mental health crisis-

David Ushery (25:39):

All right, Mr. Mamdani. We might get to some of those [inaudible 00:25:41] just want a brief response to-

Zohran Mamdani (25:42):

It's critically important and I think it's important in a moment when we have a candidate to my right who is absolutely mischaracterizing anything that we've put forward in this campaign.

Whitney Tilson (25:50):

You can check his Twitter feed. He has not deleted the tweet that calls the NYPD wicked and to defund and dismantle the NYPD. It's still up.

Rosarina Breton (25:59):

Thank you, Mr. Tilson.

David Ushery (26:00):

All right. Thank you. Mr. Blake, you often highlight your past roles in the Obama administration and in leadership of the National Democratic Party, which has since lost the White House and is struggling to regroup. How does that make you effective when it comes to negotiating with President Trump if you were mayor? You have one minute.

Michael Blake (26:19):

Well, as the only person on the stage who's been a part of a team that has actually defeated Donald Trump, and as a Black man who understands that Trump goes after Black folk, just ask the Exonerated Five or Barack Obama, and like them, we will win, I have the experience to make sure we address what's happening in New York City. First and foremost, anytime Trump and Elon try to take our funds, we will withhold taxes and sending in DC specifically working with companies that have contracts in New York City and say, "You will not abide by unconstitutional behavior."

(26:47)
Second, we will ban ICE at our schools and our places of worship. We will designate them as safe havens. Because there is no reason at all that ICE is going after our immigrants, in particular families like mine from Jamaica. Third, since I have White House experience in the President Obama… State House experience locally as well as what's happening as a reverend and a community leader, you need to understand that there is someone right now who can lead New York City. You have heard people now not be able to answer the question, but they're saying they can actually represent you. I am ready from day one because of what I have from the White House to the State House to your house, Michael Blake is ready to lead.

David Ushery (27:21):

Thank you, Mr. Blake. Ms. Adams, your most powerful campaign supporter is New York Attorney General Letitia James, an archrival of President Trump. How would you ensure that you and, by extension, New Yorkers, are not a casualty of their war? You have one minute.

Adrienne Adams (27:36):

Thank you very much. And you mentioned the attorney general. She is the most notorious, the baddest attorney general that New York and the nation has ever seen. And, yes, she does endorse me. When the name Donald Trump comes up, the advice that I get from the attorney general is that when Donald Trump comes your way and causes problems for New Yorkers, sue him. That is exactly what I am doing right now as we speak. We have an executive order that is in front of us that is illegal, that mayor Eric Adams had his first deputy mayor sign.

(28:08)
The mayor didn't even sign it, but the first deputy mayor signed it and it would allow ICE to come onto Rikers Island… Donald Trump's ICE to come onto Rikers Island, which has been illegal since the year 2014. I have a TRO, a temporary restraining order, that Judge Rosado feels that our case has merit. We have sued him and New York will win. I will always be a mayor that will stand up for our immigrants. Donald Trump's ICE has no place on Rikers Island. Donald Trump's ICE has no place pulling our people that are taking their court, their legal-

David Ushery (28:38):

Okay, Ms. Adams.

Adrienne Adams (28:39):

… dates now. No rights.

David Ushery (28:40):

Thank you.

Adrienne Adams (28:40):

Not in my New York.

David Ushery (28:41):

Thank you, Ms. Adams. Sally Goldenberg?

Sally Goldenberg (28:43):

Thank you. Thank you, David. Let's turn to public safety. It's a top concern for many New Yorkers, especially underground on the subways, which so many New Yorkers rely on to get to work. We're seeing fewer robberies, and overnight, two cops on every train, but still many New Yorkers simply don't feel safe on the subways. We'd like to know what plan each of you have to change that. You have 30 seconds and we're going to change the order and start with you, Ms. Ramos.

Jessica Ramos (29:08):

Thank you, Sally, for the question. Right now, we want to make sure that we are recruiting and retaining police officers. This is why I'm offering a workforce housing initiative to make sure that we help them be able to keep New York City their home. We want to attract them here. I want to increase their entry-level pay, I want to stop investing taxpayer dollars in robocops and toys and actually think about the officers themselves. But we have to assess deployment and upskill our EMS workers to respond to mental health emergencies-

Sally Goldenberg (29:41):

Okay. Thank you, Ms. Ramos. Mr. Myrie.

Zellnor Myrie (29:44):

Thank you. I take the train every single day. I took the 5 train to this debate, so I'm experiencing exactly what New Yorkers experience, and that is things feel different on our subways. People tell you that you shouldn't believe what you're experiencing, that the numbers are down and that you should feel more safe. But that's why people tune out of politics. Here are the facts. Things feel different, so here's what I want to do. I want police and clinician teams 24/7, 150 of them throughout the city. I want to ensure that everyone feels safe no matter what neighborhood they're in, and I want to ensure that we do that on my first day.

Sally Goldenberg (30:18):

Okay. We're at time. Thank you. Mr. Cuomo, your plan to make the subway safer.

Andrew Cuomo (30:21):

Yeah. Part of it is we have to admit what we did wrong. The people on the stage, almost without exception, were all, "Defund the police," Mamdani, "Dismantle the police, reduce the police by 3,000, a billion dollars in overtime," and now they're calling for more police. We wouldn't need more police if we didn't defund them in the first place. In my first 30 days, I will take every homeless person off the trains and the subway stations and get them the help they need. We did it before, we can do it again.

Sally Goldenberg (30:55):

Thank you, Mr. Cuomo.

Michael Blake (30:56):

We're going to fact-check that he literally said defund the police himself when he was governor.

Michael Blake (31:00):

All right. All right.

David Ushery (31:02):

[Inaudible 00:31:02] we're coming around to you.

Michael Blake (31:02):

This is the third time he's literally lied about everyone, the stage.

David Ushery (31:05):

We're coming around to you.

Melissa Russo (31:07):

We'll get to this.

Michael Blake (31:08):

Andrew, are you saying you didn't say defund the police?

Andrew Cuomo (31:09):

I never supported defund the police.

David Ushery (31:10):

Are you saying you never said defund the police?

Andrew Cuomo (31:12):

I never supported it.

David Ushery (31:13):

Can you just answer the question?

Andrew Cuomo (31:14):

I used the words defund the police. I said, "I don't supported defund the police."

Michael Blake (31:17):

So again, you just said everyone else did that but you would not acknowledge.

Andrew Cuomo (31:21):

I supported-

Melissa Russo (31:21):

Mr. Cuomo did you say-

Michael Blake (31:23):

He did.

David Ushery (31:23):

All right, move on gentlemen.

Melissa Russo (31:29):

Did you say that it was a legitimate school of thought?

Jessica Ramos (31:29):

Is this going to become a Cuomo trial? Can we talk about issues?

David Ushery (31:29):

Hold on, let us frame the question here.

Melissa Russo (31:30):

I think that Mr. Blake may be talking about something you said, which is that both are legitimate schools of thought, defund or don't defund. You gave it some legitimacy with the public.

Andrew Cuomo (31:42):

And I disagree with defund the police.

Melissa Russo (31:43):

Yes you did.

Andrew Cuomo (31:44):

Yes.

Speaker X (31:45):

Okay.

(31:45)
All right.

(31:46)
And I'd still like to respond.

David Ushery (31:48):

We're coming around to you.

Melissa Russo (31:48):

We'll be coming around. We're coming around to everybody.

David Ushery (31:50):

Mr. Tilson?

Whitney Tilson (31:53):

Yeah. I'm fully supportive of the increased police presence in the MTA. In fact, transit crime is down this year. I shouldn't have to say this, but the key to reducing crime is fully staffed police that are out there enforcing the laws and we need to make crime illegal. And this is now happening down on the subways where they are starting to enforce the lower level crimes, the quality of life crimes, drinking, smoking, spreading out over the subway cars.

Melissa Russo (32:26):

Okay, thank you.

Whitney Tilson (32:27):

And police are arresting more and it turns out that 30% of the people they are arresting have criminal records of more 20 felonies each.

Melissa Russo (32:32):

Okay, I'm sorry. We do have to move on. We're at time. Mr. Mamdani.

Zohran Mamdani (32:37):

In my department of community safety, we are going to put together dedicated teams of mental health outreach workers who will be deployed to the top hundred subway stations with the highest levels of mental health crises and homelessness. We are actually going to address this in a manner that goes beyond the same ideas that we hear time and time again, recycled by the same politicians like Andrew Cuomo who brought us to this point. And if we care about the police force, then we have to actually listen to police officers. They are leaving this force, 200 of them each month. And when you ask them why, it's because of the forced overtime and part of the reason that that is taking place-

Melissa Russo (33:13):

We're at time. Thank you Mr. Mamdani.

Zohran Mamdani (33:15):

… is we're asking to respond to every failure of the social safety net.

Melissa Russo (33:16):

Thank you Mr. Blake.

Michael Blake (33:17):

The people who don't feel safe are young women, mothers and grandmothers around Andrew Cuomo. That's the greatest threat to public safety in New York City. Now, specifically to your question, I have said very specifically, we need 1000 mental health professionals on our subways and streets. And so therefore you can have police then with body cameras on, go do precision policing outside. The police will indicate they were not trained on addressing mental health. Let's utilize those persons who need the help immediately. If we take those steps, then we can also make it a point to help make sure everyone gets alive.

Melissa Russo (33:51):

We're at time Mr. Blake. We're going to move on to everybody, but-

Speaker X (33:53):

[inaudible 00:33:54].

Melissa Russo (33:54):

… I want to give Mr. Cuomo an opportunity to respond to Mr. Blake raised the issue of sexual harassment allegations in your administration.

Andrew Cuomo (34:01):

Just if people who are watching at home have to be incredibly frustrated. They defunded the police. They reduced the number of police. They're now saying we need more police.

Melissa Russo (34:13):

Mr. [inaudible 00:34:13].

Andrew Cuomo (34:13):

We shouldn't have reduced them in the first place. And we need mental health experts to address the homeless, mentally ill. And we do that by getting them off the train so we can assess them and get them to mental healthcare.

Melissa Russo (34:25):

Mr. Cuomo, would you like to respond to Mr. Blake's comment about sexual harassment?

Michael Blake (34:31):

Everyone woman watching tonight should listen right now, that Andrew Cuomo would not respond when had a chance about sexual harassment. Every woman watching tonight, he was just given a chance to actually address the clear claims that were stated and ignored it.

Melissa Russo (34:44):

Okay. We do have to move on because we have other candidates on stage and we want to hear about their subway safety plans.

Andrew Cuomo (34:50):

[inaudible 00:34:50] if you want to be a moderator, I'll answer your questions.

Melissa Russo (34:51):

Mr. Stringer, can we please hear about your subway safety plan?

Speaker X (34:54):

[inaudible 00:34:55].

Melissa Russo (34:54):

Gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, listen, we are moving on from this question.

David Ushery (34:55):

Gentlemen listen, we have [inaudible 00:34:58]. We will cover a lot of ground.

Melissa Russo (34:58):

You had an opportunity to respond. Mr. Stringer, please tell us your subway safety plan.

Scott Stringer (35:02):

Kids. It's grown up time, so just give me a second. Okay, let me straighten this out for you.

Michael Blake (35:05):

Thank you, Scott. We appreciate that.

Scott Stringer (35:06):

No, you got it man. So look, we're spending 1.3 billion in police overtime because we don't have enough police officers. We have the lowest police count in a generation, so we need to hire 3000 more cops. But in order to get them, we have to go into our communities to get the wonderful diverse citizens to come into a department, but we also have to make it worthy of doing it. That's something I'm going to do. But look, I will say this to you. The crisis that we have is twofold. It's not just about policing, it's about also helping the people who suffer from mental illness and we have to align policing with the mental health initiative. Why Andrew Cuomo has the nerve to talk about defund when he signed the bail reform bill with loopholes that you didn't even read the bill.

Melissa Russo (35:44):

We're at time Mr. Stringer.

Scott Stringer (35:45):

That is something that really caused the crime problem.

Melissa Russo (35:47):

We're out of Mr. Stringer. Mrs. Adams?

Adrienne Adams (35:49):

Thank you so much. To address this claim that everybody's called for defund, I have never called for defunding the police and I never will. In the 2021 budget of the city council, we were in a season of COVID and many agencies had to be reallocated. Their funding had to be reallocated. Many agencies, not just the New York Police Department, but many the city council, our funding was even reduced during that season of COVID. But my public safety agenda calls for police to be taken out of social work and mental health, for our police to be paid what they are worth. We have always supported a budget that reinforces our police department. And we always will do that.

Melissa Russo (36:27):

Thank you Mrs. Adams. We're out of time. Mr. Lander, again, the question is about looking forward, your subway safety plan?

Brad Lander (36:31):

Yeah, I've got a dear friend whose middle school daughter who takes the train to school, was pushed to the ground by a homeless person with serious mental illness. This is a big deal for all of our families, which is why I have a ready on day one, detailed clear plan to end street homelessness for people with serious mental illness. We don't have to be a city where a couple thousand of our mentally ill neighbors cycle from subway to street, to hospital, to jail and back again. It's a plan called Housing First. It will work. I do have to go back though because in the prior round, the former governor told a lie sourced from Twitter about my wife and when I go home tonight, I better be able to make clear it's 100% false and she knows it.

Melissa Russo (37:16):

Thank you. Mr. Lander.

Brad Lander (37:16):

Mario Cuomo [inaudible 00:37:16]

Melissa Russo (37:16):

Thank you Mr. Lander. We're going to move on moving. Melissa has another set of questions about public safety.

David Ushery (37:24):

Please don't talk. We're going to try to get much in as we can.

Brad Lander (37:27):

If he won't lie about my wife, I'll be good the rest of the time.

Melissa Russo (37:30):

Thank you. Okay. We are all familiar with what it's like to try to buy toothpaste or beauty products at the local drugstore and having to wait for it to be unlocked. Shoplifting is a sad fact of life in this city right now. And many in law enforcement blame bail reform, since most shoplifters can no longer be held in jail. So they get arrested, they most often receive a ticket to appear in court and they're usually released to steal again. That's how law enforcement describes it again and again. So we have a few specific questions and you're going to have 30 seconds to answer. Mr. Cuomo, we will start with you because you signed the bail reform legislation. Governor Hochul has made some changes since you did that. Do you think bail reform is working and how would you stop shoplifting and other low-level repeat crimes?

Andrew Cuomo (38:17):

Yes.

Melissa Russo (38:17):

You have 30 seconds.

Andrew Cuomo (38:19):

Yes. Just to go back, Mr. Lander says his office didn't approve 500,000 contracts, that his deputy approved affiliated with his wife's organization.

Brad Lander (38:30):

Every word a lie.

Andrew Cuomo (38:31):

The deputy reports to him.

Brad Lander (38:34):

Every word a lie and he knows it.

Andrew Cuomo (38:36):

Well, then it's easy enough to check.

Melissa Russo (38:39):

Mr. Cuomo, you're using your time, just so you know. You're going to have 30 seconds.

Andrew Cuomo (38:40):

Yeah. On bail reform, we all talk about how terrible Rikers Island is and it is, it's disgrace that it is still being operated by the city. [inaudible 00:38:53]-

Melissa Russo (38:52):

Your time is up Mr. Cuomo, I'm sorry.

Andrew Cuomo (38:53):

… $500,000 per person and-

Melissa Russo (38:56):

Time is up. We, I'm sorry. I am. Mr. Myrie, you voted for bail reform as well. How would you stop shoplifters if you were the mayor and other low-level crimes that are taking a toll on our city?

Zellnor Myrie (39:07):

Anyone that breaks the law needs to be held accountable. And we made changes to our criminal justice laws because things needed to change. And here's how I know. I was robbed with my mom in an elevator in the building that I grew up in when I was very young. Her worldview is informed by that experience. We have to ensure that every New Yorker feels safe in every neighborhood, wherever they are. And that is what I'm going to do as mayor. I'm going to return our police headcount to what it was in 2018 and I'm going to ensure that all New Yorkers feel safe wherever they are.

Melissa Russo (39:38):

Time. Thank you. Rosarina?

Rosarina Breton (39:40):

Yeah. Mrs. Ramos, the same questions to you. You voted for bail reform. How would you stop shoplifters and other low-level crime to take a toll in the city?

Jessica Ramos (39:49):

Well, we have a little more than 1000 recidivists in the city of New York. And I've been hard at work in the Senate already making sure that we're looking at treatment courts in cases of kleptomania. But clearly there are organized rings that need to be taken down by the NYPD. So I'm here to say that there's accountability to be had, but we also have to make sure that there is a balance with the job opportunities that should open up if we address all of the crises that we are facing.

Rosarina Breton (40:18):

But [inaudible 00:40:20] remember that you voted for the bail reform.

Jessica Ramos (40:22):

Yes.

Rosarina Breton (40:22):

Thank you. Mr. Mamdani, you opposed the rollbacks to bail reform and you do not want to hire more cops above the current authorized level. How would you stop shoplifters and these repeat offenders? What's your approach?

Zohran Mamdani (40:36):

I want to sustain the headcount that we have in the police department and I want to listen to police officers who are leaving in droves from the department because they're being asked to do the work of mental health professionals and social workers. Right now, police officers pick up hundreds of phone calls a day that are in mental health crises, hundreds of thousands a year. That's not the work that they signed up to do. And when it comes to shoplifting and retail theft, the key here is to listen to workers themselves. They have spoken time and time again about the need for increased staffing in our Walgreens and our Duane Reades. And when it comes to organized crime-

Rosarina Breton (41:11):

Thank you very much.

Zohran Mamdani (41:11):

… we have to ensure the police actually hold them accountable.

Rosarina Breton (41:13):

Thank you. Mr. Mamdani. Mr. Blake, do you see a need for change to the bail reform and how would you end the retail theft as mayor?

Michael Blake (41:22):

Absolutely. So I proudly supported when I was in the assembly because Khalif Browder was my constituent, and we've talked about raise the age and bail reform and speedy trial. We had to do that. But we need to make it different and stronger now. And to your question, that means we have to hold repeat offenders more accountable, be much more attentive to that degree. But the broader dynamic, if we help New Yorkers make and keep more money in their pocket in the first place, then we wouldn't have people speaking about shoplifting. That's why we need to have local median income. That's why we have to have guaranteed income. That's why we have to help people on the front end so we're not talking about them being arrested on the back end.

Rosarina Breton (41:56):

Thank you so much, Mr. Blake. Sally?

Sally Goldenberg (41:57):

Thank you Mr. Stringer, we're going to go to you with the same question. Do you see a need for any further changes to the state's bail laws and how would you tackle retail theft as mayor?

Scott Stringer (42:06):

Well, look, I've seen retail theft in my own neighborhood walking into a Duane Reade with my kids, and just seeing the shelves empty and then having to push a button, wait 10 minutes for a young staffer whose job is not to be my personal shopper. This is wrong and that's why we need to put cops on the beat, working with the small businesses to root out the people who are constantly coming back to do this. But we also have to make sure that the people who are doing the stealing also have opportunities to get them the housing and the services that they need. See, we have to walk and chew gum at the same time when it comes to criminal justice.

Sally Goldenberg (42:39):

We're at time Mr. Stringer. I just want, since you used your time, just a yes or no question, do you see a need for further changes to the state's bail laws? Just yes or no?

Scott Stringer (42:46):

Look, I think right now it's been changed a couple of times.

Sally Goldenberg (42:51):

Okay, not a yes or no.

Scott Stringer (42:51):

Let me just say when Cuomo signed it, he didn't do the work of a mayor or governor. [inaudible 00:42:55]-

Sally Goldenberg (42:54):

That's not a yes or no. It was just a yes or no question. We're going to move on.

Scott Stringer (42:56):

… find the loopholes and he didn't do that.

Sally Goldenberg (42:59):

Okay, we're moving on to Mrs. Adams. Mrs. Adams, same question to you. Do you see any need for changes to the state's bail laws and how do you plan to tackle retail theft as mayor?

Adrienne Adams (43:08):

Well, the state just made some adjustments and some tweaks, so let's see how that goes. We need to take a look at the ringleaders at the higher levels of the folks that are carrying and actually doing the stealing. Low-level criminals are wasting away on Rikers Island. Some have committed suicide under this current administration. So what we need to do as far as public safety is concerned, I will fill the over 2000 vacancies within the NYPD in my first eight months as mayor. This is what we need to look at. Others are looking at bringing in thousands and thousands of police officers. We have vacancies to fill. This will work. This is what our NYPD needs, better management.

David Ushery (43:44):

Okay, thank you. Mr. Lander, do you see a need for changes to bail reform and what would you do as mayor about this retail theft?

Brad Lander (43:52):

I've got a detailed plan to combat retail theft, so the toothpaste is not always behind lock and key. You can look it up on my website/ to develop it, I took lessons from NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, who I want to keep as commissioner, because crime's coming down and accountability is going up. It involves giving a panic button essentially to retail stores so they don't have to call 911. They can report quickly. Investigations can be thorough, and I've actually taken the idea from the conservative Manhattan Institute, that drug treatment courts need to be central in our response.

David Ushery (44:24):

Okay, thank you.

Sally Goldenberg (44:26):

You just named two of my bills, the Retail Worker Safety Act with panic buttons and my mental health court expansion.

David Ushery (44:30):

Ranked choice voting. Quick response.

Brad Lander (44:32):

I'll do them as mayor.

David Ushery (44:32):

All right, thank you. Thank you. Sally, you had a quick question here.

Sally Goldenberg (44:36):

Yeah, well, I guess also for Mr. Tilson.

David Ushery (44:38):

Yes. Yes, Mr. Tilson, I'm going to let you respond, but just on that, Jessica.

Sally Goldenberg (44:42):

Yeah, I guess because Mr. Lander brought her up. Just a quick show of hands, who else would keep Jessica Tisch as police commissioner? Okay, thank you.

Speaker X (44:50):

Haven't decided yet.

David Ushery (44:51):

Okay. Right. Mr. Tilson, you said you would cut crime by 50%. Do you want changes to bail reform? What can you do to tackle this low-level crime?

Whitney Tilson (44:59):

Yeah. Well, I do very much believe we need to make substantial changes to bail reform and discovery reform, both of which went too far. Like what I said earlier, we basically decriminalized all low-level crime. Shocker, it went way up. So we need to have more police officers enforcing the law and we need to change the legislation such that prosecutors can actually punish repeat offenders. I just talked to a cop right here in Midtown North last week who told me they're down from 300 cops to 120 and they have to fill out so much paperwork-

David Ushery (45:31):

Okay Mr. Tilson-

Whitney Tilson (45:32):

… when they make an arrest that the criminal is back out onto the street before they're finished with the paperwork.

David Ushery (45:36):

All right, Mr. Tilson. Thank you, Rosarina?

Rosarina Breton (45:37):

Thank you, David. Now we're going to talk about e-bikes. Bicycle deaths in the city have reached record heights in the recent years with injuries also surging, many involving of course, e-bikes. Just the past hour, Mayor Adams announced a plan to impose a 15 mile per hour speed limit on e-bikes. Do you believe this is the right way to improve safety and what else would you do? Mrs. Adams, you have 30 seconds to answer.

Adrienne Adams (46:06):

Yeah, a lot of those, the e-bike riders are people that deliver food to our homes and they have families as well. I do believe that there needs to be a closer look, which we are doing in the city council as far as regulation is concerned, but we have to be careful.

Rosarina Breton (46:19):

But this regulation with 50 miles per hour, is this the right approach to regulate it?

Adrienne Adams (46:24):

Well, as the mayor normally does, he does not collaborate with the city council, which had we done that collaboration together, we might've come up with a different solution other than 50 miles and I believe is a penalty, which we could have come together and realized something much more reasonable for e-bike riders.

Rosarina Breton (46:40):

Thank you. Just to clarify-

David Ushery (46:40):

Just to clarify, 15 miles-

Adrienne Adams (46:43):

I understand.

Rosarina Breton (46:43):

Thank you, thank you Mrs. Adams. Mr. Lander?

Brad Lander (46:47):

I think the pedal assist city bikes go 17 miles per hour, so that seems pretty good to me, but we've got to go upstream here to the folks that are causing this. Uber Eats and Seamless and DoorDash need to be held accountable for the trips that are taken where they're making money, they've got the data to keep folks safe. And you can't operate a car dealership in this city that sells cars without license plates to people without driver's licenses. So we've got to hold the sellers of mopeds accountable. Those are motor vehicles and they need to be treated that way. If you're going to sell them, they've got to have licenses, they've got to have license plates. They have to operate safely.

Rosarina Breton (47:22):

Mrs. Ramos?

Jessica Ramos (47:24):

Well, we have to end the criminalization of our delivery workers and bicycle riders. A lot of enforcement has now changed from civil summonses to criminal tickets, and that is leaving breadcrumbs for ICE and leaving many of our community members vulnerable. That being said, it is high time that we post speed limits and adapt our street design for the use of bikes and e-bikes. The fact is that we have to get them off the sidewalks. We have to make sure that they are abiding by the rules and this is why we need public education in English, [foreign language 00:47:59], in all of the languages that our riders speak.

Rosarina Breton (48:02):

Thank you Mrs. Ramos. Thank you very much. Mr. Myrie?

Zellnor Myrie (48:03):

There's no question that things feel different on our streets and that these categories of vehicles are not built for our current structure and on our streetscape. So we have to regulate. We have to hold the companies that are making money more accountable on this. But we also have to ensure that we are doing this in collaboration, doing this in a smart way and ensuring that the enforcement on this is actually going to be going through. What we have seen is uneven enforcement in this space, and that's why there are older adults in this city that are afraid to cross the street because of how things feel.

Rosarina Breton (48:36):

Thank you very much. Mr. Cuomo?

Andrew Cuomo (48:38):

Yes. I think this is another example of just dysfunctional city management. We passed the state law allowing e-bikes. It was supposed to be regulated by the city. You've had all sorts of accidents, all sorts of warnings. The city has done nothing. The speed has to come down. City bikes voluntarily came down to 17 miles an hour. You have these e-bikes, some of them doing 25, 30 miles an hour. You have to bring down the speeds, but you also have to have them registered by the apps. They're the ones who are making the money. Let them license them, let them register, let them pay the tickets.

Rosarina Breton (49:14):

Thank you Mr. Cuomo. Thank you very much. Mr. Tilson?

Whitney Tilson (49:15):

This issue is actually quite personal to me because I ride my bike in the city every day. And in fact, I'll bet on the only mayoral candidate in history, whoever rode his bike to the mayoral debate, as I did this evening. And those e-bikes have made things a lot more dangerous, not just for pedestrians. So I've been calling to speed limit them since the beginning of my campaign. I totally agree with that. And I will tell you just in the past couple of months since police have started issuing citations, that e-bikes are behaving themselves a lot more. I see a lot fewer blowing through red lights blowing up on the sidewalk.

Rosarina Breton (49:47):

Thank you Mr. Tilson. Let's remind you guys that these are the people taking, most of them, your food to your offices and your homes. Mr. Mamdani.

Zohran Mamdani (49:55):

I find it ridiculous to hear Andrew Cuomo talk about how we need to regulate the apps when this is the very mayoral candidate who has a Super PAC that received a million dollars from DoorDash. How are you going to regulate DoorDash when they are giving you a million dollars to influence your street safety regulations and your labor regulations? This model, this economic model is one that doesn't just incentivize e-bike riders to break street safety laws, it often requires them to do so to make the deliveries required.

Rosarina Breton (50:25):

Thank you Mr. Mamdani. Mr. Cuomo, do you want to respond to that?

Andrew Cuomo (50:31):

Yes. I work for the people of the state of New York, the people of the city of New York. I don't care who gave me what. I do what is right and that's how I-

Rosarina Breton (50:39):

But you don't feel compromised?

Andrew Cuomo (50:41):

That's how I've always run my career.

Rosarina Breton (50:44):

But don't you feel compromised?

Andrew Cuomo (50:44):

I just said the apps should be held responsible. They're the ones who should have to license the bike, register the bike. They should be responsible for the fees. They're the ones who are making the money.

Rosarina Breton (50:53):

Thank you Mr. Cuomo.

Andrew Cuomo (50:53):

In terms of [inaudible 00:50:56].

Zohran Mamdani (50:56):

[inaudible 00:50:55] trust the guy who's going to take a million dollars [inaudible 00:50:57]

Rosarina Breton (50:56):

Thank you very much. We have to go to Mr. Blake.

David Ushery (50:58):

Mr. Blake.

Michael Blake (50:59):

I just want to make sure we internalize that Andrew Cuomo just said, "I don't care who gave me what." That's not a man who's actually going to break the corruption in city hall. You need a new vision right here. To your question around e-bikes, one of the reasons why we cannot have an increase of people getting tickets is that it will absolutely lead to the harassment of more communities of color and immigrants in particular. Now we definitely have to focus on what's happening around speed limits, but also how to reimagine what our city can be, because we cannot continue to have a 2025 city with a 1905 infrastructure.

Rosarina Breton (51:32):

Mr. Blake-

Michael Blake (51:33):

We've laid out the vision at BlakeforNYC.com on how to address e-bikes as well as a new city [inaudible 00:51:38].

Rosarina Breton (51:37):

Thank you very much. Mr. Stringer?

Scott Stringer (51:38):

Let me start by just answering the question. Yes. I think 15 miles an hour is reasonable, and I think the mayor is right about this. But in the time that I have, do want to follow up about DoorDash because that million-dollar contribution crossed the rubicon. And the contributions of donors who were giving between $250,000 and a million dollars are fundamentally buying the mayoralty. And that is something that we spent 20 years never trying to get to again since [inaudible 00:52:07]-

Rosarina Breton (52:07):

Mr. Stringer, thank you [inaudible 00:52:08]

Scott Stringer (52:08):

… you are writing a new book about how to take the mayoralty one, two, three, and I find it offensive.

David Ushery (52:13):

Okay, Mr. Stringer. Thank you. Brief response. Mr. Cuomo?

Andrew Cuomo (52:15):

Yeah. I live with the campaign finance rules. They're talking about independent expenditure committee. And let's remember who represents who. Here I am the person on this stage who represents the working men and women of New York City. The labor unions have endorsed me over 650,000 strong.

David Ushery (52:34):

You were fined by the campaign board.

Andrew Cuomo (52:35):

[inaudible 00:52:35]

David Ushery (52:35):

I got this. [inaudible 00:52:35]

Speaker X (52:35):

[inaudible 00:52:35] the campaign finance board as we speak.

David Ushery (52:43):

We have to move on. I think the issue's been spoken to and addressed. We have another question here for you. We'd like 30 seconds on this. You've all spent years in politics. What's your biggest regret? We'll begin with you Mr. Blake.

Michael Blake (52:58):

Well, right now it's dealing with the campaign finance board who is illegally not having me on the second stage where they have now admitted in writing four times that they made incorrect determinations of my matching funds. And if you go to our website, you're going to see we challenge that.

David Ushery (53:09):

Is that a regret of something, your regret in this or?

Michael Blake (53:12):

Well, my regret is that I've been trying to have patience with the campaign finance board.

David Ushery (53:15):

Okay, Mr. Blake, thank you. Mr. Mamdani, biggest regret in your years in politics?

Zohran Mamdani (53:19):

As a Democrat, one of my regrets is having trusted the leaders within our own party, leaders like Andrew Cuomo, because what we've seen is that kind of leadership has delivered us to this point where we are under attack by an affordability crisis on the inside and a Trump administration on the outside. And Democrats are tired of being told by leaders from the past that we should continue to simply wait our turn. We should continue to simply trust, when we know that's the very leadership that got us to this point. We need to turn the page for new ship to take us out of it.

David Ushery (53:51):

Mr. Tilson?

Whitney Tilson (53:52):

Yeah. My biggest regret is that I didn't see Joe Biden's decline and call for him to resign earlier. It wasn't until after the debate that I became one of the loudest voices publicly, nationally calling on him to step aside. But unfortunately by then it was too late and we handed Donald Trump the presidency.

David Ushery (54:11):

Mr. Cuomo, your regrets all the years you've spent in politics.

Andrew Cuomo (54:15):

The Democratic Party got to a point that we allowed Mr. Trump to be elected, that we've gotten to a point where rhetoric has no connection with reality, where a person who has served in government for several years only passed three bills, believes they have the experience and credentials to run the greatest city on the earth. And the Democratic Party seems okay with that.

Melissa Russo (54:40):

Mr. Cuomo, this question-

Adrienne Adams (54:41):

[inaudible 00:54:43] no personal regrets at all.

Melissa Russo (54:43):

… this question was about your personal regret in your years politics.

Adrienne Adams (54:46):

None.

Andrew Cuomo (54:47):

I said I regret the state of the Democratic Party is-

Adrienne Adams (54:51):

No personal regrets.

Andrew Cuomo (54:53):

… that we elected Trump.

Michael Blake (54:53):

Not the 15 [inaudible 00:54:54]

Adrienne Adams (54:53):

No regrets when it comes to cutting Medicaid or healthcare. No regrets when it comes to cutting child care. No regrets when it comes to slow walking PPE and vaccinations in the season of COVID to Black and brown communities. Really? No regrets? No regrets?

David Ushery (55:08):

[inaudible 00:55:09].

Jessica Ramos (55:08):

We have to protect [inaudible 00:55:12]-

David Ushery (55:17):

Okay, we're getting… We want everyone to be able to respond.

Jessica Ramos (55:17):

… retirees.

David Ushery (55:17):

Okay. We want to respond to this. Mr. Cuomo, you only have a few seconds.

Andrew Cuomo (55:17):

Yeah, but-

David Ushery (55:17):

No, I understand, but you-

Andrew Cuomo (55:22):

… it's just not accurate. Medicaid went up under me. I led the nation under COVID.

Adrienne Adams (55:26):

You cut healthcare.

Andrew Cuomo (55:27):

I pushed President Trump to give us everything he had.

David Ushery (55:30):

Thank you Mr. Cuomo. We asked your biggest regret, you expressed it.

Andrew Cuomo (55:33):

[inaudible 00:55:33] leading COVID.

David Ushery (55:34):

Mr. [inaudible 00:55:35]

Adrienne Adams (55:36):

No regrets.

Melissa Russo (55:38):

Mr. Cuomo, I'm sorry. I'm sure that people at home must be wondering about your answer to this question because we speak to voters throughout the city and quite a few of them will say, I'm not sure exactly what happened with those sexual harassment cases. We know that you say you never sexually harassed anybody. You say you're running to restore efficient government and efficient leadership. But in the past, your leadership came with what more than one investigation concluded was a toxic work environment, especially for women. And some of those cases are still ongoing. So I just want to ask you, since we're talking about regrets, you have apologized to some of those women back when you were still governor. What do you say to voters now looking ahead to your potential mayoralty? Are you doing anything differently? And why should they believe that that same situation won't happen again?

Andrew Cuomo (56:28):

Yeah. No, let's just make sure we have the facts. A report was done four years ago making certain allegations. I said at the time that it was political and it was false. Five district attorneys, democratic, republican, short, tall, looked at it all across the state, found absolutely nothing. One case has been resolved. I was dropped from that case. I said at the time that if I offended anyone, it was unintentional. But I apologize. And I say that today.

Melissa Russo (57:06):

There was also a Justice Department investigation, but we'll move on because we're out of time.

David Ushery (57:09):

Okay, we detoured there because the issue we raised, but we also want everyone to respond. Mr. Myrie biggest regret in politics.

Zellnor Myrie (57:16):

I regret not having secured more funding for after school earlier in my career. But I want to turn to Andrew because during-

David Ushery (57:23):

These are short answers Mr. Myrie on your regrets.

Zellnor Myrie (57:25):

I have 30 seconds, correct?

David Ushery (57:26):

Yes.

Zellnor Myrie (57:27):

When I was in the ICU during COVID, writing legislation to protect my community, you were the most powerful person in this state. And you were in the governor's mansion taking a $5 million deal. Do you regret taking the 5 million? And will you give it back?

Andrew Cuomo (57:42):

Yeah. First of all, that's not true.

Zellnor Myrie (57:45):

What part?

Andrew Cuomo (57:45):

I stood up every day and fought for this state for COVID against President Trump, for PPE, for masks. I was in emergency rooms.

Zellnor Myrie (57:55):

I was in the hospital. [inaudible 00:57:57].

David Ushery (57:57):

Gentlemen, gentlemen-

Speaker X (57:57):

[inaudible 00:57:59]

Zellnor Myrie (57:58):

[inaudible 00:57:59] were wearing garbage bags for PPE. Do you regret taking five million dollars? Will you give it back?

David Ushery (58:04):

We're going to pick up-

Andrew Cuomo (58:05):

We were doing everything we could-

David Ushery (58:06):

Mr. Cuomo-

Andrew Cuomo (58:08):

… every day to get as much as we could-

David Ushery (58:09):

Mr. Cuomo, people aren't hear you if you [inaudible 00:58:11].

Speaker X (58:10):

Can I go now?

David Ushery (58:12):

We are going to finish this.

Melissa Russo (58:13):

We are going to take a break.

David Ushery (58:14):

We have a break right now that we have to take. We will pick up with the issue, I assure you. We're just about at the one hour break. We're going to continue this online. Channel 4 goes to regular programming. But wherever you stream News 4 New York, continue watching us. We will be right back with more of this discussion.

Announcer (01:00:36):

Live from Rockefeller Center, the first Democratic primary debate for New York City Mayor, with City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, former State Assemblyman Michael Blake, former Governor Andrew Cuomo, City Comptroller Brad Lander, State Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, State Senator Zellnor Myrie, State Senator Jessica Ramos, former Comptroller Scott Stringer, and former hedge fund manager, Whitney Tilson. Sponsored by News 4 New York, Telemundo 47, Politico, the New York City Campaign Finance Board and NYC Votes. Here now, News 4 New York anchor, David Ushery.

David Ushery (01:01:20):

Welcome back to the second hour of the first Democratic primary debate for New York City mayor. Once again, I'm joined by my colleague, News 4 government affairs reporter, Melissa Russo, also Sally Goldenberg, Senior New York Editor for Politico and Telemundo 47 Anchor Rosarina Platon. We are streaming live on NBC New York and Telemundo 47 digital platforms, Politico.com, [inaudible 01:01:41] and we're also live on YouTube. So candidates with all of us on stage, so many, we wanted to give a chance for voters to hear as much as they can, but we also have to try and get all the production things done too. We are going to pick up with Mr. Cuomo given a chance to respond to what Mr. Myrie said. And then we resume with Mrs. Ramos and Mr. Lander and Mrs.

David Ushery (01:02:00):

… Ms. Adams to talk about their biggest regret in politics.

(01:02:02)
So Mr. Cuomo, just a brief answer here.

Andrew Cuomo (01:02:05):

Yeah, briefly, we led the way under COVID. Every day I got on that TV, I informed New Yorkers of exactly what was going on and all the facts, and I was fighting President Trump for the COVID, for the PPE. There was no doubt that in the beginning there was no PPE and people were using garbage bags, but we fought vehemently for it. When the first phase had passed New York, we actually got through the first phase, it was then going to other states, and that's when we were trying to share lessons in order to help them.

David Ushery (01:02:40):

All right. All right, thank you. Thank you.

Adrienne Adams (01:02:40):

What happened to Citi Field vaccines?

David Ushery (01:02:41):

All right, we're going to continue on and you may have a chance.

(01:02:43)
Ms. Ramos, biggest regret in your years of politics.

Andrew Cuomo (01:02:45):

We didn't have the vaccines. You know that.

Adrienne Adams (01:02:45):

We had the vaccines.

Andrew Cuomo (01:02:45):

You know.

Jessica Ramos (01:02:45):

[inaudible 01:02:47]. My turn now.

Adrienne Adams (01:02:47):

You used a vendetta against the former mayor-

David Ushery (01:02:49):

All right, Ms. Ramos.

Adrienne Adams (01:02:49):

… Not to make it happen.

David Ushery (01:02:50):

Ms. Ramos.

Jessica Ramos (01:02:50):

So I regret not running for mayor in 2021. I had been in the Senate for two years. I'd already passed over a dozen bills. I thought I needed more experience, but turns out you just need to make good videos.

David Ushery (01:03:03):

Mr. Lander.

Brad Lander (01:03:06):

I was the champion for the Gowanus rezoning, which is producing 8,000 homes in my district. But I'll be honest, I wish I had pushed for even more housing in my district when I was a city council member, because we need it.

(01:03:18)
But let's be clear; sexually harassed 13 women, marked up that State Health Department report to undercount nursing home deaths, has now forced taxpayers to spend $60 million on his legal bills-

David Ushery (01:03:31):

Mr. Lander, your biggest regret.

Brad Lander (01:03:31):

… Has learned absolutely nothing-

David Ushery (01:03:34):

Mr. Lander, your biggest-

Brad Lander (01:03:34):

… Taken no responsibility.

David Ushery (01:03:35):

Okay, Mr. Lander. Thank you.

Andrew Cuomo (01:03:35):

David, may I-

David Ushery (01:03:35):

[inaudible 01:03:36].

Brad Lander (01:03:35):

He does not deserve your trust.

Andrew Cuomo (01:03:37):

You can't let him say that.

David Ushery (01:03:38):

Briefly, briefly.

Andrew Cuomo (01:03:39):

Yeah.

David Ushery (01:03:39):

Please.

Andrew Cuomo (01:03:42):

The report was done, five DAs: nothing. Nothing has come of it.

(01:03:47)
In terms of the paying legal fees, yes, the state pays legal fees. The state was sued. Kathy Hochul was sued and I was sued. And the controller knows that because he was sued 15 times and the city paid the bill. He was sued by parents of the disabled, he was sued by homeless providers-

Brad Lander (01:04:04):

False. False. False.

Andrew Cuomo (01:04:04):

… Who said he didn't do anything about the safety conditions-

David Ushery (01:04:08):

All right. I … All right.

Andrew Cuomo (01:04:08):

… He was sued by people who said he mismanaged the pension fund-

David Ushery (01:04:11):

Okay, thank you, Mr. Cuomo. Thank you, Mr. Cuomo. Mr. Lander-

Andrew Cuomo (01:04:12):

… And the city paid.

David Ushery (01:04:13):

… You have 15 seconds just to reply.

Brad Lander (01:04:14):

I mean, it's just every one of those things is false. The thing about my wife was sourced from Twitter. Honestly, I have no idea where he got this one.

Andrew Cuomo (01:04:21):

It was-

Brad Lander (01:04:21):

He's lied to you so many times on this stage tonight-

David Ushery (01:04:24):

All right.

Brad Lander (01:04:25):

… Takes no responsibility, and doesn't deserve your trust.

David Ushery (01:04:25):

All right, we're going to move on. Ms. Adams, if you could speak to your biggest regret.

Andrew Cuomo (01:04:25):

You were sued 15 times.

David Ushery (01:04:26):

Thank you.

(01:04:27)
Ms. Adams, your biggest regret in your years in politics.

Adrienne Adams (01:04:32):

Well, obviously my biggest regret is believing that Eric Adams would be a good mayor for all New Yorkers. I have had to restore budget cuts from this mayor. I've had to save pre-K, I've had to save 3-K, I've had to save our libraries. I've had to save our cultural institutions because the mayor of the city of New York thought that it was his job to cut all of those and to slice and dice the livelihoods of our children, cultural institution, our elders, our seniors through their library services and their food services as well. I have had to be the champion to make sure that all of those services were restored for the people of the city.

David Ushery (01:05:06):

Thank you, Ms. Adams.

(01:05:06)
Mr. Stringer.

Scott Stringer (01:05:09):

I've thought about this question through my career, and I would say that the biggest regret from a policy perspective was when my mom died of COVID before her time. She was a great trailblazer; the first woman elected city council at Washington Heights back in the day. She was a real fighter, but she lost the fight with COVID. I really wish before I left the controller's office that, like with so many other issues, I really was able to really build a COVID recovery plan for the state. And I just ran out of time.

David Ushery (01:05:43):

Okay. Thank you, Mr. Stringer.

(01:05:43)
We'll continue with Telemundo anchor Rosarina Breton.

Rosarina Breton (01:05:46):

Thank you, David. A very important issue for my viewers in Telemundo 47, we're going to talk about [foreign language 01:05:51], immigration, okay?

(01:05:52)
So as we know, President Trump wants to abolish sanctuary cities like New York, and his administration has applied pressure to force cooperation on deportation. So to understand a little bit more this issue, we're going to give you a couple of scenarios, hypothetical scenarios. You're going to have a minute to answer this one.

(01:06:14)
Mr. Cuomo, we are going to begin with you. Let's say ICE notifies your city-run hospitals that they must stop offering medical care to undocumented patients or the federal government is going to withhold millions of dollars in funding. What do you do?

Andrew Cuomo (01:06:33):

I've gone through this with Mr. Trump before with ICE.

Rosarina Breton (01:06:36):

But what would you do now?

Andrew Cuomo (01:06:38):

You cannot give in to Mr. Trump and his demands. You cannot. We have-

Rosarina Breton (01:06:45):

But let's say he's cutting funding.

Andrew Cuomo (01:06:47):

You can't. It will never end. If you give in to him … He is a bully. I know him well. If you give in to him today-

Rosarina Breton (01:06:56):

So what will you do?

Andrew Cuomo (01:06:57):

… You will be giving him your lunch money for the rest of your life.

Rosarina Breton (01:07:00):

So what's the solution?

Andrew Cuomo (01:07:01):

You have to fight him. And the way you fight him is not by suing him. Yes, of course you sue him, but he gets sued 10 times before he gets out of bed in the morning, right?

Brad Lander (01:07:10):

Kind of like you.

Andrew Cuomo (01:07:11):

That doesn't bother him, right?

Adrienne Adams (01:07:11):

And the lawsuits are winning, by the way.

Andrew Cuomo (01:07:15):

We need a national coalition, which we can put together, of like-minded states and cities that will oppose these actions, and then we're going to have to eventually beat him politically in the Congress. But you cannot give in to his demands.

Rosarina Breton (01:07:34):

Thank you, Mr. Cuomo.

(01:07:35)
Mr. Tilson?

Whitney Tilson (01:07:36):

Yeah, I mean, Donald Trump throws 50 tweets a day up there, and most of the time you just ignore him. If he actually does act illegally to try and blackmail us, you have to sue to restore that funding.

(01:07:51)
I am appalled by what Trump is doing to terrorize immigrant communities and demonize immigrants in general, and that's an area I will fight him tooth and nail.

Rosarina Breton (01:08:04):

Mr. Mamdani?

Zohran Mamdani (01:08:06):

Look, our city is under attack by an authoritarian Trump administration, and it is an attack that is now being echoed by Trump's allies right here in New York City. And I say that as someone who would be the first immigrant mayor of the city in a generation, someone who just yesterday had a sitting elected official call for me to be deported. This is not an intellectual exercise for the people of New York City. We deserve to have a mayor who is not funded by the same billionaires that put Donald Trump in D.C. We deserve to have a mayor who will actually fight back. And the way that we fight back is ensure that our local institutions continue to provide the services to each and every New Yorker. And if that funding-

Rosarina Breton (01:08:45):

The question is how can you protect those people going to hospitals?

Zohran Mamdani (01:08:45):

And if that-

Rosarina Breton (01:08:45):

How can you protect them?

Zohran Mamdani (01:08:46):

Here's the thing. The Donald Trump administration will use the fact that they fund 7% of our city budget as leverage over us to try and give up whichever category of New Yorkers they are pursuing that day.

(01:08:58)
Ultimately what we need to do is tell those same institutions we will provide them that funding, and we'll get that funding by taxing the 1% and the wealthiest corporations right here in New York State.

Rosarina Breton (01:09:08):

Thank you so much.

(01:09:08)
Mr. Blake, I'm going to remind you the question is, ICE notifies the hospitals that they're not going to offer care to immigrants. How can you solve this situation?

Michael Blake (01:09:23):

As a son of Jamaican immigrants where I was born with a heart murmur in North Central Bronx Hospital, and my mom that's watching right now and my wife who's Jamaican/Honduran, this is important for us to expand the conversation of what's happening.

(01:09:33)
To your question, we create the protections by designating hospitals, schools, community centers, places of worship as safe havens where ICE is not permitted to enter unless there's a signed judicial warrant. Moreover, we have to expand the conversation. We make it very clear we will remain a sanctuary city to make sure that we are protected full stop.

(01:09:54)
But it also is important about how do we have the rhetoric that we will not tolerate rhetoric against our immigrant communities the same way we will not tolerate anti-Semitic behavior, we will not tolerate Islamophobia, we will not tolerate anti-blackness and anti-Latino rhetoric? And that means at the same time, we have to protect our non-profits that are helping our immigrants as well, which is why I said you must grant as well as reimburse non-profits earlier that are helping our immigrants, in particular our undocumented, right now.

Rosarina Breton (01:10:19):

Thank you, Mr. Blake.

(01:10:20)
Mr. Stringer.

Scott Stringer (01:10:21):

Look, we first have to make it clear that the buck does not stop with Donald Trump. And that's why the rainy day fund I propose would immediately allow us to build back the health services that the federal government could take from us financially. This is why we need a mayor who knows the buck, because that's the job of mayor, understanding how we actually get through the Trump era.

(01:10:42)
But it doesn't stop there. Look, my experience has always been about fighting in Trump 1, and we won a lot of those battles. We won those battles during COVID. We never backed down, but we were strategic. And that's why we need to work with our Washington partners. You know, there are Democrats in Washington ready for the fight with a mayor who brings a confidence and a proven ability to deal with the economics of this crisis. But this is not a time for training wheels. This is not a time for somebody who has never dealt with the fightings of the city-

Rosarina Breton (01:11:11):

Thank you.

Scott Stringer (01:11:11):

… To be mayor of New York.

Rosarina Breton (01:11:12):

Thank you very much, Mr. Stringer.

(01:11:13)
Now Ms. Adams, we're going to go to you next. We're going to change a little bit the situation. Let's say that you learned that ICE is planning to stop immigrants outside your hospitals for possible roundups. Would you warn them, and how would you handle this situation? You have a minute.

Adrienne Adams (01:11:30):

You know, it's work that I'm already doing as speaker of the city council, so I've already stepped up in leadership to do this. I've had a target on me because I refuse to erode our sanctuary city laws, and I have refused to do this. My mission is, and will be when I am mayor, to protect the immigrants of the city of New York. New York is a city made up of immigrants, so it is our responsibility to make sure that all New Yorkers, our old New Yorkers and our newer New Yorkers, feel safe in this city. As mayor, I will not kowtow to Donald Trump-

Rosarina Breton (01:12:00):

But would you warn them that they're [inaudible 01:12:03]?

Adrienne Adams (01:12:02):

I will absolutely use my bully pulpit as the mayor to warn, as I am doing as city council speaker pretty much on a daily basis. The work that I am currently doing as speaker, I will expand as the mayor of the city of New York. Donald Trump will know that New York will remain a sanctuary city regardless of his threats and his chaos. We will stand because we are a city and a nation, and we will be that model once again for other cities in this country-

Rosarina Breton (01:12:28):

Thank you. Thank you very much, Ms. Adams.

(01:12:28)
Mr. Lander.

Adrienne Adams (01:12:29):

… To take a look at and to work towards becoming like New York.

Rosarina Breton (01:12:32):

Thank you.

(01:12:32)
Mr. Lander.

Brad Lander (01:12:33):

Thank you, Rosarina.

(01:12:34)
I mean, as you well know, 40% of the eight million New Yorkers are foreign born; 50% live in mixed status households, including one million children. This is the future of New York City that we're talking about, which is why I was proud to be a co-sponsor of those sanctuary city laws.

(01:12:51)
Three specific things I would do here.

(01:12:52)
One; it's not just the mayor. Every New York City employee needs to understand the sanctuary city laws. So I've got a detailed plan to make sure our school social workers and receptionists, our shelter security guards know the sanctuary city laws, so we'll have a network to get this information out and absolutely warn people before they walk into ICE.

(01:13:13)
I've proposed creating an independent health authority to segment off city money from Medicaid money; and I want to expand NYC Care so it's not just in health and hospitals, but in our federally qualified health centers as well. That'll make sure our immigrants are protected.

Rosarina Breton (01:13:29):

Thank you. Thank you very much.

Brad Lander (01:13:30):

Thank you.

Rosarina Breton (01:13:31):

Ms. Ramos.

Jessica Ramos (01:13:32):

Rosarina, [foreign language 01:13:36].

(01:13:44)
We have to keep ICE out of our hospitals, out of our schools, out of our houses of worship, out of any public institution, and really limit cooperation of ICE with the NYPD only when it comes to the ninety-plus charges under the current sanctuary city law. Those are very serious charges.

(01:14:03)
I want to make sure that in a town with so many lawyers, our immigrants have lawyers and our immigrants do what they came here to do: work. It'll be my responsibility as mayor of the city of New York to create entry points into the economy so that they can stay busy, provide for themselves and for their families, and honor the fabric of this city and of this country, which cannot function, whose future won't be brighter without our immigrants. It is our responsibility.

Rosarina Breton (01:14:32):

And that sounds like an amazing plan, that sounds like a great plan, but will you be using taxpayers' money for that?

Jessica Ramos (01:14:37):

Yes. This is actually making sure we are expanding ActionNYC and our cooperation with our community-based organizations and clinics, with our seven law schools to make sure that we are on the ground protecting-

Rosarina Breton (01:14:51):

Thank you, Ms. Ramos.

Jessica Ramos (01:14:52):

… And teaching people their rights.

Rosarina Breton (01:14:53):

Mr. Myrie.

Zellnor Myrie (01:14:54):

This isn't just a hypothetical for me. I grew up with pretty severe asthma, and both of my parents would take me to a city hospital, Kings County Hospital, when I had an asthma attack. They weren't documented then, but they knew that the city had their back. So not only would I be warning, I would be assuring them that we had their back right now.

(01:15:14)
Sanctuary city laws used to not be political. Well-known progressive Rudy Giuliani stood up for our sanctuary city laws because he understood what this community meant to our city. I plan on doing the same. This isn't a time for us to give half measures to say, "Well, maybe under this circumstance and maybe under that circumstance." We have to stand up. They are snatching people out of our schools. They're snatching people out of our courthouses. We cannot stand for that in this moment.

(01:15:39)
I have a frontline agenda. I want to hire 50 more lawyers to the law department. I want to go on the offensive. I want to utilize the 10th Amendment to ensure that we are not carrying out the federal government's immigration policies. We have to stand up in this moment. That's what I'll be as the next mayor.

Rosarina Breton (01:15:54):

Thank you, Mr. Myrie.

(01:15:55)
Sally?

Sally Goldenberg (01:15:55):

Thank you. Let's move on to another very important topic, public schools. The city spends more of its tax dollars on public schools than anything else, but after shelling out some $40,000 a year per student, only about half of New York City kids can read or do math at grade level. Only half.

(01:16:14)
Bottom line here, what do you see as the top reason for that dismal return on this 41 billion dollar a year investment, and how would you turn it around as mayor?

(01:16:24)
You'll all have 30 seconds to answer. Mr. Blake, we'll begin with you.

Michael Blake (01:16:27):

We have to address literacy and have a better pedagogy on the front end so that our teachers and our educators and families are able to make sure that we address this critical issue. It's the reason why I led the My Brother's Keeper program.

(01:16:38)
But it also means that we have to be clear to be against any anti-blackness that is happening in our schools. And something that many people may not realize, in 2008, Andrew Cuomo said that no candidate should shuck or jive in an election. Clearly Barack Obama was there. So when we talk about education, it's not just about making sure that we're understanding how more kids can read-

Sally Goldenberg (01:17:00):

Okay, we're at time, Mr. Blake. And-

Michael Blake (01:17:00):

… But making sure we address the anti-blackness happening in schools.

Sally Goldenberg (01:17:02):

We're at time, Mr. Blake. And before we move to Mr. Mamdani, Mr. Cuomo, would you like to respond to that?

Andrew Cuomo (01:17:08):

It's ridiculous, so no.

Sally Goldenberg (01:17:10):

What about it is ridiculous?

Michael Blake (01:17:11):

Is it inaccurate that you said in 2008-

Sally Goldenberg (01:17:13):

What about-

Andrew Cuomo (01:17:14):

I never insulted President Obama.

Sally Goldenberg (01:17:16):

Is this-

Michael Blake (01:17:16):

Is it-

Sally Goldenberg (01:17:16):

Is the quote incorrect?

Andrew Cuomo (01:17:18):

Mr. Mamdani said he is a liar and evil.

Sally Goldenberg (01:17:23):

Is the quote incorrect?

Michael Blake (01:17:23):

This is very-

Andrew Cuomo (01:17:23):

I never insulted, Mr. Obama.

Sally Goldenberg (01:17:24):

Okay, not hearing an answer to whether the quote is incorrect.

Michael Blake (01:17:24):

This is very clear. In 2008-

Andrew Cuomo (01:17:27):

I never …

Michael Blake (01:17:28):

In 2008-

Andrew Cuomo (01:17:29):

I don't know what you're referring to because I never insulted, Mr. Obama.

Sally Goldenberg (01:17:33):

We do have to move on because many people do want to hear about public education.

Zohran Mamdani (01:17:34):

But I was … I was invoked.

Sally Goldenberg (01:17:34):

So we're going to move on to Mr. Mamdani-

Zohran Mamdani (01:17:34):

I was invoked by Mr. Cuomo.

Sally Goldenberg (01:17:34):

… To discuss-

Zohran Mamdani (01:17:34):

[inaudible 01:17:37]-

Sally Goldenberg (01:17:37):

Okay, you can have 45 seconds to respond to him, and please address the question about public schools.

Zohran Mamdani (01:17:41):

Yes, absolutely. I'll do so shortly after.

(01:17:44)
We have Mr. Cuomo who said these words of shuck and jive when Barack Obama was wanting to be the president of our country. I was proud in 2008 that the first doors I ever knocked on was for Barack Obama, while we had a candidate here-

Andrew Cuomo (01:17:56):

Well, why do you call him evil and a liar?

Zohran Mamdani (01:17:57):

While we have a candidate here who is so-

Andrew Cuomo (01:17:59):

Why would you call him a liar?

Zohran Mamdani (01:18:00):

… A candidate here who is so allergic to any accountability or acknowledgement of a mistake that he can't even admit that he said these kinds of words.

(01:18:08)
Now as it pertains to public education-

Andrew Cuomo (01:18:09):

[inaudible 01:18:11].

Zohran Mamdani (01:18:11):

… All of the challenges that we are facing in our city when it comes to our schools, they are also downstream from the fact that 500,000 of our children are going to sleep hungry every single night. A hundred thousand of them for the ninth consecutive year are now homeless. We need to ensure we have a city where our children can not only have food to eat, a place to call their home, and we also have to have-

Sally Goldenberg (01:18:32):

We're at time, Mr. Mamdani. We're at time.

Zohran Mamdani (01:18:33):

… A full implementation of class size reduction-

Sally Goldenberg (01:18:35):

Mr. Tilson, we're going to move to you. And I just want to remind you, we do want to know a solution to the problem in the public school system. That is the heart of this question, Mr. Tilson.

Whitney Tilson (01:18:43):

Sure.

(01:18:43)
The failure of our public schools is Exhibit A of how city government spends way too much and delivers far too little. Our kids are reading below Mississippi's, despite spending 40,000 bucks a kid. They're the poorest state in the nation, spending 12,000. If you're a business person, and I am for 40 years, it's bad management. There are few, if any, rewards for success, and few, if any, consequences for failure.

(01:19:06)
I served on the board of KIPP Charter Schools for more than 20 years and 15% of our public schools. The charter schools are held accountable. Not surprisingly, they are the best public schools overall in the city delivering for kids.

Jessica Ramos (01:19:18):

That is not true.

Sally Goldenberg (01:19:19):

We have to move on.

(01:19:19)
Mr. Cuomo. And I just want to remind you again, we've established that there's a problem; we're looking for solutions.

(01:19:24)
Mr. Cuomo?

Andrew Cuomo (01:19:25):

Gotcha.

(01:19:26)
Interesting Mamdani never denied saying Obama was evil and a liar.

(01:19:29)
I'm proud-

Sally Goldenberg (01:19:29):

I believe neither of you denied the quotes that were raised.

Michael Blake (01:19:30):

But you didn't deny that you said shuck and jive.

Andrew Cuomo (01:19:33):

No, he did not deny-

Sally Goldenberg (01:19:34):

Neither of you denied the quotes that were raised.

David Ushery (01:19:35):

All right. We-

Andrew Cuomo (01:19:36):

He did not deny that he called President Obama evil and a liar.

Sally Goldenberg (01:19:36):

But we are here to talk at this moment about public schools.

David Ushery (01:19:38):

Okay. Mr. Cuomo.

Sally Goldenberg (01:19:38):

[inaudible 01:19:40] no one denied any quotes that were raised-

David Ushery (01:19:40):

Mr. Cuomo, solutions to the public education-

Sally Goldenberg (01:19:42):

… But we need to address-

Andrew Cuomo (01:19:42):

I am proud that … I need just five [inaudible 01:19:45].

Jessica Ramos (01:19:42):

Can we talk about education?

Sally Goldenberg (01:19:42):

I understand, but education is very important.

Andrew Cuomo (01:19:42):

Hold on. I'm proud that-

David Ushery (01:19:42):

Again, please don't force us to-

Jessica Ramos (01:19:42):

[inaudible 01:19:47] education [inaudible 01:19:49] children.

David Ushery (01:19:42):

We're-

Sally Goldenberg (01:19:49):

Education is a very important issue to New York City.

Andrew Cuomo (01:19:50):

I'm proud that I raised-

Sally Goldenberg (01:19:52):

Okay. Okay, we're going to move on.

(01:19:53)
Mr. Myrie, do you have-

Andrew Cuomo (01:19:54):

[inaudible 01:19:55]-

David Ushery (01:19:54):

No, no, no. No. Let's give Mr. Cuomo [inaudible 01:19:56].

Sally Goldenberg (01:19:56):

Time [inaudible 01:19:57].

Andrew Cuomo (01:19:57):

I'm proud that I raised education to the highest level of any state in the United States. I understand the point about we need to reform the education system. I would start with the DOE. They spend hundreds of million dollars on consultants. We don't know what we get. I want real analysis of the curriculum, New York City Solves and New York City Reads.

(01:20:18)
We need more paraprofessionals in those schools. One out of eight children are homeless.

Sally Goldenberg (01:20:23):

Okay. We're-

Andrew Cuomo (01:20:23):

It's too much for a teacher to do.

Sally Goldenberg (01:20:25):

Understood. We're-

Andrew Cuomo (01:20:26):

Pay the paraprofessionals, give the teachers more assistance.

Sally Goldenberg (01:20:26):

We're at time, Mr. Cuomo. Thank you.

David Ushery (01:20:26):

Okay. Thank you, Mr. Cuomo.

Sally Goldenberg (01:20:26):

I got it.

(01:20:26)
Thank you. Mr. Myrie.

Zellnor Myrie (01:20:31):

I wouldn't be standing on this stage if not for our city's public schools. I went to PS161, The Crown School, and made my way to Cornell Law School, with Brooklyn Tech and Fordham in between, only because there were teachers that got up every single day and put their best foot forward so that I could be on a path to success.

(01:20:48)
But we also have to think about what is happening after school. We had learning loss over COVID-19, and I want to provide universal after-school to help make up for that learning loss. I wouldn't be here today if I didn't have an after-school program that taught me karate, even though I was terrible, and I was the only boy on the [inaudible 01:21:06] team that had the moves to prove it.

Sally Goldenberg (01:21:07):

Thank you, Mr. Myrie. Thank you.

Zellnor Myrie (01:21:07):

I want to give that to every single kid in this city.

Sally Goldenberg (01:21:09):

We're at time now. We're going to move to Ms. Ramos.

Jessica Ramos (01:21:12):

Well, now I have to shout out P.S. 70, I.S. 10 and the Academy of American Studies in Astoria. I wouldn't be here without them. And my children wouldn't be where they are in middle school in Queens if it wasn't for P.S. 69 in Jackson Heights.

(01:21:27)
Look, it's true that our children suffered some lapses in developmental and social skills throughout the pandemic. I've seen it. So I want to make sure that we are delivering on teacher centers so that our teachers have more supports, giving NYC Reads more time to really seep in, and really providing our district 75 schools with all of the funding they deserve.

Sally Goldenberg (01:21:52):

Okay. Thank you, Ms. Ramos.

(01:21:53)
Mr. Lander. Again, we are looking for solution-oriented answers here.

Brad Lander (01:21:57):

Both our kids are also pre-K to 12 in New York City public school. Shout out P.S. 107.

(01:22:02)
30 seconds is hard. I've got a detailed plan. I'm the only candidate in the race with a detailed plan on my website for education; how I'll measure what matters, what metrics I'm looking at; how I'll recruit, retain, and support teachers, including a teacher's center in every school; and how I'll deal with the growth we've seen in mental health crises, in homelessness and in chronic absenteeism by making every school a community school so it can support all our students.

Sally Goldenberg (01:22:27):

Thank you.

(01:22:27)
Ms. Adams.

Adrienne Adams (01:22:28):

You know, prior to becoming an elected official, I was the education chair for my local community board. Education has always been a priority for me. It always will be. We raised four children in the public school system. So again, I am that everyday New Yorker that knows what this feels like.

(01:22:44)
So we know that the DOE has the highest budget of all city agencies. What I would do would be to redeploy resources. I have seen as council speaker how difficult it is to maneuver through the DOE agency and the barriers of bureaucracy.

Sally Goldenberg (01:22:58):

Thank you-

Adrienne Adams (01:22:59):

But as mayor, I will have full view in order to help all of our children get through the bureaucracy and get our children-

Sally Goldenberg (01:23:04):

Thank you, Ms. Adams.

Adrienne Adams (01:23:05):

… Taught the right way.

Sally Goldenberg (01:23:06):

Mr. Stringer.

Scott Stringer (01:23:07):

My sons, Max and Miles, are going through public middle school as we speak, and the challenge for them as COVID kids is very real. And there's a lot of kids out there that need help and they need it now. They need mental health services, they need extra tutoring. And we're not providing that with this 40 billion dollar budget. I know that because I audited the Department of Education more than any controller in history, found missing computers, missing iPads at the height of COVID.

(01:23:31)
But here's what we have to do: child care, baseline pre-K, 3K; we need an after-school program that focuses on tutoring and giving kids that don't have parental resources financially the help they need.

Sally Goldenberg (01:23:42):

Time.

Scott Stringer (01:23:42):

It doesn't matter how you start the race-

Sally Goldenberg (01:23:43):

We're at … Thank you, Mr-

Scott Stringer (01:23:43):

… It matters how you finish the race.

Sally Goldenberg (01:23:45):

Thank you, Mr. Stringer. We're at time.

(01:23:46)
David?

David Ushery (01:23:47):

Okay. Thank you, Sally.

(01:23:48)
We call this next section of the debate What's In A Name? We have three quick questions, looking for fast answers. We'd like you to answer each of them with a name. We'll go down the line starting with Mr. Stringer.

(01:23:57)
Right now, who's the most effective Democrat in the country?

Scott Stringer (01:24:04):

It's not Eric Adams.

(01:24:09)
I would say the most effective Democrat right now is Hakeem Jeffries.

David Ushery (01:24:13):

Okay.

(01:24:13)
Mr. Blake?

Michael Blake (01:24:14):

I would say myself because I actually defeated Donald Trump when I was vice chair of the DNC.

David Ushery (01:24:18):

Mr. Mamdani.

Zohran Mamdani (01:24:19):

Mayor Wu of Boston.

David Ushery (01:24:21):

Mr. Tilson.

Whitney Tilson (01:24:22):

My old friend Cory Booker after his 25-hour Herculean [inaudible 01:24:27].

David Ushery (01:24:27):

Thank you, Mr. Tilson.

(01:24:28)
Mr. Cuomo.

Andrew Cuomo (01:24:29):

Hakeem Jeffries.

David Ushery (01:24:31):

Mr. Myrie.

Zellnor Myrie (01:24:32):

Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins.

David Ushery (01:24:34):

Ms. Ramos.

Jessica Ramos (01:24:36):

Maryland Governor Moore.

David Ushery (01:24:38):

Mr. Lander.

Brad Lander (01:24:39):

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu.

David Ushery (01:24:41):

Ms. Adams.

Adrienne Adams (01:24:42):

I would have to say the next speaker, would be Hakeem Jeffries.

David Ushery (01:24:46):

In the primary, voters will be ranking you one through five, number one being their top choice for mayor. So if we break up the order and start with Mr. Cuomo, assuming you rank yourself number one, who on this stage would you rank number two?

Andrew Cuomo (01:24:58):

I'd leave it to the voters.

David Ushery (01:25:01):

So you would not put a name or you're not sure-

Andrew Cuomo (01:25:02):

No, I'd leave it to the voters.

David Ushery (01:25:03):

Okay.

(01:25:04)
Mr. Tilson.

Whitney Tilson (01:25:07):

I haven't decided on my number two, but I'm an ABZ. No disrespect to Zohran, but I think his policies are dangerous.

David Ushery (01:25:15):

Okay. Mr. Mamdani?

Zohran Mamdani (01:25:15):

I'm more of an ABC guy. Anybody but Cuomo. I'll be telling my voters, however, who to rank number two before election day.

David Ushery (01:25:21):

Okay. No name as yet.

(01:25:22)
Mr. Blake.

Michael Blake (01:25:23):

I'm going to take the Andrew Cuomo approach and not answer your question.

David Ushery (01:25:26):

Mr. Stringer.

Scott Stringer (01:25:27):

Well, you're not supposed to make news at these debates, right?

David Ushery (01:25:29):

Hmm.

Scott Stringer (01:25:30):

No. [inaudible 01:25:31].

(01:25:32)
My second choice really will be based on who I think would be the second-best mayor on this stage.

David Ushery (01:25:37):

Ms. Adams?

Adrienne Adams (01:25:38):

I also … Would rank myself number one, of course, but we will not be breaking news as far as who my number two will be tonight.

David Ushery (01:25:45):

All right.

(01:25:46)
Mr. Lander?

Brad Lander (01:25:47):

Andrew Cuomo has shown you many times tonight why he should not be anywhere on your ballot.

David Ushery (01:25:51):

Ms. Ramos.

Jessica Ramos (01:25:52):

Well, I think this debate is really good food for thought and will give us all a better idea. I'm hoping to have a better idea by the end of tonight.

David Ushery (01:26:01):

And Mr. Myrie.

Zellnor Myrie (01:26:02):

Stay tuned.

David Ushery (01:26:04):

All right.

(01:26:05)
The last one, we'll start with Mr. Stringer again, going around. Four years ago in the race for mayor, who did you rank first on your ballot for the Democratic primary?

(01:26:16)
Mr. Stringer?

Scott Stringer (01:26:16):

That was tough. I conferred with my wife and we said Stringer number one.

David Ushery (01:26:22):

Okay. Thank you.

(01:26:23)
Mr. Blake?

Michael Blake (01:26:24):

Maya Wiley. I co-chaired our campaign and our city would be much better right now if Maya Wiley was Mayor.

David Ushery (01:26:29):

Thank you, Mr. Blake.

(01:26:29)
Mr. Mamdani.

Zohran Mamdani (01:26:30):

Maya Wiley.

David Ushery (01:26:31):

Mr. Tilson.

Whitney Tilson (01:26:32):

Kathryn Garcia.

David Ushery (01:26:33):

Mr. Cuomo.

Andrew Cuomo (01:26:34):

It would've been Eric Adams.

Brad Lander (01:26:36):

Did he live in New York City, do you remember?

David Ushery (01:26:37):

No, he said he would've done. He said he would have.

Brad Lander (01:26:38):

I think it was about 30 years since he's lived here, right?

David Ushery (01:26:40):

Okay. Mr. Myrie.

Zellnor Myrie (01:26:41):

I ranked Maya first.

David Ushery (01:26:43):

Ms. Ramos.

Jessica Ramos (01:26:43):

I voted for Maya Wiley.

David Ushery (01:26:45):

Mr. Lander.

Brad Lander (01:26:45):

Maya Wiley one, Kathryn Garcia two.

David Ushery (01:26:48):

And Ms. Adams.

Adrienne Adams (01:26:49):

My biggest regret was voting for Eric Adams number one, with Maya a very close second. Kathy Garcia was my third.

David Ushery (01:26:55):

All right. Thank you, candidates.

Scott Stringer (01:26:57):

Well, I'm not ranking any of you.

David Ushery (01:26:57):

All right, thank you, candidates.

(01:26:57)
Sally.

Sally Goldenberg (01:26:59):

Okay, we're going to move on to housing.

(01:27:01)
You've all made housing a top priority in your campaigns. And as you all know, the city is in a housing crisis with a vacancy rate of just 1.4%. We'd like you to explain your proposed solutions to this housing crisis and how you would pay for it. You'll have one minute to answer this question.

(01:27:18)
Mr. Tilson, we'll begin with you.

Whitney Tilson (01:27:20):

Sure. Well, as I discussed about an hour ago, the key I think is to unleash the private sector to build a lot more supply, which wouldn't just stabilize rents; we have the highest rents in the country. We need to bring them down. I think they can come down by 20%.

(01:27:36)
Austin just demonstrated how to do this in only three years. How do we do that? We need to ease zoning restrictions, fight NIMBYism, properly staff the city departments to streamline that process, and overall just speed up the process. It's taking four years to build, start to finish, and it should take only two.

(01:27:57)
I will say my plan is basically the opposite of Zohran's. He wants the city to build all new affordable housing, which I think the city has … We've seen the city is no good at building and operating housing. He would also saddle us, he proposes, with $70 billion of debt. This would end up looking like California's high-speed rail project.

Sally Goldenberg (01:28:19):

Okay, we're at time.

Whitney Tilson (01:28:19):

Nothing accomplished, billions spent.

Sally Goldenberg (01:28:20):

Thank you, Mr. Tilson.

(01:28:21)
Mr. Cuomo, how would you try to resolve the housing crisis and how would you pay for it?

Andrew Cuomo (01:28:25):

Yeah, it's a desperate problem. I built housing for the homeless in my twenties. Excuse me. I served as HUD secretary and built housing literally all across the nation. Hundreds of thousands of units.

(01:28:37)
We need to blow up HPD. It's an obstacle. The city council is a bottleneck. We have to use faith-based institutions-

Adrienne Adams (01:28:45):

I'd like to respond to that.

Andrew Cuomo (01:28:47):

… We need to use vacant city land.

(01:28:50)
I have shown that-

Adrienne Adams (01:28:51):

He has no idea how the city council works.

Andrew Cuomo (01:28:51):

… I know how to build. Look at LaGuardia Airport, look at the Kosciuszko Bridge, look at the Second Avenue Subway. I know how to get things done. And that's what this election is all about. Not plans, plans, plans. Who can get something done?

Speaker 1 (01:29:05):

Just [inaudible 01:29:06].

Sally Goldenberg (01:29:06):

Ms. Adams, yes, if you would like to very briefly respond to that since he invoked the city council.

Adrienne Adams (01:29:09):

Yes, I would. And the former governor's response really does show how disconnected he is to the work of the city; unlike myself who is currently still in city governance, the only person on this stage actually that has experience of city governance and doing the work.

Sally Goldenberg (01:29:22):

[inaudible 01:29:23].

Adrienne Adams (01:29:23):

The city council under my leadership right now has already walked 120,000 units of housing for the people of the city of New York. So the city council is not bottlenecking anything. Maybe perhaps 10, 20 years ago when you were a governor, that was happening. But under my leadership, we have a brand new culture in the city council where we are actually working-

Andrew Cuomo (01:29:43):

May I respond?

Sally Goldenberg (01:29:43):

Okay.

Adrienne Adams (01:29:44):

… For the people to make sure that-

Sally Goldenberg (01:29:45):

We're at time now.

David Ushery (01:29:46):

Thank you, Ms. Adams.

Sally Goldenberg (01:29:46):

We're at time. We're-

Adrienne Adams (01:29:46):

… Housing is built and housing is built now.

Sally Goldenberg (01:29:47):

We're … Very, very briefly.

Andrew Cuomo (01:29:49):

Yeah. The mayor has an interesting proposal that I think we're going to see in the Charter Commission that talks about the role of the city council and expediting the approval mechanism.

Sally Goldenberg (01:29:58):

Okay.

Adrienne Adams (01:29:58):

[inaudible 01:30:00].

Sally Goldenberg (01:29:59):

Mr. Myrie, your top solution to the housing crisis. You have one minute to discuss it.

Zellnor Myrie (01:30:05):

You know, I grew up in a rent-stabilized apartment. It is a place that my mom, my parents were able to find, the only affordable place they were able to find to raise me to be on this stage right now. But that opportunity has slipped away for too many New Yorkers. My wife and I, we want to put down roots in the same neighborhood that we grew up in. When you walk down Bedford Avenue, everything costs a million dollars. Who has a million dollars? Maybe some of the people on this stage do, but I don't have it and I know you watching at home don't have it either.

(01:30:33)
So I've been clear about what my plan is to drive down the cost of housing: one million homes over the next 10 years. We can actually do this with some leadership. The leaders of the past, like Cuomo, who had the opportunity to do this only gave us a city that is more expensive than it was 10 years ago.

(01:30:51)
I want to also extend pre-K and 3K from 2:30 P.M to 6:00 P.M so that we can draw families here and keep them here. And I want universal free after- school for every kid in this city, because it has to be a city where you can raise a family and where we can move everyone to a path to success.

Sally Goldenberg (01:31:07):

And very, very briefly, what is your price tag on those one million new homes?

Zellnor Myrie (01:31:10):

My plan does not require us to raise taxes and reduce the-

Sally Goldenberg (01:31:14):

But just what is the price?

Zellnor Myrie (01:31:15):

… Reduce the private market in order to build housing.

Sally Goldenberg (01:31:18):

Okay.

Zellnor Myrie (01:31:18):

Incentivize.

Sally Goldenberg (01:31:18):

All right, thank you.

(01:31:19)
Ms. Ramos.

Jessica Ramos (01:31:20):

Property tax reform is at the crux of our affordable housing crisis in this city. I want to make sure that we are helping homeowners and landlords bring down their costs. Water rates. The cost of water has skyrocketed in the past three years under the current administration.

(01:31:39)
And then I want to freeze the rent. As a rent-stabilized tenant, I know how tough it is to be able to keep up with rent. The rent is too damn high and the wages are too damn low in this city.

(01:31:50)
So I want to make sure that we are unwarehousing the 5,000 apartments that NYCHA is hanging onto. I want to make sure they're repaired so that we can chip into that 200, 000 New Yorker waiting list. I also want to bring back the co-op city model so that we can attract the city services that are needed. We need more nurses, we need more teachers, we need more doctors, we need more police officers and firefighters.

(01:32:14)
So I want to build more low-income rentals and modest equity homeownership opportunities-

Sally Goldenberg (01:32:20):

Thank you-

Jessica Ramos (01:32:20):

… So that every New Yorker can own a piece of our city.

Sally Goldenberg (01:32:22):

Thank you, Ms. Ramos.

(01:32:22)
Mr. Lander.

Brad Lander (01:32:24):

Everyone on the stage talks about affordable housing. I've spent three decades delivering it. Spent 15 years before I ever got into elected office with my sleeves rolled up, renovating abandoned buildings and vacant lots into affordable homes.

(01:32:37)
In the city council, I was the champion for the Gowanus redevelopment; 8,000 new units, 3000 genuinely affordable.

Jessica Ramos (01:32:44):

Non-union.

Brad Lander (01:32:44):

Saved the 35,000 units of Signature Bank rent-stabilized housing when they were put at risk by Signature's failure.

(01:32:51)
So I know how to do this. That's the leadership I'll bring to City Hall. I'll declare a housing emergency on day one. I've put out a detailed plan for how we can

Brad Lander (01:33:00):

… and built 500,000 homes over the next 10 years, and I've laid out where, including 50,000 units in great new neighborhoods on four of the city's 12 city-owned golf courses might be losing the golf vote tonight. But we need the pathway to home ownership and genuine rental housing. I've also laid out detailed plans for how to fix HPD and NYCHA. I've got the management experience. I can deliver those homes.

Sally Goldenberg (01:33:25):

Thank you. For viewers at home, that's the housing department and the New York City Housing Authority.

Brad Lander (01:33:29):

Thank you.

Sally Goldenberg (01:33:29):

Ms. Adams, given that you spoke about this before, we're going to give you 30 seconds to continue your answer.

Adrienne Adams (01:33:34):

Yes. Already doing the work. Don't need a manual or a transcript in order to do it. I'm already doing it currently as we speak. So I've already delivered thousands of affordable units to people of the city of New York. We can take a look at Innovation QNS, the largest privately developed structure that is coming up right now, unheard of. We can look at Bronx Metro-North rezoning. We can also look at what we just passed two weeks ago, the Atlantic Avenue rezoning. And yes, we can take a look at the City for All, which will create over 80,000 brand new affordable units for the City of New York.

Sally Goldenberg (01:34:10):

Thank you Ms. Adams. We have to move on to Mr. Stringer.

Adrienne Adams (01:34:11):

Doing the work.

Sally Goldenberg (01:34:12):

Thank you. Mr. Stringer, can you please talk about your housing plan and how you would pay for it?

Scott Stringer (01:34:16):

Well first of all, this housing crisis is way too real and we've confronted housing issues in the past. Mayor stepped up and didn't do the minimum. They did the maximum. Aguadilla built 2,200 public housing units. The Mitchell-Lama housing program, the greatest integrated housing program in a generation was also built.

(01:34:34)
Right now all we do is have luxury developers propose projects that gives us unaffordable affordable housing. I want to upend this. My plan, take a thousand vacant lots, build the affordable housing that we need. You give the land to not-for-profits, to community-based organizations. We're in the game. This is not pie in the sky. I can't say to you tonight, given my 30 years of experience that anyone has a plan to build a million homes or 500,000 homes in 10 years. Don't believe it. Believe what we can do in the next two years. That's the first step.

(01:35:04)
Lastly, we also have to recognize who can best do this work. As controller, I financed affordable housing all over the city. As borough president, I didn't do one or two rezonings. That was my life's work for eight years, and we've transformed so many parcels of land-

Sally Goldenberg (01:35:16):

We're at time, Mr. Stringer-

Scott Stringer (01:35:17):

… into affordable housing.

Sally Goldenberg (01:35:18):

… Mr. Blake. We have to move on. Mr. Blake.

Michael Blake (01:35:20):

When we talk about a housing crisis, you have to actually go through the journey. My mama overcame homelessness. We sold dinners to pay rent in South Bronx. And so this is not about a report from me. This is about reality. So how do we fix the crisis? We need local median income 'cause area median income is not working. We need to end credit scores being utilized for housing applications and we need to increase the income limits on housing applications, especially to protect all of our New Yorkers.

(01:35:52)
When you think about what's happening in Rochdale Village right now, with an unfair tax increase. The protections that have to happen at Co-op City or Concourse Village, Tracy's house, just to name a few. But then we got to go a step further. For public housing and those that are living in NYCHA, for those who have not helped you with heat and hot water, they need to go to jail because they're not being held accountable to actually fight for you. And so when we talk about the actual vision of a housing plan, if you go to blakefornyc.com, you'll see the welcome home vision because we want to make sure you can afford the home you deserve.

Sally Goldenberg (01:36:23):

Mr. Blake, we're at time. Just a very quick follow-up. Who are you implying should be going to jail?

Michael Blake (01:36:27):

The individuals that are working at NYCHA that were a part of a bribery scheme that has been unveiled and undercover, where it has been very clear that they were taking in bribes-

Sally Goldenberg (01:36:37):

All right, thank you. We do have-

Michael Blake (01:36:37):

… and not actually fix what's happening in the residences.

Sally Goldenberg (01:36:41):

… Okay, thank you. Mr. Mamdani, we'll go to you.

Zohran Mamdani (01:36:43):

If you are one of the close to two and a half million New Yorkers who live in rent-stabilized housing, I will freeze your rent, and I will do that because you have a median household income of $60,000 while your landlord profits have increased by 12%. This is an act that will bring nearly $7 billion back into your pocket and back into the pockets of our local economy. This is what we will do immediately and we'll do so because the mayor has the power to, even though there are those like Andrew Cuomo on this stage who will tell you it's unrealistic. We know the previous mayor actually did this three times.

(01:37:16)
And on top of this, we're going to build 200,000 truly affordable homes, homes that are for the New Yorker who has a median household income of $70,000 for a family of four. We'll do this while taking on the very bad landlords and the real estate developers who are funding Andrew Cuomo's campaign, $2.5 million last time I checked. And we're going to do that because ultimately every single person needs to follow the law, and that includes the landlords who are violating our housing code and have $800 million in fines that the city have yet to actually collect on.

Sally Goldenberg (01:37:47):

Very brief response. A brief response, Mr. Cuomo.

Andrew Cuomo (01:37:52):

Yeah, Mr. Mamdani is very good at videos but not reality.

Zohran Mamdani (01:37:57):

We've already heard that line before. I want a new one.

Sally Goldenberg (01:37:59):

Okay.

Andrew Cuomo (01:38:00):

The Daily News said that his plan to finance his proposals, it violates the constitutional debt cap of the city of New York. It would double the state taxes and there is no way the state is going to pass a tax statewide debt.

David Ushery (01:38:19):

Okay. Thank you, Mr. Cuomo. We absolutely-

Zohran Mamdani (01:38:20):

No, he's invoked me. I should be able to respond.

David Ushery (01:38:22):

You invoked him.

Zohran Mamdani (01:38:22):

Just for 10 seconds here.

David Ushery (01:38:24):

Brief response.

Zohran Mamdani (01:38:25):

What the governor is speaking about is when we want to fight for working class people, it's considered unrealistic, but when he wants to give Elon Musk a $1 billion tax break, it's totally feasible. What the Daily News found is that this would mean taking a $30 billion budget, increasing it such that we can actually create truly affordable housing.

David Ushery (01:38:42):

All right, we have to move on. We have some breaking news we want to ask you about. The Trump administration is threatening the accreditation of Columbia University. In his statement, secretary of Education, Linda McMahon said After Hamas's October 7th, 2023, terror attack on Israel, Columbia University's leadership acted with deliberate indifference towards the harassment of Jewish students on its campus. This is not only immoral but also unlawful. That a statement from the Secretary of Education, Linda McMahon. 30 seconds. What's your reaction to this move? Mr. Cuomo we'll begin with you.

Andrew Cuomo (01:39:16):

I think you have two separate issues. Number one, I do believe there's been antisemitism in the city. I believe it's a growing problem and I believe the rhetoric about Israel has actually inflamed the antisemitism. Put that aside. I think this is just another overreach of the Trump administration. Now he's going to take over the academic universities in this country. He is literally attacking the foundation of democracy and he must be opposed at every turn.

David Ushery (01:39:48):

Mr. Tilson, your reaction to this threatening the accreditation of Columbia University?

Whitney Tilson (01:39:52):

Yeah, I'm totally appalled by two things. First, the failure of Columbia and other elite institutions to adequately act quickly after the October 7th attacks on mobs that were creating a very dangerous environment for Jewish students. My daughter is one of them in college right now. My wife and children are Jewish. This is personal to me. And these mobs, let's be clear, were incited by activists like the Democratic Socialists of America and their anti-Israel rhetoric.

David Ushery (01:40:23):

Okay, Mr. Tilson-

Whitney Tilson (01:40:25):

Okay. I am even more appalled, however, by the Trump administration pretending to care about Mr. Tilson and threatening the accreditation of universities.

David Ushery (01:40:31):

Mr. Mamdani.

Zohran Mamdani (01:40:33):

I think this is yet another example of a gross overreach of the Trump administration. One that they have shown they will continue to pursue with whichever university they decide to target. It's been Columbia. It's been Harvard. We need to have a mayor that will actually stand up to Donald Trump, not one that we have right now that will collaborate with them. And that is who I will be as someone who is in the words of Shirley Chisholm, unbought and unbossed because the donors who are putting me in second place in this race are working-class New Yorkers across this city.

David Ushery (01:41:04):

Mr. Blake, 30 seconds please.

Michael Blake (01:41:06):

As a reverend, let's start from the core that all hostages have to come back home on both sides. Let's also be very clear that we have to reject antisemitism and also have humanity of what's happening for the Pasadena people at the same time. The overreach is unacceptable and what Trump is doing, Linda McMahon is clearly more focused on wrestling rather than the facts. And it's one of the reasons why I'm running in this race. Because of my federal experience and working for real President Barack Obama and the State House experience and local experience, we have to make sure that we're not allowing D.C. To have overreach. And when they take these steps, that's time we will withhold sending New York City taxes to D.C.

David Ushery (01:41:41):

Thank you Mr. Blake. Mr. Stringer, your reaction?

Scott Stringer (01:41:42):

There's no question that on so many of these college campuses, the antisemitic, anti-Jewish hate is very real and we have to make sure that we hold universities accountable to make sure every student of all different backgrounds are safe. But this Trump move goes against everything that's American. And if he really wants to help Jewish students and all students because everybody faces discrimination at some point in their lives, then maybe he would fully fund the civil rights divisions. He would not cut programs that could go a long way to fostering the ability for all different people to work together and come together.

David Ushery (01:42:17):

Thank you Ms. Adams. Your reaction? The Trump administration says that the university's leadership acted with deliberate indifference towards the harassment of Jewish students. It's now targeting or perhaps threatening their accreditation. Your reaction?

Adrienne Adams (01:42:29):

You know all New Yorkers deserve to feel safe no matter who they are. As speaker, I've allocated over $18 million to combat antisemitism in New York City. As mayor, I will continue to combat antisemitism within the city of New York. We have got to come against this Trump administration who is now terrorizing our college students, our students across the country. We have to have a mayor who will stand up. I've been that speaker that will stand up. As mayor, I will continue to stand up against Donald Trump. Our students deserve to be in safe spaces on all of our college campuses.

David Ushery (01:43:04):

Okay, thank you, Ms. Adams. Mr. Lander apologies.

Brad Lander (01:43:09):

This is a frightening time for Jews and I feel it really personally after the flame throwing in Boulder, Colorado and the two murders in Washington D.C., I go to a lot of Jewish communal events and you can't just be looking over your shoulders. So I've got a really detailed plan for how we're going to deal with hate crimes and antisemitism in New York City. But let's be clear, Donald Trump, he platforms white nationalists and antisemites all the time. This has nothing to do with keeping anyone safe and trying to discredit Harvard or Columbia's about destroying higher education and democracy. It won't keep Jews safe.

David Ushery (01:43:48):

Thank you, Mr. Landon. Ms. Ramos.

Jessica Ramos (01:43:48):

McMahon is no educator and Trump has no interest in funding our education, he is trying to make our education less accessible to students. I do wish Columbia University fought the way Harvard has. We have to stand up to Trump. We have to be willing to fight back to sue, and that is exactly what I will do as your mayor to make sure that we are keeping our Jewish students safe, our Muslim students safe, and that we are fighting bigotry at every turn. There is no room for the skyrocketing antisemitism that we are seeing in our communities.

David Ushery (01:44:22):

Thank you, Ms. Ramos.

Jessica Ramos (01:44:22):

And the xenophobia must end.

David Ushery (01:44:24):

Mr. Myrie.

Zellnor Myrie (01:44:25):

There has been a clear and unequivocal rise in antisemitism in this city and across this country, and we have to be just as clear and unequivocal in calling it out and rooting it out wherever it rears its ugly head. That is what I'm going to do as mayor. But come on, this is New York City. Our Jewish friends and our neighbors, they make our city what it is. Kindergarten through eighth grade, I went to school next to Beth Rivkah. That is part of what makes our city great. This is a shameful, unconstitutional overreach by this Trump administration and it is pattern and practice for what they have done all across our city and country.

David Ushery (01:45:01):

Thank you. Thank you. We're going to stay in the area of Columbia University with our next question in Sally Goldenberg.

Sally Goldenberg (01:45:06):

Thank you, David. The case of Mahmoud Khalil, a permanent U.S. resident, who helped lead pro-Palestinian protests drags on in the courts. The Trump administration wants to deport Khalil, accusing him of supporting Hamas, a terrorist group and making Jewish students feel less safe on campus. They say he's a threat to foreign policy. He was arrested and detained but has not been formally charged with a crime. And he says he's done nothing wrong. We're looking for a very short answer here and we'll begin with you, Mr. Mamdani, do you believe that Mr. Khalil should be set free or deported?

Zohran Mamdani (01:45:38):

He should be set free. He should be at home with his wife Noor and their young child. And the fact that he's still in Louisiana is an abomination. It's an attack on our first amendment and it is clear, another example of Donald Trump weaponizing the very real issue of antisemitism to then throw Palestinian New Yorkers into detention facilities and not even tell us what the crime is that they're charged with.

Sally Goldenberg (01:46:00):

Thank you, Mr. Tilson?

Whitney Tilson (01:46:03):

I can't answer the question without knowing all the facts right now. It certainly looks like another case.

Sally Goldenberg (01:46:08):

Facts, really?

Whitney Tilson (01:46:08):

Let me finish. It looks like another case of Trump administration overreach. They need to prove their case and show that he has ties to terrorism that would justify via due process revoking his green card and deporting him. I don't think the Trump administration will be able to do that and therefore he should be set free, but they need to make their case.

Sally Goldenberg (01:46:28):

Thank you. Mr. Cuomo.

Andrew Cuomo (01:46:30):

This is a continuation of Trump eroding democracy, chipping away at due process. He should be released. He should be released immediately. He shouldn't have been detained in the first place.

Sally Goldenberg (01:46:42):

Mr. Myrie.

Zellnor Myrie (01:46:43):

He should immediately be set free.

Sally Goldenberg (01:46:45):

Ms. Ramos.

Jessica Ramos (01:46:47):

We have due process in our constitution for every person. Mahmoud Khalil is no exception. He belongs home with his family. Just like Andrea Hernandez and so many others who have been unlawfully abducted by ICE.

Sally Goldenberg (01:47:00):

Mr. Lander.

Brad Lander (01:47:01):

Mahmoud Khalil should be at home with his family and so should Dylan Contreras, a New York City public high school student that ICE tricked and then arrested and is trying to deport. We've got to stand up, make sure folks have legal services and the New York City has their back.

Sally Goldenberg (01:47:18):

Ms. Adams.

Adrienne Adams (01:47:18):

Yes, Mahmoud. Khalil should be released immediately. There is no due process in Donald Trump's America and that is why we all have to pull together and fight this chaotic Trump administration. It cannot be allowed to harm more families, to harm more individuals that have committed no crime. This should be unacceptable to every American and everyone that lives in this country.

Sally Goldenberg (01:47:42):

Thank you. Mr. Stringer.

Scott Stringer (01:47:45):

As a Jewish American whose wife works at the Jewish Museum in lower Manhattan, fighting to make sure we remember the Holocaust, I will say unequivocally that taking this man off the streets and others off the streets without any charges or any rationale is a direct, horrifying moment for our constitution. Donald Trump should be ashamed of himself for doing this.

Sally Goldenberg (01:48:10):

Thank you. Mr. Blake.

Michael Blake (01:48:12):

Mahmoud should be home with his family, full stop. It's really that easy, Whitney. Extended on this, is the appreciation and understanding that whether it be Dylan from the Bronx or any of our communities, we should not believe that a convicted felon president is actually going to ever honor the constitution. It's the reason why we have to make sure we protect our immigrants and have more lawyers at our immigration hearings because we should actually know where individuals are so they have a chance to fight for their own justice.

Sally Goldenberg (01:48:43):

Thank you. Melissa.

Melissa Russo (01:48:44):

Thank you. We're moving on to a subject that none of you are discussing much on the campaign trail, but it could reshape the city in the next few years and that is the rapid advance of artificial intelligence. It could improve many things in the city, but it could also eliminate thousands of jobs. So the next mayor will likely have some opportunities to replace some city workers with AI technology and in the process save hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars. AI will certainly be on the table when city labor contracts expire. So here's the question. Is there an area where you would consider replacing city workers with AI if it saves tax dollars, and would you also offer any protections to city workers? You'll have 30 seconds to answer. We'll begin with you, Mr. Mamdani.

Zohran Mamdani (01:49:33):

Well, I think Andrew Cuomo would tell you that he's already replaced a campaign worker who would've written his housing policy with AI because he had it written by ChatGPT. I can tell you that I'm proud to be endorsed by the Labor Union representing the largest number of city workers, DC 37. And I'm proud of that because my approach to artificial intelligence will be one where we can find efficiencies in the contracts and consultants that we work with as a city, but we are not going to use this language of artificial intelligence as a justification for further layoffs of city workers.

Melissa Russo (01:50:06):

Okay. Mr. Mamdani, time. Thank you. Mr. Tilson?

Whitney Tilson (01:50:08):

Yeah. I think actually AI is going to be a home run for this city because we are second only to Silicon Valley, the sort of tech hub, the East coast tech hub for a lot of these West coast companies. So whatever we might lose in some jobs, I think we're going to gain if we're smart, if we roll out the carpet because we have the knowledge workers here to attract these entrepreneurial businesses. But we've got to stop shooting ourselves in the foot with left-wing madness like driving away Amazon and the 40,000 jobs that they wanted to bring here. And lastly, I'll say we can use AI to bring a lot of permitting by the city online to streamline the process of businesses.

Melissa Russo (01:50:46):

Thank you, Mr. Tilson. Mr. Cuomo, you have 30 seconds.

Andrew Cuomo (01:50:48):

Yeah. I am the candidate on the stage who's endorsed by more labor unions than anyone else of 650,000 working men and women and I'm proud of it. AI is undeniable. It's coming. There's I think a tremendous opportunity for economic development here in New York by bringing AI to New York and bringing those businesses here. The West Coast doesn't have a franchise. You hear a lot of four-letter words here. You're free. You hear taxes, you don't hear jobs. We need opportunities. We need jobs and we want to reorganize government.

Melissa Russo (01:51:24):

Okay, Mr. Cuomo. We're going to move on.

Andrew Cuomo (01:51:24):

AI can help, but we want to protect jobs.

Melissa Russo (01:51:26):

Mr. Myrie, you have 30 seconds. Thank you.

Zellnor Myrie (01:51:28):

Yeah. I'm the proud son of a city worker. My dad taught special education in the Bronx for 22 years. I would not be who I am today without it, without what he fought for and what he did for students every day. I believe we have so many city workers that are doing their absolute best to serve this city. We actually have thousands of vacancies in our city workforce now, so I want to hire more city workers to get them to do it. Of course, AI is going to have a role to play going forward. We have to all play a role in ensuring that this is an industry that grows in our city. One way we're going to make us attractive is 1 million homes over the next 10 years.

Melissa Russo (01:52:01):

Okay. Thank you, Mr. Myrie. Ms. Ramos.

Jessica Ramos (01:52:03):

I wrote the law to protect our artists, our actors, image and likeness from AI's use through movie studios. And that's exactly what I want to do. I want to put the power in our workers' hands to help us lead the transition into the use of artificial intelligence. We can't be Luddites, but we do have to make sure that the workers have a say as we make those transitions, especially when I want to transition them and repurpose them for mental health capacities where we have deep shortages.

Melissa Russo (01:52:37):

Mr. Lander.

Brad Lander (01:52:38):

Three strategies. I propose to use AI and technology to make government more efficient that won't cost any jobs but will save us money. Last year we paid out over $2 billion to settle 12,000 claims. I have an RFP in the field to use machine learning and AI to find patterns, put it on the books of the agencies that cause it so we can actually reduce that. Second, we should have NYCHA vendor scorecards that enable residents to rate the repair vendors that come into their units. And they're not doing that right now. We could make much better use of our taxpayer dollars-

Melissa Russo (01:53:10):

Thank you, Mr. Lander.

Brad Lander (01:53:11):

… by going with the vendors who actually get the work done.

Melissa Russo (01:53:11):

Thank you. Ms. Adams. Oh.

Brad Lander (01:53:11):

I got the 15 seconds.

Melissa Russo (01:53:11):

Sorry. Mixed signals.

Brad Lander (01:53:20):

I got one more idea for the next time.

Melissa Russo (01:53:21):

Okay. I'm sorry about that. Ms. Adams.

Adrienne Adams (01:53:24):

I'm not a career politician. I come out of the world of corporate America, so I know the benefit of technology. I actually used to teach tech in another life. So I know the benefits of AI. I think it's something that we need to embrace as New Yorkers. I think that it's something that can bring a lot of profits into New York City. That said, we should not balance AI along with the release of our workers that can do such a great job, are doing such a great job for our city. There is a balance here. As mayor, I will reckon that balance and reconcile that balance so that we do not [inaudible 01:53:54]-

Melissa Russo (01:53:53):

Thank you, Ms. Adams.

Adrienne Adams (01:53:53):

… we're training our workforce towards embracing AI.

Melissa Russo (01:53:57):

Thank you. Mr. Stringer.

Scott Stringer (01:53:58):

Look, I think AI is a great opportunity for the New York City economy and we should embrace it. But we also have to know that with any new technology comes the job of the mayor to protect our workers and our citizens. And I don't think it's an either or question. I think AI can come in and actually have a benefit to the city workforce. Imagine training new kids at CUNY and places to get into the tech economy. This is one vehicle to do it. Obviously as mayor, you have to worry about the abuses. I will do that. My record as a pro-labor elected official borough president controller is without question and I believe we can manage this.

David Ushery (01:54:34):

Okay, Mr. Blake? I'm sorry I jumped that. Mr. Blake, you had a final word. That was my mistake.

Michael Blake (01:54:40):

Our campaign theme is tomorrow begins today. And that's the epitome of when we talk about for AI as a small business owner, which I've managed more than 15,000 people across the country over the years, it's the appreciation of groups such as Adventure or National GEM Consortium on the Knowledge House. So we can be very intentional how AI can be utilized for good. I would say also specifically, we need technology for good. You can track a flight or food, but you cannot try closing up a residential repair in your home. So we have to find better ways. And to your last part of your question, you can do that and equally create jobs by reducing regulation and red tape at the same time.

David Ushery (01:55:15):

Candidates, thank you. We have a few short questions, lightning round questions, some call them, just to get a glimpse of your thinking on some of the issues that are relevant to New Yorkers. So New Yorkers are feeling stressed about housing in the city, as you've all alluded to, as we know. How much do you pay each month for rent or a mortgage? We'll go left to right. Ms. Adams.

Adrienne Adams (01:55:32):

Our home is paid. I'm a homeowner.

David Ushery (01:55:34):

Okay, Mr. Lander.

Brad Lander (01:55:37):

We have a mortgage, a home with one rental unit. The total mortgage on the house, 3,300.

David Ushery (01:55:43):

Okay. Thank you. Ms. Ramos.

Jessica Ramos (01:55:44):

We rent, we pay $2,500 a month.

David Ushery (01:55:47):

Okay. Mr. Myrie.

Zellnor Myrie (01:55:48):

We're in a rent stabilized apartment I grew up in, 1,300.

David Ushery (01:55:52):

Mr. Cuomo,

Andrew Cuomo (01:55:52):

7,800.

David Ushery (01:55:54):

Mr. Tilson.

Whitney Tilson (01:55:56):

I own and pay about $5,000 a month in maintenance and taxes.

David Ushery (01:56:00):

Mr. Mamdani.

Zohran Mamdani (01:56:01):

$2,300 for my one bedroom in Astoria.

David Ushery (01:56:04):

Mr. Blake.

Michael Blake (01:56:05):

About $1,800 for the home that I own with our family.

David Ushery (01:56:09):

Okay, Mr. Stringer?

Scott Stringer (01:56:09):

I'm getting ripped off. $6,400 a month.

Jessica Ramos (01:56:12):

Property tax reform.

David Ushery (01:56:14):

Come on, council.

Jessica Ramos (01:56:14):

I can do it.

David Ushery (01:56:14):

All right. Thank you. Helicopter. Traffic around Manhattan is a constant debate. It's a complaint for many. Should helicopter traffic be limited? We'll go right to left. Mr. Stringer?

Scott Stringer (01:56:25):

Yes.

David Ushery (01:56:26):

Mr. Blake?

Michael Blake (01:56:27):

Absolutely.

David Ushery (01:56:28):

Mr. Mamdani?

Zohran Mamdani (01:56:29):

Yes. We should ban all non-essential helicopter travel.

David Ushery (01:56:32):

Mr. Tilson?

Whitney Tilson (01:56:33):

Yes, I agree.

David Ushery (01:56:35):

Mr. Cuomo?

Andrew Cuomo (01:56:35):

You should be limited. Yes, sir.

Michael Blake (01:56:37):

Especially out of Westchester.

David Ushery (01:56:38):

Mr. Myrie?

Zellnor Myrie (01:56:39):

Yes, and I've co-sponsored legislation in the state to that effect.

David Ushery (01:56:42):

Okay, Ms. Ramos?

Jessica Ramos (01:56:44):

Stop the chop.

David Ushery (01:56:46):

Mr. Lander?

Brad Lander (01:56:46):

Yes.

David Ushery (01:56:47):

Okay. And Ms. Adams.

Adrienne Adams (01:56:49):

Already doing the work. We've already passed a bill in the city council.

David Ushery (01:56:52):

Okay. The first foreign visit by a mayor of New York is always considered significant. Where would you go first? Left to right. Ms. Adams.

Adrienne Adams (01:57:02):

First visit. I would visit the Holy Land.

David Ushery (01:57:05):

Okay. Ms. Lander. Mr. Lander, sorry.

Brad Lander (01:57:10):

Boy, what Trump is doing to Canada, there's a lot of opportunities for us to partner better with them.

David Ushery (01:57:15):

Ms. Ramos.

Jessica Ramos (01:57:16):

I'd love to meet Claudia Sheinbaum, but I'd probably head to Colombia to my parents.

David Ushery (01:57:21):

Mr. Myrie.

Zellnor Myrie (01:57:22):

I am a proud son of two Caribbean immigrants. I represent a robust Caribbean constituency. I'd like to go to the Caribbean as my first visit.

David Ushery (01:57:29):

Mr. Cuomo.

Andrew Cuomo (01:57:30):

Given the hostility and the antisemitism that has been shown in New York, I would go to Israel.

David Ushery (01:57:37):

Mr. Tilson, where would you go?

Whitney Tilson (01:57:38):

Yeah, I'd make my fourth trip to Israel, followed by my fifth trip to Ukraine. Two of our greatest allies fighting on the front lines of the global war on terror.

David Ushery (01:57:48):

Mr. Mamdani.

Zohran Mamdani (01:57:49):

I would stay in New York City. My plans are to address New Yorkers across the five boroughs and focus on that.

Melissa Russo (01:57:55):

Mr. Mamdani, can I just jump in, would you visit Israel as mayor?

Zohran Mamdani (01:58:00):

As the mayor, I'll be standing up for Jewish New Yorkers and I'll be meeting them wherever they are across the five boroughs, whether that's in their synagogues and temples or at their homes or at the subway platform. Because ultimately we need to focus on delivering on their concerns.

Melissa Russo (01:58:15):

And just yes or no. Do you believe in a Jewish state of Israel?

Zohran Mamdani (01:58:16):

I believe Israel has the right to exist.

Melissa Russo (01:58:19):

As a Jewish state?

David Ushery (01:58:20):

Not as a Jewish state.

Zohran Mamdani (01:58:20):

As a state with equal rights.

David Ushery (01:58:22):

He won't say it has a right to exist as a Jewish state.

Andrew Cuomo (01:58:25):

And his answer was no. He won't visit Israel.

Zohran Mamdani (01:58:27):

I said that-

David Ushery (01:58:28):

That's what he was trying to say.

Zohran Mamdani (01:58:29):

No, no, no. Unlike you, I answer questions very directly. I believe every state should be a state of equal rights.

David Ushery (01:58:36):

Okay. Thank you, Mr. Mamdani. Mr. Blake, where would you go on your first foreign visit as mayor of New York?

Michael Blake (01:58:40):

My full name is Michael Alexander Blake. I'm named after Michael Manley Alexander Bustamante. So of course I'm go to Jamaica to mash up the place, my fellow Patois Jamaicans out here.

David Ushery (01:58:50):

Okay. Mr. Stringer.

Scott Stringer (01:58:50):

Maybe I'll go with you.

Michael Blake (01:58:52):

It would be a great trip.

Scott Stringer (01:58:53):

It would be a great trip.

David Ushery (01:58:54):

All right. Oh, I'm sorry.

Scott Stringer (01:58:57):

My goal would be to take my first trip to Israel. My wife's life work in this area means a lot to our family and it could coincide with my young son, Miles' Bar Mitzvah because we'd like to have his Bar Mitzvah.

David Ushery (01:59:07):

Okay, about a minute left. What's your favorite go-to pizza spot, what you order? Mr. Cuomo, we'll start with you.

Andrew Cuomo (01:59:13):

Gaby's in Queens.

Zellnor Myrie (01:59:15):

Mr. Myrie.

(01:59:16)
Gino's Pizza, Flatbush Ave.

David Ushery (01:59:18):

Ms. Ramos.

Jessica Ramos (01:59:18):

Louie's on Baxter Avenue in Elmhurst.

David Ushery (01:59:20):

Mr. Lander.

Zellnor Myrie (01:59:21):

Di Faras in Midwood.

David Ushery (01:59:23):

Ms. Adams.

Adrienne Adams (01:59:24):

Alba, Queens Boulevard.

David Ushery (01:59:26):

Mr. Stringer,.

Scott Stringer (01:59:28):

It's kid's choice, Joe's.

David Ushery (01:59:30):

Mr. Blake.

Michael Blake (01:59:31):

Vinny's. Grand Concourse, Burnside.

David Ushery (01:59:33):

Mr. Mamdani.

Zohran Mamdani (01:59:34):

I grew up in Morningside Heights, so I have to say Koronets.

David Ushery (01:59:37):

Okay, and Mr. Tilson.

Whitney Tilson (01:59:38):

Nino's in Staten Island.

David Ushery (01:59:39):

Okay. All right. And real quickly, this will be thumbs up, thumbs down. Maybe your reaction. We already heard this from one to the Knicks firing their head coach, Tom Thibodeau, Ms. Adams. Thumbs down. Mr. Lan, thumbs down, thumbs down.

Brad Lander (01:59:52):

Thumbs up, thumbs up. Our goal is to win the finals. It's not to get to the-

David Ushery (01:59:58):

Okay. Thank you all. Thank you all for a spirited debate. That's all the time we have. Again, we thank the candidates for an informative evening tonight. We also thank the New York City Campaign Finance Board. Urge you to check out their website, nycvotes.org. It has information on the candidates, the race, and importantly, you'll learn more about ranked or supporting. It's how the nominees for mayor will be selected for all of us here at NBC New York at Telemundo 47 and Politico. Go vote, June 24th.