Five takeaways from the New York City mayoral debate

Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani smiled his way through a two-hour debate where Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa tried to land punches on the frontrunner.

Few of those hits had much of an impact against Mamdani, who effectively pressed his affordability platform without making any significant mistakes. Cuomo needed a moment that he didn’t get. Mamdani had a largely pain-free night.

Here are five takeaways from the first of two general election debates:

Mamdani was smooth

The young assemblymember reminded debate viewers why a 33-year-old democratic socialist is on the cusp of becoming mayor of New York City — he’s a great communicator.

With a double-digit lead in every poll, all Mamdani really needed was not to collapse. He succeeded — and avoided any major missteps. Some Republicans seized on his awkward moment declining to endorse Gov. Kathy Hochul’s reelection, even though she took a big political risk by backing his candidacy … but that’s not exactly going to cost Mamdani the race.

At times, he might have been too smooth — he’s practiced lines on topics like affordability and Israel so many times you can almost see him going into autopilot.

Clinical Cuomo struggled

Cuomo needed a breakout moment against Mamdani. He’s stuck in second place in polls, and even with Mayor Eric Adams suspending his campaign, the ex-governor has not been able to surpass the frontrunning Democratic nominee.

The debate underscored the key problem facing Cuomo who’s running as an independent after losing in an upset to Mamdani in June. In his long career, Cuomo has never successfully run a campaign as the underdog. His sole electoral loss came 23 years ago against Carl McCall. Every election since, Cuomo was the clear favorite.

Cuomo spoke from the podium with a dry recitation of facts. Mamdani appeared well prepared for the ex-governor’s attacks, many of which — like the Queens assemblymember’s past criticism of Barack Obama — was recycled from the primary campaign. That criticism didn’t work then, and it isn’t clear why Cuomo would think it could work now in a general election.

Curtis talked up Trump

One of the quirks of this race is the candidate with the deepest experience with President Donald Trump is Cuomo, who has known him for decades. Mamdani has never met the president. Sliwa, the Republican nominee, has the most strained relationship.

Trump has scoffed at his party’s candidate to lead his hometown as not ready for primetime. The president derisively noted that Sliwa lives with a lot of cats in a small apartment.

Yet it was Sliwa who pledged to have a working relationship with the president, who has tried to exert his will over this deep blue city. The Guardian Angels founder said it wouldn’t be productive to work against Trump or try to be a tough guy with the president.

This stance serves multiple purposes. Cuomo is trying to steal Sliwa’s Republican supporters, and Sliwa needs MAGA New Yorkers to stay in the fold. Sliwa also likely knows Cuomo and Mamdani won’t go out on a similar limb since they can’t afford to lose Democratic voters who loathe Trump.

When you’re explaining …

The former governor spent much of the evening explaining. And explaining. And explaining some more.

Cuomo had to parry attacks on his decade-long record as the state’s chief executive when it came to funding for homeless people and mental health programs. He repeatedly pushed back when Mamdani or Sliwa referenced the sexual harassment scandal that drove him from office, once again denying any wrongdoing.

Those digressions cost him precious time to prosecute the case against Mamdani.

Mamdani’s clear weaknesses

The otherwise strong night by Mamdani had the effect of highlighting his weaknesses on public safety and Israel.

He struggled when talking about his plans for making changes to the Civilian Complaint Review Board — almost sounding like a Wikipedia entry when describing the panel’s job of assessing police misconduct. Mamdani was also on his backfoot when being attacked by Cuomo over embracing the phrase “globalize the intifada.”

As strong as Mamdani can be on affordability and cost-of-living concerns that are so important to New Yorkers, he still has vulnerabilities on other issues where Cuomo is strongest.