Zohran Mamdani and Andrew Cuomo sparred in the final New York mayoral debate, trading barbs over housing policy, trust, and experience as early voting begins this weekend.
New York City assemblyman Zohran Mamdani was accused of fanning the flames of antisemitism by rivals, former governor Andrew Cuomo and Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa, on Wednesday night during the final debate before the New York City mayoral election.
When asked by moderator and journalist Errol Lewis about concerns expressed by prominent rabbis such as Park Avenue Synagogue Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove and Jewish Community Relations Council of New York (JCRC NY) CEO emeritus Rabbi Michael Miller about his rhetoric, Mamdani assured that he would be a mayor for all residents.
“I look forward to being a mayor for every single person that calls this city home. Not just those who voted for me in the Democratic primary, not just those that vote for me in this general election, but all 8 and a half million New Yorkers. And that includes Jewish New Yorkers who may have concerns or opposition to the positions that I’ve shared about Israel and Palestine,” said Mamdani.
“I will be the mayor who doesn’t just protect Jewish New Yorkers, but also celebrates and cherishes them, who doesn’t just increase funding to hate crime prevention programs by 800%, who doesn’t just ensure that the NYPD are outside of synagogues and temples on the high holy days, but also actually delivers on the implementation of the hidden voices curriculum in our school system so that children in this city learn about the beauty and the breath of the Jewish experience right here in the five burrows.”
Mamdani recalled speaking to a Jewish woman on a bus, whose daughter was a supporter, but whose vote had been undecided. She related her fears about rising antisemitism, and he related that he had also assured her of his position.
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo gestures toward Curtis Sliwa and Zohran Mamdani during the second NYC mayoral debate at LaGuardia Performing Arts Center in Queens, October 22, 2025. (credit: Hiroko Masuike/Pool via REUTERS)
Rival candidate Cuomo mocked Mamdani for casting himself as the “savior of the Jewish people” when he wouldn’t denounce the protest slogan often heard at NYC demonstrations, “globalize the intifada” — which the former governor noted “means kill Jews.”
Cuomo and Mamdani interrupted each other more frequently
Cuomo said that “there’s unprecedented fear in New York,” citing a Wednesday open letter, which warned about the rising normalization of antizionism among candidates like Mamdani. The letter, which had gathered almost 900 signatures by Thursday, decried Mamdani’s refusal to condemn violent slogans and deny Israel’s legitimacy as a Jewish state.
When asked by Louis about how he would respond to the frequent anti-Israel protests in the city, Cuomo said that it was their right to protest and disagree. Still, that disagreement about Israel and criticism of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government didn’t “justify antisemitic behavior.”
“It doesn’t justify having a Jewish population that feels unprotected in New York,” said Cuomo. “It doesn’t justify leaders who stoke the flames of hatred against Jewish people – which is what Zohran does in my opinion.”
Mamdani retorted that he intended to root out antisemitism, rather than what he alleged Cuomo did, which was to weaponize the hatred to “score political points on a debate stage.”
Sliwa, noting that he had two Jewish children, said that his progeny and community members were deeply concerned about Mamdani’s rhetoric.
“They view you as the arsonist who fan the flames of antisemitism. They cannot suddenly accept the fact that you’re coming in like a firefighter and you’re going to put out these flames. You’ve got a lot of explaining to do, a lot of apologizing to do. My sons are afraid. Their family, their friends, many in the Jewish community are concerned if you become mayor because they don’t think when antisemitism rears its ugly head – which it’s now doing more than ever before – that you will have the ability to come in and put out those flames of hate.”
Sliwa also accused Mamdani of supporting “global jihad,” which the assemblyman denied, and dismissed as an allegation leveled against him because he was a Muslim candidate.
During a Monday town hall for Jewish voters with Elisha Wiesel, son of Holocaust survivor Ellie Wiesel, Cuomo had also accused Mamdani of having views that were “blatantly antisemitic.”
In a campaign video using footage of the event, Cuomo said Mamdani was a “candidate who runs based on his antisemitic stance” and that he found the complacency of New Yorkers on rising antisemitism in the city to be disturbing.
Wiesel endorsed Cuomo in a Tuesday Wall Street Journal article, describing Mamdani as a liar on the issue of Israel.
“Mr. Mamdani’s lies endanger Jews everywhere. Incendiary, false, and deadly, they spread hatred,” wrote Wiesel. “I was assaulted last week by anti-Israel marchers at the kind of rally Mr. Mamdani attended, then encouraged, and then endorsed only tacitly as he came under pressure.”
