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This controversy is of growing repercussions with such a large field of candidates all trying to take advantage of the new rank-selection voting system, which has left no clear frontrunner just days before polls close. Candidates piled in on Wednesday evening, trying to break into every possible offensive line. Just a single break moment or a flip can rush into the field.
The first lively exchange of the night came from Andrew Yang and Eric Adams – two of the frontrunners whose path to victory overlapped dramatically – as they argued over the support of the Captain Liang Endowment Society recently.
The two argued about whether Adams, a former NYPD officer, had sought the endorsement of the group of police captains. He did not, Adams says, and said the group opposed him for his reformist activism while in uniform.
A temporary back-and-forth was interrupted by Shawn Donovan, who attempted to raise the level of the debate—a tactic he returned to several times throughout the evening.
“New Yorkers didn’t listen to us tonight to hear us fight with each other,” said Donovan, a former cabinet secretary in the Obama administration, using a dreaded tactic of underdogs trying to get word out.
Yang faced an attack himself when asked how he would deal with the growing number of people experiencing homelessness, which was exacerbated by mental health issues. Yang said that, among other things, it will boost the number of beds designated for inpatient mental health, insisting, “I can fix this!”
Scott Stringer criticized Yang’s response as the “greatest unanswered in any discussion” he had heard and pressured Yang to estimate the cost of his proposal.
“I can’t believe you’re fighting me about this,” Yang replied angrily.
“This is a learning moment,” said Stringer, the two-time city observer, continuing to inquire Yang. “We need details.”
Another excited moment came when the candidates were asked what they considered the worst idea their competitors had proposed. Several beat Yang, while former mayor’s attorney Maya Wiley ditched Adams’ policing strategy, and Catherine Garcia, the city’s former sanitation commissioner, lamented the “defend the police” movement.
But the most surprising moment was between Diane Morales and Ray McGuire, who competed over McGuire’s characterizations of the black and brown communities’ views on policing.
Morales, a former nonprofit executive who is more left-leaning than the two, said McGuire’s descriptions were too simplistic and did not represent the diverse viewpoints within those groups.
“How dare you pretend to speak for the black and brown communities,” said Morales, who is Afro-Latino.
“I just did,” said former Citigroup CEO, Black.
“I am a member of this community and you certainly don’t speak for me,” she said.
The second hour of the debate featured fewer bombshells among the candidates and a more eclectic set of questions, including how long each candidate slept at night and what each would ban in the five boroughs.
The latter has drawn rare praise for former Mayor Mike Bloomberg, who has sought to ban large sugary drinks and public smoking during his tenure.
At other points, candidates seemed to get bogged down by quick syllables, raising a hand, sometimes qualifying their answers or asking for clarification from moderators.
The most notable example was when many candidates refused to raise their hands in support of a ban on natural gas connections in new or renovated buildings, despite having previously pledged to do so as part of a broader climate pledge.
Stringer was the only one of the eight to do so during this segment, although Yang, Wiley, Morales, and Donovan also signed a climate pledge committing to ban gas connections in new developments and major renovations. Many cities in California have taken such steps.
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