Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa participate in the second New York City mayoral debate at LaGuardia Community College in Long Island City, Queens, New York City, on Oct. 22, 2025. (Hiroko Masuike/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Mamdani immediately shot back by calling Cuomo "Donald Trump’s puppet himself."
"You could turn on the TV any day of the week, and you will hear Donald Trump share that his pick for Mayor is Andrew Cuomo, and he wants Andrew Cuomo to be the mayor, not because it will be good for New Yorkers, but because it will be good for him," said Mamdani.
Though far and away the dark horse candidate in the race, Republican Curtis Sliwa landed some of the hardest punches of the night. Early on in the debate, he fired at Cuomo’s controversial exit from office, saying, "Andrew, you didn't leave. You fled from being impeached by the Democrats in the state legislature. You fled!"
Cuomo, meanwhile, reserved most of his ire for Mamdani. At another point in the debate, he addressed the 34-year-old socialist New York assembly member, saying, "You don't know how to run a government, you don't know how to handle an emergency, and you've literally never proposed the bill on anything that you're not talking about in your campaign."
"You had the worst attendance record in the assembly, and you gave yourself the highest raise in the United States of America," he said, exclaiming, "Shame on you! Shame on you!"
MAMDANI RIPPED BY RIVALS FOR UNPOPULAR STANCE DURING FIERY NYC DEBATE: 'YOU WON'T SUPPORT ISRAEL'
Andrew Cuomo taunts Zohran Mamdani with a dance during the last New York City mayoral debate on Oct. 22, 2025. (Spectrum News NY1)
"They’re pointing out what I was about to say. Would you please answer the question?" a moderator asked.
Mamdani continued to deflect, saying, "I think on this stage you can see two people appealing for the Republican Party votes and myself speaking directly to New York City."
"Answer the question for once," Cuomo continued prodding as Sliwa waved his arms and smacked his forehead with his palm.
"My question to you was, do you support the three ballot amendment questions?" the moderator pressed.
Mamdani finally answered, "I have not yet taken a position on those ballot initiatives," as both Cuomo and Sliwa moaned in protest.
"What a shocker!" Cuomo teased. "Don’t worry, once he takes it, he’ll change it anyway."
TOP 5 MOMENTS FROM FIERY NYC MAYORAL DEBATE: 'HE LITERALLY HAS NEVER HAD A JOB'
Thousands of demonstrators hold a pro-Palestinian rally and march in protest of Israel on October 13, 2023, in Times Square, New York City, New York. (Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images)
Sparks flew when Cuomo and Mamdani were given free rein to question each other and, unsurprisingly, chose to press each other on their most controversial scandals.
Cuomo knocked Mamdani, who is an immigrant to the U.S. from Uganda, for being a "toxic" force in New York City, and pressed him for not advocating for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Uganda for its laws against homosexuality.
"You take a picture with Rebecca Kadaga, deputy prime minister of Uganda … She’s known as Rebecca ‘gay-killer’ Kadaga," said Cuomo, asking, "How do you not renounce your citizenship, or demand BDS against Uganda for imprisoning people who are gay just by their sexual orientation, is that not a basic violation against human rights?"
Mamdani answered that "had I known that the first deputy minister was the architect of that legislation, I would not have taken that photo."
In turn, Mamdani grilled Cuomo on 13 sexual harassment allegations filed against him while he was governor. Cuomo brushed this aside, saying, "The cases were dropped" and pressing further, "You have no problem with BDS against Israel, but no BDS against Uganda."
Andrew Cuomo, New York City mayoral candidate, from left, Zohran Mamdani, New York City mayoral candidate, and Curtis Sliwa, New York City mayoral candidate, during a mayoral debate in New York, US, on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. Millions of dollars are pouring into the mayoral election with less than two weeks to go until New Yorkers go to the polls. (Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
At another point in the debate, Mamdani attempted to turn the question of experience on Cuomo, saying, "The issue is that we have all experienced your experience."
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"The issue is that we experienced you taking a $5 million book deal while you sent seniors to their deaths in nursing homes. The issue is that we experienced you cutting funding for the MTA to send money to upstate ski resorts. The issue is that we saw you give $959 million in tax breaks to Elon Musk. The issue is your experience," said Mamdani.
"The issue is you have no experience," insisted Cuomo, adding, "You've accomplished nothing."
Peter Pinedo is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/top-5-moments-from-final-new-york-city-mayoral-debate-knock-him-his-tuchas