NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — Democratic mayoral candidate Eric Adams faced off against GOP opponent Curtis Sliwa on Tuesday night in a final, one-hour debate before the Nov. 2 general election.
The event came with Adams, Brooklyn’s borough president, holding a massive polling lead over Sliwa, the Guardian Angels founder, in a heavily Democratic city, according to the only general election poll. Voters generally appear unenthused, though, with few casting their ballots at the start of early voting.
Sliwa more aggressively attacked Adams, when compared to their first debate last week, and harped on the questions around whether Adams lives at least part-time in New Jersey.
“Talk about faking. You fake where you live, Eric Adams,” Sliwa said at one point.
Adams, enjoying a comfortable polling lead, rarely responded to any direct shots Sliwa aimed at him, saying he was “talking to the voters” Tuesday night.
Both fell back on their usual critiques of each other as they argued over vaccine mandates, congestion pricing and public safety. Adams framed Sliwa as incompetent and unfit for mayor and Sliwa billed Adams as a member of the political elite.
Here are the highlights from the second debate:
7:58 p.m.: On what would surprise New Yorkers to know about them:
Adams: “I watch ‘Five Heartbeats’ all the time and I cry every time at the end of the movie. i’m just a softy for movies.”
Sliwa: “Electronic dance music. I’m 67, I love electronic dance music, it is my mood elevator.”
7:55 p.m.: When asked to say something nice about each other, Adams says he appreciated Sliwa for his housing of cats. Sliwa is known to live with more than a dozen felines in his apartment.
"I take my hat off to what Curtis is doing with cats," Adams says.
Sliwa credited Adams for his vegan way of life as a way to “avoid serious medical issues.”
“I hope to be a vegan, one day. I’m getting there, Eric,” Sliwa says.
7:50 p.m.: On outdoor dining sheds, Adams says he would keep them because they bring an “energy” to the streets and have helped save restaurants during the pandemic.
Sliwa says abandoned sheds have become “shooting galleries” for drug use and violence and that he would do away with the program altogether.
7:47 p.m.: On a grade for de Blasio’s two terms, Adams gives the mayor a “B+,” while Sliwa gives him an “F.”
“Guy has been a miserable failure. He’s taken a Miley Cyrus ‘Wrecking Ball’ to this city we love,” Sliwa says, adding that he felt universal pre-K was de Blasio’s best initiative.
Adams agreed on pre-K and also touted the city’s NYC ID program as a success. He says homelessness and siloed agencies were de Blasio’s biggest failures.
“I believe we could have done a better job with homelessness and finding efficiencies in agencies,” Adams says.
7:37 p.m.: On climate change, Adams is looking for a major green infrastructure deal, wants to see walls to keep water out.
Sliwa crticized government for not doing enough to build resiliency after Hurricane Sandy.
"People don’t trust politicians because they never built sea walls. They need to go up because another Superstorm Sandy is on its way," Sliwa says.
7:35 p.m.: Both Sliwa and Adams pledged that they wouldn’t kick out tenants living in illegal, basement apartments — often lower-income New Yorkers and immigrants.
Sliwa used the topic to again slam Adams over the questions around his official residence and added that he would go after landlords for providing illegal dwellings.
Adams stressed the need fo a holistic approach that provides new housing and works to legalize basement apartments.
“I would not displace families without understanding the complexities,” Adams says.
7:30 p.m.: On the closing of Rikers Island, Adams supports the city’s current plans to close the troubled facility in coming years and replace it with smaller borough-based jails.
Sliwa wants to preserve the jail but implement reforms to “break up the gangs” inside.
“I know what it is like to be on Rikers Island. And the correctional officers are under attack,” Sliwa says.
7:25 p.m.: Sliwa criticizes traffic safety and environmental programs as “hidden tax[es].” He pledged to do away with the state’s congestion pricing proposal and school zone speed camera program.
“I’m in fact pledging to reduce taxes. You know how? No congestion pricing...and get rid of the speed cameras. That’s a hidden tax,” Sliwa says.
Adams criticized Sliwa for having no concrete plan to lead the city.
7:20 P.M.: The debate takes an uglier, more personal turn as Adams calls out Sliwa for faking crime-fighting stories in his early Guardian Angels days. Sliwa then hits Adams over reports that question his residency in New York City.
“Talk about faking. You fake where you live, Eric Adams,” Sliwa says.
Adams claimed Sliwa attempted to skirt child support.
Sliwa: “I paid every penny of my child support. How dare you bring my family into this. Sheesh.”
7:15 p.m.: Sliwa slams the city for implementing a vaccine mandate for all municipal workers.
“We’re going to face firing civil servants this Friday...it is a disgrace,” he says, wrongly characterizing the policy, which will place workers on leave.
“When I’m mayor, I’m hiring them all back,” Sliwa promised.
Adams says he would take a slightly different approach from Mayor de Blasio on the mandate — working more closely with municipal unions.
“I would have communicated with the unions..it is about sitting down. What is it they’re asking for….that’s how you get things done. You speak with credible messengers," Adams says.
Adams takes aim at Sliwa “You’re acting like my son when he was 4 years old. Show a level of discipline.”
Sliwa responds back: “Eric, show compassion. Don’t just be a robot.”
7:10 p.m.: Sliwa says he wouldn’t abolish the Education Department’s Gifted and Talented program, but expand it across the city.
“I would expand the number of gifted and talented opportunities….there should be Gifted and Talented in every school,” Sliwa says.
Adams took a similar stance, adding that there should be universal screenings for dyslexia and other students with needs.
7:05 p.m.: Eric Adams says he prefers a tweaked version of the controversial “stop and frisk” police tactic. He endorsed a version of the policy while slamming the Bloomberg administration’s application.
“We had a predetermined number that we were telling officers to do every day — and they were targeting Black and brown communities. That is a tool that is abused,” he says.
Sliwa targets Adams on crime in Brooklyn, claiming Adams hasn’t been there after recent shootings in the borough he’s president of.