In case you missed New York City’s final mayoral debate, don’t worry: Most of us wish we did.
In fact, I probably wouldn’t have watched the thing were I not an inveterate political junkie. That episode of “Gilmore Girls” where Lorelai and Rory throw deviled eggs at Jess’ car came up on my Netflix algorithmic feed, and darned if I wasn’t tempted to watch that instead, but no: I plowed through the morass so you don’t have to.
You’re welcome, America.
So, to recap, nobody had a good night. There were three candidates on stage: Democratic nominee and heavy favorite Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani; Democratic nomination loser who’s running as a sorta-independent, Andrew Cuomo, the former governor of the state; and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa.
Sliwa — an activist, radio host, and local conservative gadfly with no actual governing experience — was probably not the best decision for the GOP in a year where the Democrats were surprisingly fractured and an actual candidate might have led to a Republican victory. He managed to prove that amply by answering that former New York Gov. George Pataki was his favorite president of the modern era. (As WNYW noted, when reminded of the fact that Pataki was very much never president, he said Ronald Reagan, instead.)
But at least Sliwa got one up on Cuomo, who tried to play the political bruiser card when claiming he could keep President Donald Trump from sending the National Guard to New York City to control crime. “You think you’re the toughest guy alive,” Sliwa said, adding, much to the amusement of Mamdani, “You lost your own primary.”
So, both of the other non-Mamdani candidates had very embarrassing, unplanned moments. In the waning moments of the debate, Mamdani managed to get in a very discomfiting, and very planned, moment that should have New York City voters thinking twice. Or three times. Or as many times as possible to get to someone else not named Zohran Mamdani.
As New York City residents know, it’s customary for mayors to attend many — if not most — of the city’s multifarious parades. It’s basically a de facto part of their job. However, for reasons you might guess at, the moderators asked the mayoral candidates if they’d be boycotting any of those parades.
Will Zohran Mamdani be the next mayor of New York City?
Cuomo and Sliwa both answered no, they’d be attending when possible. Mamdani: not so much.
“There are many parades that I would not be attending, because I would be focusing on the work of leading this city,” Mamdani said.
Sliwa: “Which parades?”
“I’ve already missed a number of those parades,” Mamdani said.
“Can you tell us?” Sliwa asked.
“I don’t have the list of all the parades I’ve missed,” Mamdani continued.
During tonight’s New York City mayoral debate, Zohran Mamdani said there are many parades he would not attend if elected mayor. pic.twitter.com/lw7DJsaMCp
— Moshe Schwartz (@YWNReporter) October 17, 2025
Gotta tell you — I have no clue which parades he might be talking about. No clue whatsoever:
Oh, right, that one.
New York City would not be the city it is today without our Italian community!
So great to join the Federation of Italian American Organizations of Brooklyn for their annual Columbus Day Parade, renewing our shared bonds as New Yorkers for an even brighter future for all. pic.twitter.com/MjRhrgtdGD
— Mayor Eric Adams (@NYCMayor) October 12, 2024
There’s that one, too. I’m sure he’ll be insanely, intensely focused on leading the city on both Israel Day and Columbus Day, among other parade days. Just a hunch.
The context of the question is obvious: Mamdani is a radical who hates the Judeo-Christian West in general and Jewish people in particular. This was the one opportunity he was being given before Election Day to hedge his bets and give some kind of — any kind of — more equivocal answer to give nervous NYC Democrats a reason not pull the lever for the grope-happy former governor who killed their grandma in a nursing home during COVID.
Not only could he not equivocate, he didn’t even try. When Zohran Mamdani tells you exactly who he is, Gothamites, believe him. This man is full of hate; he just won’t say it in so many words. Instead, he’ll say it in words that are almost exactly the same, if you listen closely enough.
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