New York Mayoral candidates clash in televised debate overnight

Zohran Mamdani and Andrew Cuomo, and Curtis Sliwa took to the stage at Rockefeller Center in Manhattan to make their case to become the city's next leader.

Democratic nominee Mamdani, who is frontrunner to take the seat, vowed to "take on" President Trump if elected.

The President has previously hinted he wants to send the National Guard into cities controlled by the Democrats and has focused New York City for his mass deportation policy.

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While all three men agreed they did not support the guard being sent in, Mamdani said he would "stand up to Donald Trump and actually deliver."

But despite standing against Trump's deportation stance, he echoed his opponents by saying he would work with the president if elected.

All three were asked when they had last spoken with Trump with Cuomo saying he believed it was after the attempt on the President's life in Pennsylvania last year.

Sliwa, the Republican representative, said it had been many years, while Mamdani said he never has never spoken to Trump and told the debate that New Yorkers will suffer if Mamdani or Cuomo takes on Trump.

He told the audience: "You can be tough but you can't be tough if it’s going to cost people desperately needed federal funds.

"Zohran Mamdani, the president has already said it's going to take $7 billion out of the budget right from the start if you're elected mayor.

"People are going to suffer in this city, people who need those federal funds. What I would do is sit and negotiate."

Cuomo, a former New York governor now running as an independent, faced heat over controversies that saw him resign as governor in 2021 after an investigation ruled he had sexually harassed 11 women.

He also faced scrutiny for his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic where he was alleged to have undercounted the number of nursing home deaths.

Mamdani told him: "What I don't have in experience, I make up for in integrity. And what you don't have in integrity, you could never make up for in experience."

The debate was also heavily focused on the conflict in the Middle East where Mamdani faced questions about his past remarks on Israel, where he accused Isreal of carrying out a “genocide."

However, he stressed his support for Palestinians and statehood and criticised Israel's position in Gaza.

Cuomo accused Mamdani of refusing to "denounce Hamas" to which Mamdani responded that Cuomo was acting as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s "legal defense team during the course of this genocide."

Away from global issues, another main talking point centered around cost-of-living in New York City which saw each candidate quizzed on how much they paid on grocery bills and rent.

The responses came back as $2,300 for Mamdani $3,900 for Sliwa and $7,800 for Cuomo.

Cuomo blasted Mamdani's plans for affordable housing and to make buses free, and talked up his own experience as governor and secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

But Mamdani replied: "I just have to say it’s been an hour and 20 minutes of this debate, and we haven't heard Gov. Cuomo say the word affordability, that’s why he lost the primary."

Mamdani pointed out Cuomo having the support of billionaire hedge fund executive Bill Ackman.

Cuomo said: "There are a lot of New Yorkers who support me, and there are a lot of Jewish New Yorkers who support me because they think you’re antisemitic.

"So it's not about Trump or Republicans. It's about you."

Despite being behind in the polls, Republican Sliwa repeatedly interjected on his opponents while taking shots at both of his opponents.

As founder of the Guardian Angels, a New York City group devoted to crime prevention, he seized the opportunity to connect with voters.

After the debate, he said the evening went "extraordinarily well" and labelled the others as "two kids in the schoolyard."