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NEW YORK - New Yorkers on Thursday night spent two hours with their eyes glued to TV screens to watch the mayoral debate, which was dominated by arguments over the Israel-Palestine conflict.
“The occupation is a reference to international law and the violation of it, which Mr. [Andrew] Cuomo has no regard for since he signed up to be Benjamin Netanyahu's legal defense team during the course of this genocide," Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani said at the debate organized by CBS News.
Mamdani hopes to make history as New York’s first Muslim mayor. The latest polls give him a 15-point lead in the four-way race. Andrew Cuomo is in second place.
“The assemblyman will not denounce Hamas," said Cuomo, referring to Mamdani who is a member of the New York state assembly. "The assemblyman will not denounce Hassan Piker, who said America deserved 9/11.”
Some New Yorkers have pinned much hope on Mamdani, while others accuse him of being a communist and anti-American.
“I was priced out of the place that I lived before in Washington, DC. I also recently left just because of what's going on there right now, and Zohran is just somebody who I think is going to protect the city in a way that I wasn't able to find in DC," Leslie Bentley, a New York City resident, told Rudaw's Namo Abdulla.
Outside the venue where the debate took place, a man was seen carrying a banner calling Mamdani a communist.
“First of all, this disrespect that he has towards this country and this city, including his father, Zohran Mamdani, preaching hate towards this country, Israel," Raul Rivera, another New York City resident, told Rudaw. "They have no love for this country.”
The candidates will hold the last round of debates next week, ahead of the vote on November 4.
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