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As candidates head into Thursday’s first general-election debate, New York City’s mayoral race is static but charged. Independent Andrew Cuomo is running an attrition play, pitching law-and-order to peel off Curtis Sliwa’s voters and stall Democrat Zohran Mamdani, who sits in the mid-40s in polls yet pushes for a 50% mandate. Mamdani leans on energetic, multiethnic organizing and splashy events while hitting Cuomo over donors. Cuomo sharpens attacks on Mamdani’s democratic socialism and prepares intensely; Sliwa rejects Cuomo’s bid to eclipse him. Both camps see the debate as a final chance to shift the map.

Prepared by Lauren Mitchell and reviewed by editorial team.