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Eric Adams is nearly mayor of New York. But first he has to debate this guy. - POLITICO
Oct 21, 2021 2 mins, 1 sec

The Democratic nominee faced off with Curtis Sliwa, a Republican famous for creating the Guardian Angels anti-crime group, in the first of two debates.

New York mayoral candidates Eric Adams (left) and Curtis Sliwa prepare before a debate at the NBC 4 New York studios Wednesday.

NEW YORK — Eric Adams beat out a slate of qualified Democrats, survived a residency scandal that drew national headlines and is all but assumed to be the next mayor of New York.

Curtis Sliwa, a Republican best known for founding the vigilante group Guardian Angels, had the opportunity to test the limits of that strategy Wednesday night in the first of two debates ahead of next month’s general election.

As Sliwa repeatedly went on the attack, Adams attempted to maintain a posture of being above the fray.

“I’m speaking to New Yorkers, not speaking to buffoonery,” he said, declining to respond to one of the many broadsides Sliwa launched his way.

“I’m the only candidate standing on this stage that has said I will hire more police officers,” said Sliwa, pushing his plan to increase the size of the NYPD and increase the use of stop-and-frisk in areas with high gang activity, reviving a controversial tactic that was previously challenged in court.

But Sliwa has also been honing his attacks, painting Adams as a tool of the elite who has been spending his time fundraising in the Hamptons and vacationing in Monaco.

Sliwa has kept up an active campaign schedule in recent months — though he has struggled to get attention, even with publicity-friendly events like his trip to the New Jersey apartment Adams co-owns with his partner, carrying a milk carton with the candidate’s face on it.

Adams has kept a lower profile and has been reluctant to engage his opponent.

Sliwa condemned the move to penalize first responders if they don’t get vaccinated and made one of several attempts throughout the night to tie Adams to the outgoing mayor.

Then all of a sudden we decided, de Blasio — who has supported Eric Adams here, they’ve been a team — that all of a sudden they would lose their jobs.

The candidates disagreed on a host of other issues: Adams said he supported the recent decision to remove a statue of Thomas Jefferson from the City Council chamber, while Sliwa said “absolutely not.”

Sliwa, by contrast, said the plan would “crush the middle class.”

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