Mamdani attacked for refusing to take position on housing questions in NYC mayor debate

Today's newsletter is curated by James Ramsay

Weather: ☀️ Sunny, highs around 60.

It's Thursday in New York City, where Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani largely stuck to his strategy of avoiding last-minute risks during the final mayoral debate yesterday.

Mamdani's opponents, independent candidate Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa, both pounced on the state assemblymember's refusal to take a position on controversial ballot proposals that could spur housing development but weaken the City Council’s power to block projects.

"I have not yet taken a position on those ballot amendments," Mamdani said. 

Read our full recap of the debate, which was co-moderated by WNYC's Brian Lehrer.

Tune in to The Brian Lehrer Show today at 10 a.m. to hear more analysis of the debate.

Show your support for WNYC and Gothamist's independent journalism by becoming a member today.

Here's what else is happening:

• Mamdani also said during last night's debate that if elected mayor, he'd keep NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch in the role.
  • Experts told Gothamist that promoting effective leadership — and rooting out corruption and cronyism, as Tisch has done — could earn Mamdani the NYPD's trust.
• Cuomo’s attorneys are set to depose the therapist of one of his sexual harassment accusers as Cuomo's mayoral opponents continue to criticize his efforts to clear his name.
• The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said Tuesday's raid on Canal Street was meant to target the counterfeit goods trade. Civil liberties lawyers called it a deliberate show of force using the pretext of street crime to arrest undocumented people and shock the public.
  • The stretch of Canal Street targeted in the raid was largely desolate of sidewalk vendors yesterday.
• Wall Street is on pace to have one of its most profitable years ever, which is good news for city and state tax coffers.
• An asylum-seeker who says he fled homophobia in Ecuador was detained during an undercover sting operation at a Penn Station bathroom in July and remains in ICE custody, despite his charges being dropped.
• The family of a man fatally shot by Jersey City police after he allegedly opened fire on officers has hired a lawyer to investigate the incident.
• State Assemblymember Deborah Glick, who became the first openly LGBTQ member of the Legislature after first winning a seat representing parts of Lower Manhattan in 1990, said she won't run for re-election in 2026.
• Police have arrested and charged a 30-year-old Queens woman with allegedly abandoning her baby at the Penn Station subway stop this week.
• Correction: Yesterday’s Early Addition misstated the county where the man accused of threatening to kill Rep. Hakeem Jeffries is from. The man is from Dutchess County.

• Cuomo managed to participate in a mayoral debate and sit courtside next to Mayor Eric Adams at the Knicks game all in one night.
• The Knicks won.
• Apartments in that renovated Greenpoint church are now renting for between $7,500 and $12,500 a month.
• After standing strong for 19 years, the sidewalk shed outside 51 West 86th Street has finally come down.
• Downtown Hempstead on Long Island has become an epicenter for pedestrian deaths.
• A volunteer liaison to the Muslim community for New Jersey Republican gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli recently told supporters at a rally that he hadn't accepted donations from Jews. (He also said Ciattarelli would try to roll back gay marriage rights.)
• A New Jersey theme park that's closing down next month set off a frenzy selling its animatronic dinosaurs on Facebook.
• They're saying Bari Weiss has hot bodyguards.
• Beyond Meat is booming.