5 candidates for mayor face off in another debate
NEW YORK - Five of the Democratic candidates for mayor of New York faced off in a debate on Thursday night.
Andrew Yang once again accused frontrunner Eric Adams of not living in New York City.
"He spent months attacking me for not being a New Yorker but he was attacking me from New Jersey," Yang said.
Adams already has invited reporters into his home in Bedford-Stuyvesant and released E-ZPass bills to try to prove he lives in Brooklyn and not with his girlfriend in New Jersey.
"I have not seen her in two months," Adams said.
Maya Wiley just moved up right behind Adams in a new poll.
"New Yorkers don't care where Mr. Adams lays his head but they do want a mayor who is fully forthcoming and fully honest," Wiley said.
Eight democrats want to be the next mayor of New York City but only the top five took part in the CBS2 debate. Candidates were asked how they would reduce crime, which has become a top issue for voters.
"No one else can say they put their life on the line to save New Yorkers," said Adams, who is a retired NYPD lieutenant.
Four of the five candidates said they would never take guns away from police officers. Wiley did not commit.
"I am not prepared to make that decision," she said.
Candidates were also asked to explain how they would improve relations with Albany if elected to City Hall. Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio have a very public contentious relationship.
"Nobody in Albany is going to steal my lunch money," city Comptroller Scott Stringer, a former member of the Assembly, said.
"The job of the mayor of New York City is to deliver for the people of New York City and you cannot do that if you don't have a collaborative, productive relationship with the governor," Yang said.
"What's critical to getting along with the governor is organizing the constituents he serves along with the mayor of New York City," Wiley said.
"I have worked very successfully with people at the state level," said Kathryn Garcia, the former sanitation commissioner.
"I'm going to put my ego to the side," Adams said. "I am going to sit down to work a relationship with the governor and say, ‘We are team New York.’"