Early Voting Begins Amid Fiery NYC Mayoral Debate

Early voting in New York City is set to begin Saturday as voters decide the mayoral contest and other consequential local races, including the Manhattan district attorney. Advance/SILive.com, in partnership with Capitol AI, launched an AI-powered news-analysis tool to help voters research the 2025 mayoral contest. The three leading mayoral candidates — Democrat Zohran Mamdani (polling first), former Gov. Andrew Cuomo running as an independent (polling second), and Republican Curtis Sliwa (polling third) — faced off in a final 90‑minute debate that was fiery and personal, with repeated clashes over public safety, education and Israel/antisemitism. Cuomo repeatedly targeted Mamdani, who holds a double‑digit polling lead, while Sliwa, trailing in polls, continued to press both opponents and refused calls to withdraw. The Anti-Defamation League’s CEO Jonathan Greenblatt urged candidates to directly address a recent surge in antisemitic incidents and to outline specific public-safety steps for Jewish residents; public safety, the future of Rikers Island, and concerns about child welfare oversight also remain top voter issues.