After the first debate, the mayor's race is still, unsurprisingly, Eric Adams' to lose.

[brooklynite]

City & State

No one was putting money on Republican Curtis Sliwa heading into the first New York City mayoral debate on Wednesday night. As Democratic political strategist Chris Coffey put it to the New York Post earlier in the day, “He needs Eric Adams to drop dead on the stage, and I’m not even sure that would work.”

But Adams not only survived the speedy debate; he coasted through it, doling out in some instances specific policy plans, and in others non-answers to moderators. At the end of the day, it’s still the Democratic Brooklyn borough president’s race to lose.

Because Adams is as good as guaranteed to win the election, Wednesday’s debate offered a chance for a team of moderators to pin him down on how his likely administration will tackle some of the most challenging issues being handed down from Mayor Bill de Blasio’s tenure. On the question of mandating the COVID-19 vaccine for city workers – a policy de Blasio announced on Wednesday – Adams said he supported the move. He’d potentially go further, mandating the vaccine for all students once it’s approved for younger kids. It’s one of just a few issues on which Sliwa staked out the opposite position, opposing the COVID-19 vaccine mandates entirely.

Adams in recent weeks also broke with de Blasio’s plan to end the city’s controversial Gifted & Talented program. Addressing a question on the topic on Wednesday, Adams and Sliwa both said the program should be expanded. One thing that seems likely to change under an Adams administration is the screening test for four-year-olds. “I don’t believe a four-year-old taking the exam should determine the rest of their school experience. That is unacceptable,” Adams said on Wednesday.

Adams and Sliwa were united in their calls for immediate reforms at Rikers Island. Conditions at the jails complex have been described as brutal and dysfunctional. The majority of the 14 deaths in city jails this year occurred there. Adams reiterated on Wednesday his support for the plan to close Rikers and build new borough-based jails, but said that more thought needed to go into where those jails will be built. As for what the city can do to immediately address the crisis, Adams said that improving conditions for corrections officers and speeding up bottlenecks in court that keep inmates there longer are both crucial. In answering the question about how he will address the Rikers crisis, Sliwa said that he will increase the number of corrections officers and divide inmates up so that members of the same gangs aren’t together. “That's what allows them to run Rikers Island and I can say that, because I've been on Rikers Island,” Sliwa said.

[marble falls]

1. But, but, but Curtis really rocked that beret.

[no_hypocrisy]

2. Curtis is in denial.

Last edited Fri Oct 22, 2021, 06:45 AM - Edit history (1)

The former producer of his radio program said on his radio program that "internal polling" shows the race to be "much tighter" than the media is reporting.