On Thursday October 16, New Yorkers and people across the country who have been watching the city’s mayoral race will tune in as Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa face off in the first of two mayoral debates, ahead of New York City’s upcoming election on November 4.
The debate is set to take place in Manhattan’s Rockefeller Center starting at 7:00 p.m. ET this evening. NBC 4 New York/WNBC, Telemundo 47/WNJU, and POLITICO New York are partnering to host the debate.
The hotly contested three-way race is between Mamdani, a state assemblyman; Cuomo, who is running as an independent after losing the Democratic primary; and 71-year-old Sliwa, founder of the Guardian Angels, a group that patrols the city for crime. Mayor Eric Adams, a former independent candidate, ended his bid for re-election at the end of last month.
A win for Mamdani could offer insight into how Democrats will fare in upcoming national elections and next year’s midterms.
Mamdani, a 33-year-old Democratic socialist, was able to clinch the nomination back in June over Cuomo, a household name in New York, and currently maintains a double-digit lead in polls. (Both Cuomo and Sliwa are hoping to gain back some of that ground tonight and connect with voters.)
Mamdani is running on a platform that addresses some of the key economic problems plaguing Trump’s second term: high inflation, the soaring cost of living, and high housing prices. Mamdani wants to lower housing costs in New York City by freezing rent, building more affordable housing, and holding bad landlords accountable. He also wants to tackle rising food prices with a network of city-owned grocery stores.
How can I watch the NYC mayoral debate?
Traditional television subscribers can catch the debate, which will take place at WNBC’s studios at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, on WNBC-TV and across WNBC’s and WNJU-TV’s streaming and digital platforms, including the NBC 4 New York and Telemundo Noreste streaming channels.
Only the first of the two hours will air live on WNBC and WNJU. The debate will be streamed in its entirety on NBC 4 New York and Telemundo’s streaming platforms.
Each broadcast will be translated into Spanish for WNJU audiences, and will also include a sign-language interpreter and closed captioning access for the hearing impaired, for both WNBC and WNJU audiences.
Many news outlet websites will also livestream the debate, including POLITICO and the New York Times, which will also provide real-time commentary and analysis from its reporters.