Fact-Checking the Debate

— Curtis Sliwa, Republican nominee for mayor

True.

Mamdani has always supported congestion pricing, which charges most vehicles $9 to enter parts of Manhattan. The money is used to pay for infrastructure improvements, including fixing the subway system.

Cuomo, as governor, signed the legislation in 2019 that helped implement the program. Then last year, before congestion pricing took effect, he said in a New York Post opinion piece that the program, which polls found unpopular, should be delayed, arguing, “We must seriously consider if now is the right time to enact it.” After declaring his candidacy, Cuomo told The Times in June that he supported the levy now that it had been implemented and appeared to be working.

— Zohran Mamdani, Democrat candidate for mayor

This needs context.

Despite Cuomo’s accusation to the contrary, Mamdani has stressed that he has never supported legalizing prostitution. That said, as a member of the State Legislature, he has repeatedly sponsored bills that would remove criminal penalties for adults 18 or older who buy or sell sex.

His campaign has indicated that he broadly supports decriminalizing sex work, but he has not said whether he still favors decriminalization legislation that he sponsored as recently as last year, while he was running for mayor. A spokeswoman for his campaign said a Mamdani administration would focus on combating sex trafficking and invest in organizations that help victims, and would “facilitate alternative career paths” for current and former sex workers.

— Andrew M. Cuomo, independent candidate for mayor

This needs context.

Cuomo has harped on statements Mamdani made in 2020, when he called the police “racist,” “wicked,” “corrupt” and “a threat to public safety.” Since he began his mayoral campaign last year, Mamdani has said he wants to keep the budgeted head count of 35,030 uniformed officers. That would mean hiring about 1,300 new officers since, because of attrition, there are currently about 33,740 uniformed officers.

This was a turnabout from his views in 2022 when, as an assembly candidate, Mamdani said the department should reduce its work force by 1,300 officers through attrition, end police overtime, freeze hiring, cancel new officer classes and “institute a moratorium on all new equipment purchases.”

— Curtis Sliwa, Republican candidate for mayor, to Mamdani

True.

Mamdani was recently asked by The New York Times to name his favorite mayor in his lifetime. Mamdani, who is 33, responded that it was Bill de Blasio. His favorite mayor of all time, he added, was Fiorello La Guardia.

— Zohran Mamdani, Democratic nominee for mayor

This needs context.

Mamdani has gotten a lot of political currency out of donations made to independent super PACs supporting Cuomo’s candidacy. One PAC, Fix the City, spent more than $20 million, mostly on TV ads boosting Cuomo and tearing down Mamdani. There have been multiple examples of donors to this group and others who have backed President Trump and are now supporting groups helping Cuomo. Cuomo has explained that this is a result of Trump’s deep ties to the city.

The Times reported today that Joe Gebbia, a co-founder of Airbnb who serves as the Trump administration’s chief design officer, gave $1 million to Fix the City and another committee, Defend NYC, that opposes Mamdani. Supporters of Trump, including Andrew Stein and his brother Jimmy Finkelstein, have also hosted fund-raisers for the Cuomo campaign. Stein had met with Trump earlier in the summer to talk about supporting Cuomo’s campaign.

— Andrew M. Cuomo, independent candidate for mayor

This is contradicted by reporting.

Rejecting a statement by Mamdani, Cuomo said the last time he spoke to President Trump was after Trump’s July 2024 assassination attempt. This contradicts reporting by The New York Times, which revealed this summer that Cuomo and Trump spoke directly about the mayor’s race as the president mulled whether to get involved. Both men denied taking part in the call, which was described to The Times by three people briefed on it.

Trump and Cuomo have a decades-long relationship. The former governor has said they are both “Queens boys" who deeply understand one another. Cuomo said that will help him deal with Trump and that the president would cut through Mr. Mamdani like “a hot knife through butter.”

— Andrew M. Cuomo, independent candidate for mayor

This is misleading.

Cuomo is right that he was never charged by prosecutors over allegations of harassment or sexual misconduct, which he denies but which led him to resign from office. But several of these prosecutors said that the allegations were credible, though they would not meet the evidentiary burden of a trial.