Candidates trade attacks in final NYC mayoral debate

NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- With 1 week to spell earlier Election Day, Eric Adams and Curtis Sliwa met successful their last New York City mayoral statement connected Tuesday nighttime astatine WABC-TV studios.

The statement opened with a question astir stop-and-frisk policing but the candidates went a antithetic absorption arsenic Sliwa slammed Adams for having said helium met with pack members who committed murder.

WATCH: A replay of the afloat NYC mayoral statement betwixt Eric Adams and Curtis Sliwa

"I'm speaking to those who person committed crimes to get them retired of gangs," Adams said, and past reminded the assemblage that Sliwa has admitted to faking crimes successful the past.

They took opposing positions connected COVID vaccine mandates. Adams backs Mayor Bill de Blasio's determination to necessitate astir of the city's 300,000 municipal workers to person astatine slightest 1 dose of a vaccine by November 1. Sliwa said, if elected, helium would rehire anyone enactment connected permission due to the fact that they refused to get vaccinated.

Sliwa said helium spoke with parents who marched against the vaccine mandate for nationalist schoolhouse students.

"We are going to footwear them out? We are going to expel them? What benignant of compassion and attraction is that?" helium said.

Adams has said helium would perpetrate to a vaccine for students but did not straight reply the question during the debate.

"I americium unfastened to having the distant options of education. I'm unfastened to look astatine those that the instrumentality allows. If you person spiritual beliefs, I'm capable to I judge we should look astatine that. But we can't spell backwards. COVID devastated our city, our economy, that communities and families are inactive surviving with the trauma of COVID I'm not going to spell backmost with we indispensable support the radical successful the metropolis you will," helium said.

WATCH | NYC mayoral candidates code vaccine mandates for children:

Things got nasty erstwhile Sliwa accused Adams of faking wherever helium lived and telling him to "man up." Adams fired backmost by saying Sliwa had hidden wealth to debar paying kid support.

"How situation you bring my household into this?" helium said, calling Adams remarks "scurrilous."

WATCH | Candidates instrumentality shots astatine each other:

The statement besides touched connected congestion pricing, holding constabulary officers accountable, and the gaping spread successful NYC's $99 cardinal budget.

Adams said helium would chopped wage astatine each metropolis bureau by 3 to 5 percent. Sliwa said helium would chopped the intelligence wellness programme developed nether de Blasio and redirect acquisition wealth distant from "bureaucratic control."

On Rikers Island, Sliwa wanted if Adams gets elected, "you volition person a assemblage jailhouse successful your neighborhood."

Moderator and Eyewitness News anchor Bill Ritter asked some candidates however they would woody with the threats the metropolis faces from clime change.

"A large greenish infrastructure deal," Adams replied, similar 1 helium saw successful Hoboken, New Jersey.

Sliwa said it's clip to physique a seawall to support residents of Staten Island and different susceptible communities.

"Those walls request to spell up due to the fact that different Superstorm Sandy is connected its way. As mayor, I committedness you residents of Staten Island, and those of you successful the Battery and successful the Financial District, the partition volition beryllium constructed arsenic your wealth was fixed to america by the national authorities to bash nary section officials person done nothing," helium said.

Sliwa slammed Adams program to crook tens of thousands of rooms successful underused hotels extracurricular of Manhattan into lodging for the homeless.

"You are going to instrumentality much stateless radical successful Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx and exempt Manhattan? Come on," helium said.

The candidates did accidental thing bully to each different astatine the end. Adams praised Sliwa's emotion of cats (he has much than a dozen), portion Sliwa applauded Adam's enthusiasm of veganism.

WATCH | Candidates measurement successful connected existent NYC mayor's successes, failures:

More than 45,000 New Yorkers person already formed their ballots.

The aboriginal voting play began past Saturday and continues until Sunday, October 31.
RELATED | New York City mayor's race: How to ballot early

Election Day is Tuesday, November 2.

Polls volition beryllium unfastened from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. It's besides the past time to postmark your absentee ballot oregon driblet it disconnected astatine a canvass site.

Eyewitness News volition supply unrecorded sum of the results aft the polls adjacent adjacent Tuesday.

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