NYC Mayor Candidates Head-to-Head: Cuomo Promises NYPD Pushback, Mamdani Calls Out Federal Collusion

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The NYC mayoral debate erupted into a fiery showdown over the recent ICE raid on Canal Street street vendors. Curtis Sliwa, Andrew Cuomo, and Zohran Mamdani each took a hard stance: Cuomo criticized federal overreach and said he would have had the NYPD intervene, Mamdani condemned collaboration between city hall and the federal government and promised reforms, while Sliwa argued the feds should not have stepped in but also condemned public interference with federal agents.    The debate highlighted deep divisions over law enforcement, immigration, and the rights of New Yorkers, setting the stage for a high-stakes mayoral race as candidates spar over policy and principle.    #NYC #MayoralDebate #CurtisSliwa #AndrewCuomo #ZohranMamdani #ICERaid #CanalStreet #NYPolitics #StreetVendors #BreakingNews #NYCMayor #DebateHighlights #Immigration #FederalOverreach #USPolitics #Election2025  ~HT.410~PR.274~

Transcript

00:00Let's start tonight with some breaking news that happened yesterday afternoon when federal agents

00:04descended on Canal Street, arresting street vendors who have been selling counterfeit

00:08designer merchandise for as long as any of us can remember. This is the first time we've seen

00:13major federal law enforcement activity in the city outside of arrests at immigration court in

00:18lower Manhattan. And some critics are now ringing an alarm bell, calling it a dangerous and

00:23unprecedented use of federal agents in New York City. Others say that the vendors were a major

00:28quality of life problem in the neighborhood that the NYPD had ignored. So I'll ask each

00:34of you to respond to this. How should the mayor and the NYPD have handled both the presence

00:39of the street vendors and then the federal action? We'll start with you, Mr. Cuomo.

00:44I've had a lot of dealings with President Trump. And there's only one way to deal with him.

00:48He puts his finger in your chest and you have to put your finger right back in his chest.

00:53I've actually had this situation with ICE interfering in New York before. It was upstate New York where

01:01ICE just showed up and started to take action. And I called the president and I went down to the White

01:06House and I said, that doesn't work in New York. You don't send ICE in without coordinating with

01:13our police. It's not smart. It's duplicative and it's dangerous. We don't need ICE to do quality of

01:20life crimes. We don't need them to deal, worry about illegal vendors. That's a basic policing

01:28function for NYPD, Consumer Affairs, et cetera. I would have called the president and I would have

01:36said, look, you're way out of bounds. They're way out of bounds. Call them back or I'm going to have

01:42the NYPD step in and stop them because this is not their jurisdiction. You're in the city of New York.

01:49Okay, Mr. Mamdani. ICE is a reckless entity that cares little for the law and even less for the

01:56people that they're supposed to serve. What we need to be doing here in our city is to end the chapter

02:01of collaboration between City Hall and the federal government, which we've seen under Mayor Adams.

02:07What we need to do is actually pass the street vending reform bills that have been in the city council,

02:12some of which that this mayor has actually overridden. That's an example of how we can both protect

02:18street vendors, ensure quality of life, and leave no stone unturned in delivering for the people of

02:23the city as opposed to working with a president who is looking to declare war on those same people.

02:27Mr. Sliwa.

02:29Unlike both of my adversaries, I patrol that area many times, Church and Canal. And as you said,

02:35Errol, that activity has been going on for a long time. Selling the knockoff, sometimes stolen

02:41contraband by a series of people. The local 5th precinct, they make arrests when they have, obviously,

02:49cause to do so. And they complain that they have to release them because of no cash bail, of which

02:55both of my adversaries are in favor of and I'm not. The feds should not have stepped into this

03:00situation. There is not communication between the local authorities and the feds. This is a matter that

03:06should have been left up to the NYPD. But we can't tolerate citizens attacking our federal law

03:14enforcement forces in the street because then that will just lead to anarchy.

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