The nine Democratic candidates for mayor squared off Wednesday in the first televised debate of a long campaign season, with former Gov. Andrew Cuomo the frequent target of jabs from the other contenders.

The chaotic debate came 10 days before the start of early voting on June 14, with the election on June 24. 

It was the first time Cuomo faced the whole field of his rivals, face-to-face, whom he had mostly avoided so far during his run to replace Mayor Eric Adams. (The mayor is running on an independent line in the November general election.)

President Donald Trump, the city’s housing crisis and Cuomo’s record as governor loomed large over the debate stage. 

City Comptroller Brad Lander, Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, Queens Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani, former comptroller Scott Stringer, Queens state Sen. Jessica Ramos, former Assemblymember Michael Blake and former hedge fund manager Whitney Tilson took turns knocking Cuomo over his run for mayor, his record on handling the Covid-19 crisis and his 2021 resignation as governor in the face of sexual misconduct allegations.

The debate began with a question of affordability, with each candidate asked to share one big idea to make the city more affordable immediately and how they could afford to pay for it. 

Most instead offered a smorgasbord of proposals, with overlapping plans like freezing the rent on rent-stabilized apartments — one of Mamdani’s main ideas — or lowering it by 20% via a massive building boom, which is Tilson’s plan. 

Others pushed their housing agendas, with Speaker Adams touting the Council’s age of the City of Yes zoning changes. 

Lander said he’s the only one with “the progressive values to make this city more affordable with the public integrity to sweep away the corruption of Eric Adams and Andrew Cuomo.”

Cuomo, who has led nearly every public poll, said the city has “a management crisis” and talked about his proposal to increase the minimum wage, which requires state approval. 

The s for the evening struggled to rein in the crowded stage of nine candidates, marked by frequent crosstalk and lobbed attacks mostly aimed at Cuomo.

The would-be mayors emphasized his role in undercounting the number of people who died of Covid in nursing homes and whether he ever said to “defund the police.” They attacked him on his sexual harassment allegations, and for many other decisions he made as governor. 

When asked directly by a about his sexual harassment allegations, Cuomo said “it was political, it was false” and noted that five district attorneys declined to prosecute him. (The case was also investigated by the Justice Department, which found Cuomo sexually harassed more than a dozen New York state employees.)

“I said at the time that if I offended anyone it was unintentional but I apologize and I say that today,” he said.

Blake, who did not qualify for next week’s leading candidates debate co-sponsored by THE CITY, consistently went after the former governor, citing the sexual harassment allegations that chased him from office.

“The people who don’t feel safe are young women, mothers and grandmothers around Andrew Cuomo,” Blake said after a question about public safety. “That’s the greatest threat to public safety in New York City.”

Other candidates also went after Mamdani, who has been in second place behind Cuomo with recent polls showing the gap shrinking. 

Tilson criticized previous social media posts where he claimed Mamdani called the NYPD “wicked.” (In a search, THE CITY could not readily find such a post.)

Asked how the candidates would defend New York City from Trump and his istration’s attacks on immigrants, funding and more, Cuomo painted Mamdani as a weak opponent to the president. 

“Donald Trump would go through Mr. Mamdani like a hot knife through butter,” Cuomo said. “He’s been in government 27 minutes, he ed three bills, that’s all he’s done. He has no experience with Washington, no experience with New York City, he would be Trump’s delight.”

But responding to a separate question, Mamdani answered back, saying, “I am Donald Trump’s worst nightmare — as a progressive, Muslim immigrant who actually fights for the things I believe in.”

Immigration enforcement emerged as a major theme of the night, and the debate took place as Immigration Customs Enforcement has ramped up detainments, rounding up people who appear for routine court appearances, THE CITY has reported. 

All of the candidates, except Tilson, agreed that Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate who organized pro-Palestinian protests on campus, should be released from immigration detention in Louisiana. Tilson said he would have to review all of the facts of the case.

The candidates criticized Mayor Adams’s decision to have ICE return to Rikers Island, with Ramos saying that the enforcement agency should be “out of our hospitals, out of our schools, out of our houses of worship and any public institution and really limit cooperation of ICE with the NYPD.” 

Myrie agreed, noting undocumented immigrants being detained at court.  

None of the candidates would reveal who they planned to rank second on their ranked-choice ballot, where voters can rank up to five people. 

They did share who they voted first in 2021. Cuomo — who was not ed to vote in New York City at the time — said he would have put Eric Adams first. Speaker Adams shared she did rank the current mayor first in 2021, but regretted it.