This time, the gloves came off.

Democrat Zohran Mamdani clashed with independent Andrew Cuomo from the first moments of Wednesday’s second and final general election debate for New York City mayor. Cuomo called Mamdani divisive and said he lacked experience or new ideas, while Mamdani said the former governor, down in the polls, was a “desperate man lashing out.”

Cuomo was looking for a moment to change the race’s contours less than two weeks from Election Day while Mamdani both sought to lock in his lead and establish himself as winning the “battle over the soul” of the national Democratic Party. The two tore into each other in strikingly personal terms on their backgrounds, their policy ideas and how each would address antisemitism.

Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa, meanwhile, reprised his wildcard role as he refuses to bow to a pressure campaign from some Republicans to leave the race. Despite not winning President Donald Trump’s endorsement – and being mocked at times by the Queens-born president – Sliwa said he would work with Trump to protect the city’s interests. He mocked Mamdani as having a resume that could “fit on a cocktail napkin” and Cuomo as having enough failures to “fill a library.”

Here are key moments from the debate:

Cuomo gives Mamdani a dressing-down about experience

In a pivot from his fr