De Blasio Reviews Final Mayoral Debate: 'Pretty Uninspiring'

New York City NY

17 June, 2021

11:31 AM

Description

NEW YORK CITY — An at-turns substantive and squabble-filled final mayoral debate garnered a harsh review from Mayor Bill de Blasio. "I thought it was a pretty uninspiring debate," he said Thursday. De Blasio's dim view of Democratic candidates looking to succeed him isn't new, but it comes just days before the June 22 primary. Tens of thousands of New Yorkers have already cast their ranked-choice ballots early, and Hizzoner claims to be among the voters still deciding his top five picks. "No one won in my estimation," he said. "I did not hear enough. I'm going to keep examining the candidates and make a decision quickly as I can." The candidates — Eric Adams, Shaun Donovan, Kathryn Garcia, Raymond J. McGuire, Dianne Morales, Scott Stringer, Maya Wiley and Andrew Yang — all distanced themselves to some degree from de Blasio during the debate. When asked if they would hire him to be part of their administration, no one said yes. For his part, de Blasio said he found it disheartening that some unnamed candidates floated proposals the city already enacted. He said it indicated they didn't know what was happening in the city they hope to lead. In the end, no candidate on the stage showed "vision," he said. "I thought last night's debate was a wasted opportunity," he said.