Yet Again, De Blasio Skips NYC Mayoral Debate

New York City NY

27 October, 2021

12:45 PM

Description

NEW YORK CITY — Mayor Bill de Blasio yet again skipped watching a debate between the two men who'd be his successor. Hizzoner implied Wednesday that he'd seen enough. "I did not watch the debate — I know who I'm voting for," he said. "I'm voting for Eric Adams." The debate Tuesday night between Adams, the Democratic mayoral nominee, and Curtis Sliwa, the Republican candidate, mostly retread familiar ground on issues. But the two candidates amped up their vitriol for each other, with mostly Sliwa — who is behind by 40 points, according to a recent poll — flinging attack after attack. "You're acting like my son when he was 4 years old," Adams told Sliwa at one point. "Show some discipline." Sliwa also drew a backlash for falsely saying Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez was not a citizen of the United States. One of Sliwa's frequent attacks was to tie Adams to de Blasio. Adams, while he has tried to distance himself from de Blasio, did give the current mayor a "B+" grade for his entire tenure. De Blasio on Wednesday effusively returned the compliment. "I think he's going to be a great, great mayor for this city," he said about Adams. "And I'm looking forward to Tuesday, casting my vote and moving the city forward. Look, I think, and I've said it: I think Eric Adams is going to build upon so much of what we've tried to do here. I'm very, very proud of some of the things we've done to make this a city that's more fair, inclusive for everyone. I think Eric's going to be able to take it to the next level, and I'm excited about that."