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      You Can’t Fight City Hall. But You Can Pick Who Runs It.

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      Guess I’m going for the vegan.Next week we’ll be voting in local elections all around the country. In New York the big contest is for mayor, and it pits Democrat Eric Adams against Republican Curtis Sliwa.Challenged to say something nice about Adams during the final mayoral debate on Tuesday night, Sliwa praised the Democrat’s vegan diet, adopted during a struggle against diabetes. Adams commended Sliwa on his kindness to animals.Sliwa and his wife are into sheltering abandoned cats, and they currently have 16 in their 320-square-foot studio apartment. I’ve got to admit this is the election factoid that has me most fascinated. The idea of vegan meals being served at Gracie Mansion is sort of interesting — bet we’d get more discussions of the menus than we ever got during Bill de Blasio’s long tenure. But how many cats could you fit in there? Dozens? Hundreds?OK, people — your turn. If you’ve got a mayoral election coming up in your town, tell me one interesting thing about a major candidate.Hey, there’s got to be something. If you’re still mulling, maybe you’re failing to focus. Keep thinking. We’ve still got … days.Do I see a hand over there in Connecticut? Yes, Stamford? You’ve got the former manager of the Mets running? And he called the Democratic candidate “a 35-year-old girl?” Wow, is he promising to make Stamford a municipal version of the Mets?Like residents of many cities, New Yorkers frequently feel as if their November vote is a tad anticlimactic. The real drama came in the Democratic primary — as the winner, Adams now enjoys a certain advantage that comes with being standard-bearer for a party with 3.7 million voters, compared with the Republicans’ 566,000.But we political junkies are hanging on until the bitter end. Still lots to gnaw over. Does everybody know that Sliwa’s been married four times and has two children from a long-running entanglement with the Queens district attorney? Meanwhile, where does Adams, a former police officer running on his promise to reform the city’s law enforcement culture, actually live? Brooklyn? New Jersey? His office? If we’re confused, Adams says it may be the fault of his having employed a homeless man to fill out his tax forms.OK, your turn to complain about your options.Yes, Minneapolis, I see your hand. You’re right: People who live in cities where the choice is basically between two names on the ballot should not be whining near folks who are going to have to pick from — my gosh, did you say 17?Indeed. Minneapolis has 17 candidates for mayor. The poor voters are supposed to go through the whole pile and pick a favorite, a runner-up and a third selection. This is called ranked-choice voting and it’s gotten very popular around the country. As the votes are counted, the biggest losers are tossed off and the people who picked them get their next choice put in the mix. The system has many advantages, but it does add one more responsibility to your good-citizen agenda. I remember being stuck at my Manhattan polling place, trying to imagine who my third-favorite candidate for comptroller might be …The Minneapolis election is theoretically nonpartisan but the candidates are allowed to give themselves a tag. Seven say they’re Democratic Farmer-Labor, which is going to give the voters quite a bit to scramble through, when they aren’t being distracted by the difference between the Independent, Independence Alliance and For the People parties. Or the self-declared nicknames, like Nate “Honey Badger” Atkins and Kevin “No Body” Ward. Another candidate calls himself Bob “Again” Carney Jr. and that’s a great reminder of how many times you’ve gone to vote, looked at the ballot and moaned, “Not again …”So, bottom line: big election doings coming on Tuesday. For your town, for your city and for all those candidates. Winning a job like mayor is certainly an opportunity to serve the community. And maybe it’s a political steppingstone to — what?A. Being elected presidentB. Being elected mayor againC. Being indictedWell, only three American mayors have ever gone on to the White House, and the last of those was Calvin Coolidge. As far as lengthy tenure goes, lots of towns now have term limits, but for those that don’t, the sky’s the limit. (By the way, feel free to congratulate Robert Blais of Lake George, N.Y., on his 50th anniversary as village mayor. Blais, 85, recently told a local paper that he was leaning heavily toward retirement a couple of years down the line.)On the indictment front, I noticed that a leading candidate for mayor in the upcoming Cincinnati election had his campaign sidetracked when he was charged with accepting bribes last November. Certainly sounds like time for a change, but observers are noting that the Cincinnati electorate seems a little, um, detached. “Does anyone care, including the candidates themselves?” demanded a local columnist.Well, you can understand why the voters might be a tad depressed, given that a third of the City Council has been arrested on charges like bribery and extortion. But really, citizens, this is exactly the time you have to put on your boots and march over to the polling places, demonstrating that you’re paying attention and want to turn things around.Really, it’ll perk up your day. Even if it’s raining.The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And here’s our email: letters@nytimes.com.Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram. More

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      First, Rain. Now, Wind.

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      It’s Wednesday. We’ll track the still-blustery nor’easter that has been swirling over the New York area for more than 36 hours. We’ll also catch up on the second mayoral debate. And we’ll hear from our restaurant critic, Pete Wells, who has rediscovered Midtown.Dave Sanders for The New York TimesNor’easter, Day 2It’s almost done with New York, but not quite. The nor’easter that charted a relentless course up the I-95 corridor packed a one-two punch. After clobbering the region with rain Monday night and yesterday, it switched to high winds that could knock down trees and power lines. That would create fresh havoc on roads that on Tuesday looked more like choppy waterways.[Heavy Rain Soaks New York as Nor’easter Pounds the Region]But the nor’easter did not deliver a knockout. The worst fears, a repeat of the devastation brought on by the unexpectedly deadly dregs of Hurricane Ida last month, seemed not to materialize. As the rain subsided and the wind surged, officials warned of potential power failures, particularly in coastal areas.We can expect a blustering morning and a brisk autumn day with temps around 56. “It’s going to be breezy, but the wind should be coming down,” David Stark, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, told me at 4 a.m. today. As the storm system churns its way into the Atlantic, eastern Long Island and Connecticut will feel the strongest gusts.alternate-side parkingIn effect until Monday (All Saints Day).CAMPAIGN COUNTDOWNThe candidates’ second face-offThe second and last debate of the mayoral campaign was more aggressive, more adversarial and more acrimonious than the first.The two candidates covered many of the same topics. But Curtis Sliwa, the Republican nominee, repeatedly talked past time limits as he attacked Eric Adams, his Democratic opponent, who tried to keep a stoic, above-the-fray smile.That lasted for about 15 tense minutes. “You are acting like my son when he was 4 years old,” Adams declared. “Show some discipline so we can get to all of these issues. You’re interrupting, you’re being disrespectful. Show a level of discipline. You want to be the mayor of New York, start with discipline.”As my colleague Emma Fitzsimmons writes, the debate, hosted by ​​WABC-TV, gave Sliwa one last chance to try to tackle Adams. But Sliwa’s fiery performance, a week before Election Day, might have come too late to change the dynamics of the race, even as he repeatedly slammed Mayor Bill de Blasio’s record and referred to the mayor as Adams’s “friend and teammate.”“Is there a grade below D-minus?” Sliwa responded when asked to assign a letter grade to the mayor. “F!”Adams gave de Blasio a B-plus. Both candidates agreed that de Blasio’s universal pre-K program was his principal achievement. Adams, who has tried to distance himself from de Blasio’s vaccine mandate for municipal workers, said he did not oppose them but would have communicated with union officials before announcing them. Sliwa called the mandates “madness” and said unvaccinated workers could have been tested weekly. Under de Blasio’s policy, they will go on unpaid leave.“When I’m mayor, I’m hiring them all back,” Sliwa said, “and I’m giving them back pay.”CHILD WELFAREPromising to repair gaps in the safety netAfter several children were beaten to death at home as summer waned, New York City is making changes to improve coordination between the police and the city’s child welfare agency.This came as three of my colleagues — Andy Newman, Ashley Southall and Chelsia Rose Marcius — focused on four children who had been the subject of prior reports about possible or suspected abuse.[These Children Were Beaten to Death. Could They Have Been Saved?]The number of homicides of children in the city this year is close to that of recent years, but the four deaths exposed gaps in the multiagency safety net. In recent weeks, city officials have examined how investigators skipped steps, were slow to follow up on warnings about suspected abuse or might have closed cases too soon.In response to questions from The New York Times about possible missteps, the city said it would keep closer watch over families that have been subjects of reports of suspected abuse..css-1xzcza9{list-style-type:disc;padding-inline-start:1em;}.css-3btd0c{font-family:nyt-franklin,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:1rem;line-height:1.375rem;color:#333;margin-bottom:0.78125rem;}@media (min-width:740px){.css-3btd0c{font-size:1.0625rem;line-height:1.5rem;margin-bottom:0.9375rem;}}.css-3btd0c strong{font-weight:600;}.css-3btd0c em{font-style:italic;}.css-1kpebx{margin:0 auto;font-family:nyt-franklin,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-weight:700;font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.3125rem;color:#121212;}#NYT_BELOW_MAIN_CONTENT_REGION .css-1kpebx{font-family:nyt-cheltenham,georgia,’times new roman’,times,serif;font-weight:700;font-size:1.375rem;line-height:1.625rem;}@media (min-width:740px){#NYT_BELOW_MAIN_CONTENT_REGION .css-1kpebx{font-size:1.6875rem;line-height:1.875rem;}}@media (min-width:740px){.css-1kpebx{font-size:1.25rem;line-height:1.4375rem;}}.css-1gtxqqv{margin-bottom:0;}.css-16ed7iq{width:100%;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;-webkit-box-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;justify-content:center;padding:10px 0;background-color:white;}.css-pmm6ed{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;}.css-pmm6ed > :not(:first-child){margin-left:5px;}.css-5gimkt{font-family:nyt-franklin,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:0.8125rem;font-weight:700;-webkit-letter-spacing:0.03em;-moz-letter-spacing:0.03em;-ms-letter-spacing:0.03em;letter-spacing:0.03em;text-transform:uppercase;color:#333;}.css-5gimkt:after{content:’Collapse’;}.css-rdoyk0{-webkit-transition:all 0.5s ease;transition:all 0.5s ease;-webkit-transform:rotate(180deg);-ms-transform:rotate(180deg);transform:rotate(180deg);}.css-eb027h{max-height:5000px;-webkit-transition:max-height 0.5s ease;transition:max-height 0.5s ease;}.css-6mllg9{-webkit-transition:all 0.5s ease;transition:all 0.5s ease;position:relative;opacity:0;}.css-6mllg9:before{content:”;background-image:linear-gradient(180deg,transparent,#ffffff);background-image:-webkit-linear-gradient(270deg,rgba(255,255,255,0),#ffffff);height:80px;width:100%;position:absolute;bottom:0px;pointer-events:none;}.css-1g3vlj0{font-family:nyt-franklin,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:1rem;line-height:1.375rem;color:#333;margin-bottom:0.78125rem;}@media (min-width:740px){.css-1g3vlj0{font-size:1.0625rem;line-height:1.5rem;margin-bottom:0.9375rem;}}.css-1g3vlj0 strong{font-weight:600;}.css-1g3vlj0 em{font-style:italic;}.css-1g3vlj0{margin-bottom:0;margin-top:0.25rem;}.css-19zsuqr{display:block;margin-bottom:0.9375rem;}.css-12vbvwq{background-color:white;border:1px solid #e2e2e2;width:calc(100% – 40px);max-width:600px;margin:1.5rem auto 1.9rem;padding:15px;box-sizing:border-box;}@media (min-width:740px){.css-12vbvwq{padding:20px;width:100%;}}.css-12vbvwq:focus{outline:1px solid #e2e2e2;}#NYT_BELOW_MAIN_CONTENT_REGION .css-12vbvwq{border:none;padding:10px 0 0;border-top:2px solid #121212;}.css-12vbvwq[data-truncated] .css-rdoyk0{-webkit-transform:rotate(0deg);-ms-transform:rotate(0deg);transform:rotate(0deg);}.css-12vbvwq[data-truncated] .css-eb027h{max-height:300px;overflow:hidden;-webkit-transition:none;transition:none;}.css-12vbvwq[data-truncated] .css-5gimkt:after{content:’See more’;}.css-12vbvwq[data-truncated] .css-6mllg9{opacity:1;}.css-qjk116{margin:0 auto;overflow:hidden;}.css-qjk116 strong{font-weight:700;}.css-qjk116 em{font-style:italic;}.css-qjk116 a{color:#326891;-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-underline-offset:1px;-webkit-text-decoration-thickness:1px;text-decoration-thickness:1px;-webkit-text-decoration-color:#326891;text-decoration-color:#326891;}.css-qjk116 a:visited{color:#326891;-webkit-text-decoration-color:#326891;text-decoration-color:#326891;}.css-qjk116 a:hover{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}Changes include appointing a captain to oversee child abuse cases in the police Special Victims Division, effectively reinstituting a position that was eliminated a year ago; requiring home visits by the police in suspected abuse cases when someone in the family has a history of domestic violence; and restarting a cross-training program between the Police Department and the city’s child welfare agency, the Administration for Children’s Services. That program was dropped last year when the pandemic closed in.The latest New York newsDavid Gilbert, a participant in the infamous 1981 Brink’s robbery whose 75-year prison sentence was commuted by Andrew Cuomo, will be released.A busway on Fifth Avenue is now uncertain after a major real estate developer expressed opposition to the plans.Midtown is back on the menuAdam Friedlander for The New York TimesOur restaurant critic, Pete Wells, has rediscovered Midtown.For us locals who once complained that Midtown was clogged with tourists, he says it’s rebounded to where it’s half-clogged. He felt relieved to see taxis again after months when Midtown was unnaturally quiet. A few landmarks, like the “21” Club and Shun Lee Palace, are still dark. The Grand Central Oyster Bar didn’t reopen for good until last month.And now? Midtown is once again the place where the main dish is New York, New York — no matter what restaurant you go to. Here’s one of the many choice parts in his critic’s notebook piece:Just as there are many New Yorks, there are many Midtowns, too, all on top of one another, each with its own restaurant scene. The one I knew best was the king-of-the-hill, top-of-the-heap Midtown, where chefs perform on grand stages that will never be mistaken for neighborhood joints. This is the realm of Le Bernardin, Aquavit, Gabriel Kreuther and Empellón.But I knew what those places can do. Instead, I explored Japanese Midtown, an extensive network that stretches almost from river to river. I checked in on Steakhouse Midtown, flourishing, or at least surviving. I looked for the Midtown where workers on hourly wages stand in line at Margon for Cuban ropa vieja stewed so long it practically turns into marmalade, and the one where on any given night three or four billionaires will spend thousands of dollars on wine and pasta without looking at the menu.Before showing up for dinner at Patsy’s, the Neapolitan restaurant that gave Frank Sinatra not just his own table but his own entrance, I asked somebody who has eaten there all his life what to get. He had no idea; his father, who goes once a week, always does the ordering. So he asked his father, who named two dishes that aren’t on the menu. It’s that kind of place.Even without an inside tip, you can put together a meal at Patsy’s — rigatoni fra diavolo, say, or fennel sausages in marinara with a heap of sweet peppers — that reminds you just how good Southern Italian food refracted through a New York lens can be. Decades of shortcuts, cheap-outs, infidelities and distortions gave red-sauce cuisine a reputation as a debased, degraded creature. None of that happened at Patsy’s.I wouldn’t say this if Sinatra were around, but Patsy’s does not make my favorite veal Parm in Midtown. For that, I go to Pietro’s on East 43rd Street.[17 Restaurants to Bookmark for Your Next Visit to Midtown]What we’re readingHalloween weekend is coming. Learn a thing or two about how to scare someone from performers at some of New York’s hallowed haunted attractions.Some homeless New Yorkers were moved from shelters to hotels and to the streets. They spoke to The City about their experiences.METROPOLITAN diaryAt the moviesDear Diary:Some years ago, my daughter rented her first apartment in Manhattan. She asked me to come in from Queens to wait for a furniture delivery so that she wouldn’t have to take time off from her new job.The delivery came very early, leaving me with the rest of the day to myself. I walked down Third Avenue, window-shopping and people-watching.After a few blocks, I came to a movie theater that was showing a Swedish film I had planned to see when it came to my neighborhood. Perfect!I bought a ticket, went inside and chose a seat in the middle of the theater.As the lights went down, a woman came in and took the aisle seat of the row I was in. After the movie ended, she approached me.“Can we talk about the movie a little?” she asked.We did for several minutes. Then she thanked me and left.— Louise DukeIllustrated by Agnes Lee. Send submissions here and read more Metropolitan Diary here.Glad we could get together here. See you tomorrow. — J.B.P.S. Here’s today’s Mini Crossword and Spelling Bee. You can find all our puzzles here.Melissa Guerrero, Rick Martinez and Olivia Parker contributed to New York Today. You can reach the team at nytoday@nytimes.com.Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. More

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      in Elections

      5 Takeaways From the Last N.Y.C. Mayoral Debate

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      The final debate in the New York City mayor’s race devolved into a chaotic contest Tuesday night marked by name-calling, lecturing, personal remarks and even profanity as the long-shot Republican candidate, Curtis Sliwa, sought to knock Eric Adams, the Democratic nominee, off-kilter at every turn.Mr. Sliwa faces extraordinarily difficult odds against Mr. Adams, and for much of the campaign, Mr. Adams has cast himself as a mayor-in-waiting who is already preparing to govern the nation’s largest city, ignoring Mr. Sliwa’s efforts to coax him into confrontation.But on Tuesday, the candidates did clash at times, and Mr. Sliwa spent much of the debate hectoring and interrupting Mr. Adams, and occasionally jolting him out of the rise-above-it-all demeanor that he deployed during their first debate last week. Mr. Adams lashed Mr. Sliwa for faking crimes and even over his record on child support.“That is scurrilous,” Mr. Sliwa protested.The two candidates staked out starkly different positions on matters from vaccine mandates to congestion pricing to outdoor dining, while finding common ground on some education and public safety issues.Still, the personal and political divide between the nominees was repeatedly thrown into sharp relief for viewers who tuned in one week before Election Day.Here are five takeaways from the debate:Mr. Sliwa needed an election-altering moment. He didn’t get one.Given New York City’s overwhelmingly Democratic tilt, any Republican nominee would face a steep climb in a mayoral contest. But Mr. Sliwa, whom Mr. Adams has referred to as a “clown,” may face an especially hard challenge.He has admitted, as Mr. Adams noted repeatedly, to faking crimes for publicity when he was younger. He is perhaps as well-known these days for owning more than a dozen cats as he is for any sweeping vision for the city. And while Mr. Sliwa has tried to make public safety a signature issue that galvanizes voters, that effort is complicated by Mr. Adams’s background as a former police officer.Taken together, Mr. Sliwa needed something of a miracle to change the seeming trajectory of the race — and he did not appear to get one. He did seem to catch Mr. Adams off guard at times, opening the debate by forcefully questioning Mr. Adams about interactions with gang members, which sent Mr. Adams veering into attack mode himself.But if Mr. Sliwa sought to produce any damaging new information about Mr. Adams that would make many voters seriously reconsider their choices, it was not immediately clear what that would be, since he pushed many familiar lines of attack.And as the debate wore on, Mr. Adams returned to his posture of ignoring Mr. Sliwa, looking at the camera instead of at his opponent, skipping opportunities to question or engage Mr. Sliwa, and insisting that his focus was on the voters of New York City.The two men clashed over one of the city’s biggest crises: homelessness.Curtis Sliwa, the Republican candidate for mayor, criticized Mayor Bill de Blasio’s social services commissioner, while his Democratic challenger, Eric Adams, called for building more housing and converting empty hotel rooms to address the crisis.Pool photo by Eduardo MunozHomelessness is one of the most pressing issues that the next mayor will face.There were nearly 48,000 homeless people, including almost 15,000 children, sleeping in the city’s shelter system every night in August, according to the Coalition for the Homeless.The overall figure for August also included 18,357 single adults, close to a record.Asked how they would tackle the homeless issue, Mr. Sliwa skirted the question and instead attacked Mr. Adams and his relationship with Mayor Bill de Blasio.The single adult population in homeless shelters has increased 60 percent since Mr. de Blasio took office in 2014. The mayor has cited homelessness as one of the issues he has struggled with the most during his two terms.“We’ve been out in the streets tending to their needs, getting them food and clothing, these lost souls,” Mr. Sliwa said before quickly pivoting to criticizing Mr. de Blasio and his social services commissioner, whom Mr. Adams has praised.“I would like you, Eric Adams, to condemn your partner and your teammate Bill de Blasio,” Mr. Sliwa said.Mr. Adams ignored Mr. Sliwa’s remark, calling homelessness a “real issue” before laying out a more detailed proposal..css-1xzcza9{list-style-type:disc;padding-inline-start:1em;}.css-3btd0c{font-family:nyt-franklin,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:1rem;line-height:1.375rem;color:#333;margin-bottom:0.78125rem;}@media (min-width:740px){.css-3btd0c{font-size:1.0625rem;line-height:1.5rem;margin-bottom:0.9375rem;}}.css-3btd0c strong{font-weight:600;}.css-3btd0c em{font-style:italic;}.css-1kpebx{margin:0 auto;font-family:nyt-franklin,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-weight:700;font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.3125rem;color:#121212;}#NYT_BELOW_MAIN_CONTENT_REGION .css-1kpebx{font-family:nyt-cheltenham,georgia,’times new roman’,times,serif;font-weight:700;font-size:1.375rem;line-height:1.625rem;}@media (min-width:740px){#NYT_BELOW_MAIN_CONTENT_REGION .css-1kpebx{font-size:1.6875rem;line-height:1.875rem;}}@media (min-width:740px){.css-1kpebx{font-size:1.25rem;line-height:1.4375rem;}}.css-1gtxqqv{margin-bottom:0;}.css-16ed7iq{width:100%;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;-webkit-box-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;justify-content:center;padding:10px 0;background-color:white;}.css-pmm6ed{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;}.css-pmm6ed > :not(:first-child){margin-left:5px;}.css-5gimkt{font-family:nyt-franklin,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:0.8125rem;font-weight:700;-webkit-letter-spacing:0.03em;-moz-letter-spacing:0.03em;-ms-letter-spacing:0.03em;letter-spacing:0.03em;text-transform:uppercase;color:#333;}.css-5gimkt:after{content:’Collapse’;}.css-rdoyk0{-webkit-transition:all 0.5s ease;transition:all 0.5s ease;-webkit-transform:rotate(180deg);-ms-transform:rotate(180deg);transform:rotate(180deg);}.css-eb027h{max-height:5000px;-webkit-transition:max-height 0.5s ease;transition:max-height 0.5s ease;}.css-6mllg9{-webkit-transition:all 0.5s ease;transition:all 0.5s ease;position:relative;opacity:0;}.css-6mllg9:before{content:”;background-image:linear-gradient(180deg,transparent,#ffffff);background-image:-webkit-linear-gradient(270deg,rgba(255,255,255,0),#ffffff);height:80px;width:100%;position:absolute;bottom:0px;pointer-events:none;}.css-1g3vlj0{font-family:nyt-franklin,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:1rem;line-height:1.375rem;color:#333;margin-bottom:0.78125rem;}@media (min-width:740px){.css-1g3vlj0{font-size:1.0625rem;line-height:1.5rem;margin-bottom:0.9375rem;}}.css-1g3vlj0 strong{font-weight:600;}.css-1g3vlj0 em{font-style:italic;}.css-1g3vlj0{margin-bottom:0;margin-top:0.25rem;}.css-19zsuqr{display:block;margin-bottom:0.9375rem;}.css-12vbvwq{background-color:white;border:1px solid #e2e2e2;width:calc(100% – 40px);max-width:600px;margin:1.5rem auto 1.9rem;padding:15px;box-sizing:border-box;}@media (min-width:740px){.css-12vbvwq{padding:20px;width:100%;}}.css-12vbvwq:focus{outline:1px solid #e2e2e2;}#NYT_BELOW_MAIN_CONTENT_REGION .css-12vbvwq{border:none;padding:10px 0 0;border-top:2px solid #121212;}.css-12vbvwq[data-truncated] .css-rdoyk0{-webkit-transform:rotate(0deg);-ms-transform:rotate(0deg);transform:rotate(0deg);}.css-12vbvwq[data-truncated] .css-eb027h{max-height:300px;overflow:hidden;-webkit-transition:none;transition:none;}.css-12vbvwq[data-truncated] .css-5gimkt:after{content:’See more’;}.css-12vbvwq[data-truncated] .css-6mllg9{opacity:1;}.css-qjk116{margin:0 auto;overflow:hidden;}.css-qjk116 strong{font-weight:700;}.css-qjk116 em{font-style:italic;}.css-qjk116 a{color:#326891;-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-underline-offset:1px;-webkit-text-decoration-thickness:1px;text-decoration-thickness:1px;-webkit-text-decoration-color:#326891;text-decoration-color:#326891;}.css-qjk116 a:visited{color:#326891;-webkit-text-decoration-color:#326891;text-decoration-color:#326891;}.css-qjk116 a:hover{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}Mr. Adams talked about his plan to turn 25,000 underused hotels rooms in the boroughs outside of Manhattan into permanent single-room occupancy housing for the homeless. Many hotels outside the main tourist and business districts in Manhattan were “built to be shelters,” Mr. Adams said.“We have to get out of the shelter business and get into the business of getting people permanent housing,” he said.Mr. Adams also said he would increase housing subsidies for families at risk of losing their homes, use a state law to get homeless people who can’t take care of themselves off the street, and partner with the police and mental health professionals to move homeless people out of the subways.“These are our neighbors. These are our former residents that lived next to us,” Mr. Adams said. “There’s a level of compassion that comes with it.”The debate turned nasty quickly.Eric Adams chastised Curtis Sliwa, saying he was acting immaturely, and Mr. Sliwa accused Mr. Adams of actually living in New Jersey.Pool photo by Eduardo MunozMr. Sliwa suggested that Mr. Adams consorted with murderers. Mr. Adams noted that Mr. Sliwa had admitted to faking crimes.And the debate had barely begun.On substantive issues, this debate proved similar to last week’s contest. But tonally, it proved far nastier.After Mr. Adams argued that he would have engaged more energetically with union leaders on vaccine mandates, Mr. Sliwa suggested that Mr. Adams talk to his “friend and teammate” Mr. de Blasio, who will soon be leaving office.“You are acting like my son when he was 4 years old,” Mr. Adams shot back. “Show some discipline so we can get to all of these issues. You’re interrupting, you’re being disrespectful.”Mr. Sliwa countered that Mr. Adams should stop being a “robot” and show compassion for city workers who risk losing their salaries for failing to get vaccinated against the coronavirus.Soon enough, the conversation got even more personal.Mr. Sliwa accused Mr. Adams of actually living in New Jersey, an allusion to questions that have been raised about Mr. Adams’s residency, and he mocked Mr. Adams’s decision to blame his tax-filing errors on his purportedly homeless accountant.“You fake where you live, Eric Adams,” Mr. Sliwa said.Mr. Adams said that Mr. Sliwa was demonstrating “clown-like actions,” and then accused him of hiding money so he would not have to pay child support.“That is scurrilous that you would say that,” Mr. Sliwa said. “How dare you bring my family into this?”The tenor of the debate did not go unnoticed.“I assume you’re not going to send each other holiday cards come December,” said Bill Ritter, who moderated the debate.On some hot-button issues, the candidates agreed — a reminder that the next mayor will not come from the city’s left wing.Eric Adams, the Democratic nominee, and his Republican challenger, Curtis Sliwa, both advocated increased policing in New York City to combat a rise in crime.Pool photo by Eduardo MunozMr. Adams and Mr. Sliwa may disagree on many of the specifics, but both fundamentally believe in expanding the role of the police in promoting public safety.Mr. Adams, who has said he was a victim of police brutality and spent much of his police career advocating for changes from within the system, also described his plan for bringing back an overhauled plainclothes unit to target gangs, “target those who are using guns.” His proposal has discomfited some New Yorkers who want to see the power of the police scaled back.And Mr. Sliwa indicated, in his typical forceful language, that he wants to empower the police to the greatest extent possible.Issues of education — and the best way to make public schools more integrated and equitable — do not necessarily break down along neat ideological lines. Both Mr. Adams and Mr. Sliwa have expressed concerns over Mr. de Blasio’s decision to end the gifted and talented program for elementary school children. They have said, instead, that they want to expand the program, positions that they revisited on Tuesday night.A moment of levity over pets and diet.When asked near the end of their debate to say something nice about each other, Eric Adams admired Curtis Sliwa’s dedication to saving cats and Mr. Sliwa praised Mr. Adams for choosing not to eat animals.Eduardo Munoz/ReutersFor a brief moment, the candidates did not fight with each other. They communed over animals. More precisely, Mr. Sliwa praised Mr. Adams’s decision to forgo eating animals, while Mr. Adams praised Mr. Sliwa’s work in rescuing them.The moment of bonhomie did not happen without some prodding.Toward the end of the debate, Mr. Ritter asked the candidates to say something “nice” about their opponent.“I take my hat off to Curtis, what he is doing with cats,” said Mr. Adams, perhaps referring to Mr. Sliwa’s advocacy for no-kill shelters, or perhaps to the more than a dozen cats that share a 320-square-foot studio apartment with Mr. Sliwa and his wife. “I think we need to be humane to all living beings.”Mr. Sliwa was even more effusive in his praise for Mr. Adams’s decision to become a vegan.“His promotion of a vegan way of life to avoid serious medical issues has probably already helped dozens, maybe hundreds, maybe thousands of people,” Mr. Sliwa said. “As someone who has been in the hospital many, many times, I hope one day to be a vegan.”Right now, Mr. Sliwa added, he is “at the vegetarian stage.” More

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      N.Y.C. Debate for Mayor Turns Testy

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      Mayoral Candidates Call For More Policing

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      Sliwa Claims Ydanis Rodriguez Isn't a U.S. Citizen. He Is One.

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      In one of the strangest moments of the debate, Curtis Sliwa falsely said that Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez, a Democrat from Washington Heights who is originally from the Dominican Republic, was not an American citizen.Mr. Sliwa, the Republican mayoral nominee, was answering a question about whether he supported a City Council bill that would give immigrants who are authorized to work or live in New York the power to vote in municipal elections. He brought up Mr. Rodriguez, the sponsor of the bill and a supporter of Eric Adams, the Democratic mayoral nominee.“The councilman of Washington Heights,” Mr. Sliwa said, “he has a green card, which means he has been able to bring his family here, he is able to tap into all the benefits available to citizens. The only thing you cannot do with a green card is vote.”He added, “You have to ask yourself, why after all this time would Rodriguez not want to be a citizen of the United States?”Mr. Sliwa’s comments prompted immediate backlash from Democrats, including Mr. Rodriguez himself, who became a U.S. citizen in 2000 and has served in the City Council for over a decade.“This was completely offensive to all immigrant New Yorkers who live in NYC but were born and raised in another country,” Mr. Rodriguez wrote on Twitter. “Curtis should not assume that just because I have a strong accent, Dominican roots, and I’m fighting to restore the right for our immigrant brothers and sisters to vote in municipal elections that I am not a citizen.”Mr. Rodriguez’s bill could give hundreds of thousands of foreign-born residents in New York City who have green cards and work permits the right to vote in local elections.Mr. Adams expressed his support for the bill Tuesday night, saying it was important that green card holders “have the right to participate in local elections.” More

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      Candidates Spar Over Homelessness in N.Y.C.

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