Eric Adams and Curtis Sliwa Spar in their Final Debate

By Yehudit Garmaise

     In tonight’s final debate between Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams and Guardian Angel founder Curtis Sliwa, the two mayoral contenders disagreed over vaccine mandates homelessness, crime, and were even forced to give each other one compliment.

     When the two candidates were asked how they would help the 48,000 New Yorkers who are homeless, as reported by the Coalition for the Homeless, to get off the streets, Adams, who is a Democrat, said that he would like to turn 25,000 empty hotel rooms in the outer boroughs into permanent, affordable housing. 

     Also sleeping in the city's shelter system every night are 15,000 children. The city's adult single population of homeless people has increased 60% since Mayor Bill de Blasio took office, reported the New York Times.

     Adams said that the city should subsidize housing for the poor and provide housing vouchers, instead of spending money on homeless shelters, which are expensive to run, hated by all, and not helpful in the long term.

     In the last debate, Sliwa, who said that most former office workers would not return after the pandemic, proposed using the many empty office buildings in Manhattan to house to create affordable housing.

     When asked how they would have better handled the vaccine mandate of the city’s workers, Adams said that he would have worked with the unions before signing an executive order.

     “I would want to know, ‘What are they asking for?’” Adams said.

     “They may want to know what happens on the day that you take the vaccine, or what if they get ill after the vaccination.

     “They have questions, and we don’t know what those questions are.

     “You come up with resolutions, and I believe we can accomplish that.”

     Sliwa, who continued to try to align Adams with Mayor de Blasio, whom he called Adam’s “partner” said, “Do not fire these people on Friday.

     “They could have been testing once a week if they couldn’t or wouldn’t be vaccinated. Wouldn’t you agree with me? They shouldn’t be furloughed this Friday?”

     After Sliwa ranted and raved, Adams calmly told him, “Curtis, I would agree that you should display some discipline. 

     “They laid out rules here, and you should try to do that. You are acting like my son when he was four years old.

     “You are interrupting. You are being disrespectful. 

      “You want to be the mayor of the City of New York? Start with discipline.”

      To which Sliwa responded, “Eric, show compassion, show care. Don’t just be a robot. People are going to lose their jobs, their income. When I am mayor, I would hire them back: given them their full pay. That is what I am going to do.”

     Just before Sliwa was asked why New Yorkers should trust him, who faked his own kidnapping in the 1980s to generate media attention for the Guardian Angels, Sliwa was asked for response to Adams calling him, in recent weeks, ’a clown’ and a ‘Trump mini-me.’”

     “That is so beneath you, Eric Adams, especially after you wrote an Op-Ed in the Daily News praising the Guardian Angels,” Sliwa said. “Did I make mistakes early on? Yes. And I have apologized for them.”

      “Yes, I praised the Guardian Angels,” said Adams, “but it really devastated me after protecting the right for them to patrol the subways to find out that they were faking crimes, which is a crime.” 

     Then the mayoral candidates were asked how they would have better handle the protests, the looting, and the violence that took place after George Floyd was killed.

      “Sixty-five police officers are facing departmental charges for being overly aggressive,” one moderator asked. “If you were mayor how would you handle that situation?

       “Policing is a difficult task,” Adams said. “I know how difficult it is, but the nobility of public protection is crucial. You must be held to a high standard.

     “If you said or did something discourteous or disrespectful, then you should have an appropriate penalty. If you pulled down the facemask of someone and maced them in the face while their hands were up, then you cannot serve in my department. You cannot allow someone to cross the line.

     “We want a police department that is respected and rebuild trust in our community.”

     Instead of addressing the brutality of the police in the summer of 2020, Sliwa focused on the misbehavior, graffiti, and vandalism of the protesters, and said, "When there was rioting, shooting, and looting in the streets, I was out in the streets with the Guardian Angels. I had my jaw broken.

     “We were the only people standing up to the mob.”

     For all of the differences and bickering of the two candidates, they were then asked to provide one compliment to each other.

     Adams said to his opponent, "I take my hat off to Curtis with his cats. Let’s be humane to animals and to each other."

    Sliwa responded, "I commend Adams' promotion of the vegan way of life for people to avoid serious medical issues. I know many people who have would benefit. I hope one day to be a vegan."

     Early voting has begun in the city, and Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 2.