In the second New York City mayoral debate, Republican mayoral nominee Joseph J. Lhota awakened his political beast and unleashed a surprise attack on Bill de Blasio in Tuesday night's debate.
After slipping in the polls following a verbal beating by Democratic nominee de Blasio, Lhota stepped up his game, hurling strong invective at his opponent in a no-holds-barred, acrimonious debate, according to The New York Times.
Lhota asserted that de Blasio would "annihilate" charter schools, and would commit "civil wrong" by raising taxes and taking a "reckless" approach to crime. Lhota said that de Blasio's political strategies will "push us back to where we were," referencing New York City's crime-ridden days in the 1970s and 80s.
De Blasio, who is leading in the polls, often appeared shaken by his opponent's unexpected verbal onslaught, shaking his head and even asking for Lhota to temper his language. "I would ask Mr. Lhota to not use incendiary terms," de Blasio said at one point.
The evening's most heated exchange was over an advertisement put out by Lhota that used footage from the 1991 riots in Crown Heights to paint Democrats as soft on crime. "It's race baiting and it's fear mongering and you know it," de Blasio said, adding, "Anybody who looks at that ad knows what he is up to."
Lhota sharply retorted: "Don't tell me I threw out the race card," he said. "Bill, you cannot stoop to that level."
The hour-long debate came two weeks before voters will go to the polls. Although the debate is unlikely to push Lhota ahead of de Blasio's sizable advantage, the debate showed Lhota as knowledgable and unafraid to speak his mind, or even attack his opponent for policies with which he disagrees.
The debate had a more personal, antagonistic feel, unlike the more restrained first debate. The tense exchange made the humorous moments even more memorable. When both candidates praised a proposal by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg to extend Lower Manhattan into the East River, de Blasio smiled, saying he was surprised that they agreed on something.
"We've had our kumbaya moment," he said, to a roar of audience laughter.
De Blasio often struggled, failing to achieve the level of ferocity he had during the first debate. He did not give a straight answer when the moderator, Maurice DuBois of WCBS, asked him whether Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo would support his proposal to finance kindergarten classes by raising taxes on the wealthy.
De Blasio gave a circuitous answer, saying that the governor is not apprehensive about raising taxes. He simply said, "We have to focus on the positive notion that this is what the people of New York City want." Lhota quickly grabbed the chance to attack his opponent. "Bill de Blasio makes promises over and over that he can't keep," he said, before warning about higher taxes under de Blasio. "To those out there in the middle class," he said, "hold on to your wallets."
At one point, Lhota, who was angry at de Blasio's statements that tied him to the Tea Party, said, "You talk about tea so much, you remind me of the Mad Hatter." De Blasio called his silly retort "dated."
The two also debated the legacies of their former bosses, Rudolph W. Giuliani and David N. Dinkins, who were also political foes.
Lhota said that the Dinkins administration was marred by a high murder rate, and de Blasio said that Lhota was Giuliani's "right-hand man" when Giuliani was trying to "divide this city."
"It was not a good period in our city's history," de Blasio said. "We should not repeat it."
It got so heated that the moderator had to step in to stop the hostile repartee.
De Blasio assailed Lhota for previously calling Mayor Bloomberg an "idiot" and publicly describing members of the Port Authority Police Department as "mall cops."
"That's not what a mayor does," Mr. de Blasio said. "A mayor unifies, a mayor shows respect, a mayor makes sure we set a positive tone in the city."
Lhota said that he criticized Bloomberg when the mayor spoke mistakenly about the reopening of a tunnel after Hurricane Sandy.
According to The Associated Press, despite Lhota's strong debate performance, he is still trailing de Blasio by more than 40 points in the polls.
De Blasio and Lhota will face-off one last time on Oct. 29 before the mayoral election, which is Nov. 5.
- Contribute to this Story:
- Send us a tip
- Send us a photo or video
- Suggest a correction
