NEW YORK (AP) — New York City mayoral candidates Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa tried to blunt Democrat Zohran Mamdani's momentum during a contentious first general election debate Thursday evening.

For Cuomo, now running as an independent, the stakes were high. The debate was one of his last chances to sway voters and convince them that going with Mamdani, who already defeated the once-powerful New York governor in the primary this summer, would be a mistake.

The race is also Cuomo’s attempt at a political comeback after he resigned as governor four years ago following a barrage of sexual harassment allegations. He denies wrongdoing but has been trailed by heavy criticism over the scandal, along with other damaging baggage he picked up during his tenure.

Mamdani, a 33-year-old democratic socialist, entered the debate in a more comfortable position, though he would need to fend off two hours of sharp jabs from Cuomo while maintaining the hopeful, charming vibe that has characterized his campaign.

Meanwhile Sliwa, the colorful creator of the Guardian Angels crime patrol group, hoped to land a major upset in the deeply blue city. He received almost 30% of the vote when he last ran as the GOP candidate four years ago, and this time he hopes Mamdani and Cuomo split the Democratic vote while he secures Republicans and centrists to come out on top.

The race has catapulted Mamdani to national political stardom, with Republicans, including President Donald Trump, trying to turn him into the face of the Democratic Party by highlighting his most controversial past comments and positions and casting him as dangerous, a communist and an antisemite.

Incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat, suspended his reelection campaign late last month after being deeply wounded by a now-dismissed federal corruption case and his relationship with the Trump administration.

Here are some key takeaways from tonight's debate:

Mamdani on defense

Mamdani came under attack straight out the gate, as Cuomo highlighted the 33-year-old's relative lack of job experience.

Cuomo, stressing his own executive experience, said being mayor “is no job for on-the-job training”

“This is not a job for a first timer,” he said.

Mamdani hit back at Cuomo’s integrity and decision-making as the COVID-19 pandemic spread through nursing homes.

“What I don’t have in experience, I make up for in integrity. What you don’t have in integrity, you can never make up for in experience,” he charged.

Mamdani's brand of economic populism — a laser focus on lowering the city's astronomical cost of living through the idea that government should do more to help the lower and middle classes instead of wealthy people — has generated buzz and excitement.

At the same time, the state assemblyman's calls to raise taxes on wealthy people and intense criticisms of the Israeli government's military actions in Gaza have unnerved some centrists and conservatives. That's where Cuomo's rebooted campaign sees its path to victory.

The former governor has painted Mamdani as a potentially dangerous leader who would lead the city into financial and social ruin, while casting himself as a competent manager who can handle its expansive bureaucracy and finances.

Mamdani pressed on past comments on Israel

During an appearance on Fox News Channel earlier this week, Mamdani sidestepped a question about whether Hamas should lay down arms as part of a fragile truce that has paused the two-year Israel-Hamas war.

On Thursday he did not equivocate, saying, “Of course I believe that they should lay down their arms.”

The comment came as Cuomo again tried to characterize Mamdani as dangerous to Jewish New Yorkers by highlighting his past reluctance to condemn use of the phrase “Globalize the intifada,” which is seen by many Jews as a call to violence.

“Why wouldn’t he condemn Hamas?” Cuomo said. “He still won’t denounce ‘Globalize the intifada,’ which means kills all Jews."

Since the primary Mamdani has said he does not use the phrase and would discourage people from saying it.

But Sliwa said it wasn't enough.

“Jews don’t trust that you are going to be there for them when they are the victims of antisemitic attacks,” he said.

Mamdani accused Cuomo of discounting the city's Muslim community, claiming that it took losing to a Muslim candidate for Cuomo to step inside a mosque.

“It took me to get you to even see Muslims as part of this city,” Mamdani said.

Trump front and center

The president, who has threatened to arrest Mamdani, to deport him and even to take over the city if he wins, was invoked early and often.

Pressed on how they would handle Trump, Mamdani said he would stand up to him while also being willing to work with him on lowering costs and affordability.

“What New Yorkers need is a mayor who can stand up to Donald Trump and actually deliver,” he said.

Cuomo warned that if Mamdani wins, “It will be Mayor Trump.”

“I’d like to work with you. I think we could do good things together. But No. 1, I will fight you every step of the way if you try to hurt New York,” Cuomo pledged.

He said Sliwa would not stand up to Trump, and as for Mamdani, the president “would knock him on his face.”

Sliwa warned that taking too contentious a tone would end up hurting the city.

“If you try to get tough with Trump,” he said, “New Yorkers will suffer.”

Sliwa tries to stand out

The underdog candidate found himself caught in the middle — literally and figuratively — with the Republican’s lectern positioned between his two opponents as they lobbed attacks at one another.

At one point Sliwa complained that he was not getting enough speaking time, saying, “I am being marginalized out of this.”

At other times Sliwa aggressively attacked both Mamdani and Cuomo, including after the former governor stressed his willingness to take on Trump.

“You think you’re the toughest guy alive, but let me tell you something, you lost your own primary, rejected by your own Democratic party,” Sliwa said.

Sliwa has resisted calls to exit the race from Mamdani critics who want to frame up a one-on-one race between Cuomo and Mamdani

Will it be enough to change the trajectory of the race?

So far little has changed the trajectory, including Adams' departure.

A poll of New York City likely voters conducted by Quinnipiac University in early October, after Adams ended his bid for a second term, found that Mamdani continued to hold a lead over Cuomo. The poll suggested that Cuomo may have benefited somewhat from Adams’ departure, but the current mayor’s exit did not appear to have a meaningful impact on the state of the race.

Adams was not included in the poll but remains on the November ballot because he didn’t withdraw his candidacy before a balloting deadline.

The candidates are scheduled to meet for a second and final debate next week.