Lhota, de Blasio Go After Each Other in Final Debate

Republican mayoral candidate Joe Lhota (L) and Democrat Bill de Blasio during the final mayoral debate, Wednesday. (AP Photo/Wall Street Journal, Peter Foley)
Republican mayoral candidate Joe Lhota (L) and Democrat Bill de Blasio during the final mayoral debate, Wednesday. (AP Photo/Wall Street Journal, Peter Foley)

Lhota, de Blasio Go After Each Other in Final Debate

Democrat Bill de Blasio and Republican Joe Lhota demonstrated starkly different leadership styles in their third and final debate Wednesday night, with Lhota contrasting his executive resume with his opponent’s, and de Blasio offering his progressive values as a sharp contrast.

De Blasio, who has a commanding lead in the polls, argued that Lhota would be unresponsive to the 46 percent of NewYorkers who live below the poverty line. An unabashed liberal, de Blasio also contended that a Lhota administration would do little to combat income inequality or the rising tensions between the NYPD and minorities.

“It would look very much the same as today,” he said. “A lot of the problems that we’re experiencing right now that have gone unaddressed by Mayor Bloomberg would go unaddressed by Mr. Lhota.”

Lhota countered by calling de Blasio a “polished politician” and questioned his opponent’s signature campaign promise to raise taxes on the wealthy to fund free pre-kindergarten in public schools. The plan requires Albany’s approval, and de Blaiso has not offered an alternative if it doesn’t.

De Blasio claimed that “leaders get people to buy into a vision and then achieve the vision,” adding that he would be able to persuade Albany to pass his tax hike. Lhota, however, suggested that effective “leaders not only have a Plan B, they have a Plan C.”

Lhota also warned that whenever a candidate promises to raise taxes on the wealthy, he ends up raising them on the middle class as well.

The two then differed on what constitutes “middle class,” with de Blasio citing an annual income of $50,000 and Lhota saying that anyone earning below $75,000 struggles to make it in the city.

They fought again over stop-and-frisk, with Lhota crediting it for the historic drop in crime.

“Anybody who believes that the accomplishments that have happened over the last 20 years are not fragile is kidding themselves. Crime can go back up again,” Lhota said. “We are one bad mayor away from unsafe streets, continued failing schools and fiscal chaos.”

The attacks grew more pointed as Lhota tried to highlight the differences between their resumes, saying that de Blasio “has absolutely no experience. Look at the midlevel jobs that he’s had. You can’t compare my experience with his lack of experience.”

De Blasio shot back, saying he understands the city’s “values.”

“I understand what it takes to make this city run. I understand the people. I understand what people need right now. And actually, what I hear most from people is they want a mayor who’s going to be on their side, fighting for them every day,” he said. “Despite your much-ballyhooed resume, you don’t understand what life in this city is like.”

That drew a sharp response from Lhota, who retorted angrily, “I know what it’s like to be in poverty. I know what it’s like to aspire to be in the middle class… Don’t tell me I don’t know what it means to be a New Yorker!”

Lhota said that despite the 40-point margin separating the two in the polls, “New York loves an underdog, and quite honestly, I am that underdog. There’s no question about it.”

But talking to reporters in the spin room after the debate, de Blasio noted that he was at the bottom of the polls throughout much of the primary.

“I started out as the underdog, for sure. I was the underdog for a long time, but once the momentum built, it’s never stopped,” he said. “I feel very good about what’s going to happen on Tuesday.”

Lhota’s Closing Ad First With Candidate’s Voice

Lhota’s voice was finally heard — in his closing-argument ad warning voters that a vote for de Blasio would return the city to the crime-wracked era of 20 years ago.

Lhota’s latest spot comes a day after another poll showed him nearly 40 points behind de Blasio with less than a week to go before Election Day. In the ad, Lhota speaks directly to voters, a departure from previous spots, which had testimonials or harrowing imagery of the 1980s, when murders in the city topped 2,000 annually.

“New York is the greatest city in the world, but we are one bad mayor away from unsafe streets, failing schools and fiscal chaos,” he says. “And I am ready to lead. We have come too far to go back.”

Lhota also promised to double the number of charter schools, which are specialty schools funded by taxpayers but privately run. De Blasio says they distract from the effort to improve the troubled public-school system.

In a radio interview Thursday, Lhota continued his attacks on de Blasio’s work in the Dinkins administration, calling that period “a horror.” Lhota was a top deputy mayor under Rudy Giuliani, who defeated David Dinkins in 1993.

“Bill de Blasio is absolutely no different than David Dinkins, [who] wants to divide us between black and white, rich and poor,” he said.

Lhota also said that Giuliani would begin campaigning for him Friday, the first time he will do so since the Republican primary.

“We’re going to have a great weekend together,” Lhota said.

Influential Williamsburg Jewish Group Endorses de Blasio

The United Jewish Communities of Williamsburg endorsed de Blasio Thursday, citing his efforts to preserve childcare vouchers and affordable housing as a city councilman.

“We’ve known Bill de Blasio since before he was a councilman, and he has been a friend and ally of the Jewish community every step of the way,” said Rabbi Moshe Dovid Niederman, leader of the group, which represents a number of Chassidic communities in Williamsburg.

Final Matching Funds Released For Last Week of Race

The city’s Campaign Finance Board on Thursday released nearly $1.5 million in public funds to Lhota and de Blasio, giving the two an infusion of cash for the final five days of the race.

De Blasio was eligible for a matching grant of $844,075, while Lhota received $629,460. The program awards participants $6 for every $1 in small donations they get — up to $175.

Newspaper Endorsements Begin Piling On

While voters mostly ignored their city’s papers’ advice in the primary, the media continued their endorsing tradition this week, with Newsday backing Lhota and The New York Times supporting de Blasio.

Newsday praised de Blasio for his political skills as he gears up for perhaps the largest victory margin in city history, but said Lhota would be a better mayor.

“De Blasio, a political strategist by trade and currently New York City’s public advocate, is a liberal ideologue who knows how to weave a simple story from complex economic figures. Yet the subtext of his campaign is that the rich are prospering on the backs of the poor,” the editorial said. “…[Lhota] knows from his own hard experience that the city must be run competently to serve its 8.4 million people with dignity and effectiveness.”

The Times, in contrast, praised de Blasio for his calls to reform stop-and-frisk, his plan to add 200,000 units of affordable housing, his goal to expand pre-K by taxing the wealthy, and his primary win by “appealing directly and doggedly to struggling New Yorkers who see a city of lofty wealth rising out of their reach.”

The Times, which endorsed de Blasio rival City Council Speaker Christine Quinn in the primary, said that Lhota’s campaign was based on fear.

Endorsements in the comptroller’s race were also divided. The Times backed Democrat Scott Stringer, while the New York Post backed Republican John Burnett, a Wall Street executive seeking to become his party’s first African-American elected to citywide office.

The Times praised Burnett’s candidacy as “good news for New York’s Republican Party, which is short of fresh, appealing candidates.” But they said that Stringer is better qualified.

“As borough president, Mr. Stringer has ushered in an array of excellent initiatives, like screening applicants to make community boards more diverse, competent and accountable,” the Times editorial said.

“He promises to make the comptroller’s office more streamlined, to upgrade its technology, to hedge more cautiously against deep downturns, and to use his audit power to help agencies work better.”

The Post countered that for an office that is “least understood” in the city, it is important to have a “superior candidate” such as Burnett at the helm.

“Today The Post endorses [Stringer’s] Republican rival, John Burnett, in the general election. Like Stringer when we supported him, Burnett today finds himself down in the polls. But on principle, he is the superior candidate.”


 

“Race to City Hall 2013” is a daily Hamodia column focusing on the New York City mayoral race, before the general election on Nov. 5. It is culled from reports from AP, Politicker, the New York Post, The New York Times and other sources.

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