The nine leading Democrats hoping to clinch the party’s nomination for New York City mayor faced off Wednesday evening for the first time — disagreeing over how best to fight President Donald Trump, reduce subway disorder, make the city more affordable, combat shoplifting, improve the public schools and even the wisdom of firing the Knicks' head coach.

The front-runner, former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, was the target of attack after attack from the others, who criticized his tenure as governor — including his stewardship of the COVID-19 pandemic and allegations of sexual harassment of state workers — in an onslaught that surfaced even when the topic of moderators' questioning was unrelated.

"The people who don’t feel safe are young women, mothers and grandmothers around Andrew Cuomo," said one of the candidates, Michael Blake, a former state assemblyman, when asked about subway safety.

Cuomo, who denies all wrongdoing, cast himself as the most versatile, experienced leader in the mayoral field, including on challenging Trump, whose administration is reportedly investigating Cuomo over alleged lies to Congress about his handling of the pandemic. 

"I know how to deal with Donald Trump because I’ve dealt with him before — many times, we’ve had many encounters," said Cuomo, who has maintained a double-digit lead in public opinion polls over the other candidates since even before he declared.

Zohran Mamdani, a state assembly member and Democratic Socialist who has been gaining ground on Cuomo and is in second place, said it's not the former governor who is best suited to take on Trump. Supporters of Cuomo, Mamdani noted, include billionaire backers of the president.

"I am Donald Trump’s worst nightmare — as a progressive, Muslim immigrant who actually fights for the things that I believe in," said Mamdani, who called Cuomo "so allergic to any accountability or acknowledgment of a mistake."

Also on the stage were the other leading candidates: Adrienne Adams, the City Council speaker; Brad Lander, the current city comptroller; Zellnor Myrie, a state senator; Jessica Ramos, also a state senator; Scott Stringer, the former comptroller; and Whitney Tilson, a former hedge fund manager.

It was the first time Cuomo, whose campaign has shunned the public stage so far in the race and avoided appearing together at any events with his foes, has met all of them at once. 

Not on the stage: incumbent Eric Adams, a Democrat who opted not to seek reelection as a Democrat but is instead running as an independent. Support for Adams plummeted after he was investigated over and indicted for allegedly defrauding the city’s campaign finance system and trading municipal favors for foreigners’ illegal contributions and luxury travel for himself. The Trump administration later ordered that the charges be dropped.

The debate was the first one for mayor of the 2025 season. There is another next week, at 7 p.m. June 12, when the criteria for participating are stricter. The primary election is June 24.

The nine candidates on stage — who must participate because they are accepting public matching funds — qualified based on eligibility criteria set by the city’s Campaign Finance Board, including spending and raising enough cash to demonstrate sufficient backing by New Yorkers.

Cuomo in 2021 resigned as governor in scandal over the sexual harassment allegations. Separately, an audit concluded that he quietly undercounted the deaths of nursing home patients with COVID-19 by ascribing those deaths to hospitals, and he faced criticisms for an executive order early in the pandemic that forced nursing homes to take infected patients.

The candidates reiterated their policy positions they’ve outlined in the race: Mamdani, who wants to increase social programs by raising taxes on wealthier New Yorkers, promising to freeze rents on regulated apartments; Cuomo, to remove all homeless people from the subway system at the end of each night; Ramos, to withhold taxes from the federal government to beat back what she sees as excesses of the Trump administration. 

The candidates also promised to shield the city’s migrants from Trump’s crackdown, which has seen not just collaboration with the police of those accused of criminality but also surprise detentions of otherwise law-abiding families who are separated and taken away at required check-ins.

Wednesday's debate did have moments of levity, but just a few.

The stage couldn't agree over the firing of Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau. Adams, Lander, Myrie, Ramos, Cuomo, Mamdani and Tilson gave thumbs-down. 

Stringer and Blake, thumbs up.

"Our goal is to win the finals," Blake said. "It's not to get to the conference finals."

Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.