Crowd Helps Turn 2017 Mayoral Debate Into Campaign Street Fight

UPPER WEST SIDE — "Wild Man Bo" was the one who was supposed to bring fireworks to Tuesday night's mayoral debate. But it was the raucous crowd that turned one of just two general-election debates into a circus, cutting off and drowning out the candidates and resulting in one man's ejection.

The throng of about 600 at Symphony Space on the Upper West Side didn't discriminate. They booed and cheered Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio and his challengers, Nicole Malliotakis and Bo Dietl, on their answers about any issue, including affordable housing, crime, income inequality and public transit.

The moderator, NY1 anchor Errol Louis, had one man tossed out after he told de Blasio, "You're going to jail!" He had earlier called the mayor a liar.

"Goodnight sir," Louis told the man, who was escorted past reporters and out of the theater.

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The debate was largely a street-fight version of the mayor's race so far, with the candidates interrupting each other and ignoring moderators' warnings that time was up.

Malliotakis, a Republican state assemblywoman from Staten Island, and Dietl, a brash retired NYPD detective running as an independent, both slammed de Blasio as a corrupt and ineffective leader who's failed to live up to his promises. He's left subway system festering, the budget ballooned and homeless people out in the cold, they argued.

"We need to restore New York City as a beacon of hope and opportunity for all, and I’m ready to clean up his mess," Malliotakis said.

De Blasio defended his progressive "investments" that he says have improved the city, such as free pre-kindergarten classes, his affordable housing initiative and a bolstered police force. And he attacked his opponents, especially Malliotakis, as "right-wing Republicans who voted for Donald Trump."

"We're making progress in this city but I need your help to continue this progress," de Blasio said.

Malliotakis and Dietl protested that they disagreed with the president on many things; Dietl once replied that he's a registered Democrat.

The debate didn't lack the trademark antics of Dietl, the only third-party candidate who qualified to appear. He started his opening statement by saying "Go Yankees" and ridiculing de Blasio for being a Boston Red Sox fan. He also once called de Blasio "big bird," one of his go-to insults for the mayor, and groaned to express displeasure with de Blasio's answers.

Dietl doubled down on his defense of a remark this summer comparing First Lady Chirlane McCray to a judge who ruled against him. “All I said was the judge was very familiar looking to the mayor’s wife with two beautiful eyes and a smile," he said. De Blasio said the comparison made him "no better than Donald Trump."

Given the chance to question each other, Dietl asked de Blasio why there's a wall around Gracie Mansion and Malliotakis asked why he traveled to Germany during a tumultuous week for the city.

De Blasio asked Malliotakis about why she voted for Trump. When NY1 anchor Grace Rauh repeated the question later, Mallitakis accused her of "carrying water for the mayor," even though she had asked him a pointed question about the size of the city's budget.

The last debate, reserved for the top contenders — likely de Blasio and Malliotakis — is set for Nov. 1, just six days before the election.

(Lead image: Pool photo by Jefferson Siegel, New York Daily News, via AP)