Joe Lhota
While Democratic candidate and Public Advocate Bill de Blasio appears poised to win the mayoral election with a historic lead – polls consistently show him leading Republican Joe Lhota by about 40 to 45 points – that has not cooled a heated campaign nor stopped the two opponents from trading barbs over everything from Sandy aid to crime.
In a recent televised debate, de Blasio and Lhota sniped at one another over the use of federal funds for hurricane victims.
Lhota, the former chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, criticized the Democratic candidate for saying during a recent trip to the Rockaways that he would use portions of the federal aid to not only help residents with reconstruction but use it in other areas such as job creation and affordable housing.
The Republican said residents who are still struggling to rebuild “want the money used for what the state of New York and the city of New York asked for: To repair and replace their homes,” Lhota said during last week’s debate.
“I’m concerned Mr. de Blasio’s efforts to do other things with it, it’s going to destroy the entire process,” Lhota continued.
As he has numerous times throughout the campaign, de Blasio accused Lhota of using incendiary language.
“It’s not going to destroy the process,” de Blasio said sharply. “We’re talking about how to use this money to make it effective.”
The Democratic candidate said using money for job creation and affordable housing would be especially helpful in places like the Rockaways, which he called “a neighborhood that has been forgotten by the city for so long.”
“We have to do a lot with the federal money coming in – it’s a crucial moment,” de Blasio said.
Lhota has said that he too would want to focus on job creation and sustainable housing in areas hard hit by Sandy but said using the federal money to help people with their most immediate needs – rebuilding homes – should be the priority.
Bill de Blasio
The two candidates have also repeatedly sparred on crime throughout the campaign, but the blows have grown increasingly intense as the election nears and the two got into what essentially amounted to screaming matches over it at last week’s debate.
“Bill de Blasio served in the administration of David Dinkins, and during that period of time, we had 2,000 murders a year, the last time we had a race riot in the city of New York,” said Lhota, who has slammed de Blasio’s plan to purge the controversial stop-and-frisk tactic, saying it will handcuff police and make crime raets rise.
De Blasio, meanwhile, slammed Lhota for the Republican’s recent ad that shows images of New York City during the crime-infested 1970s, suggesting that similar scenes will occur if the Democrat is elected. The ad also features a scene of the group of bikers that attacked a driver in Upper Manhattan in September.
“Mr. Lhota should be ashamed of an ad that tries to divide us, that’s based on fear-mongering,” said de Blasio, who also said the commercial was “race baiting” in part because of its use of photos of riots.
“You want to throw out the race card?” Lhota yelled. “Let’s talk about the various different mass cards put out for the thousands of people killed in the city. Let’s talk about the report card for the kid being kept in failing schools. Let’s talk about the scorecard that says New York City is the highest-taxed city in the country.”
The candidates’ final debate was scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 30, after The Forum goes to press.
By Anna Gustafson
