Zohran Mamdani sought to draw a sharp distinction between himself and the former New York governor as the two front-runners traded barbed criticisms early in the mayoral debate.

Andrew Cuomo's opponents in the mayoral race blasted him for allegedly lying to Congress about nursing home death counts during COVID, an accusation he repeatedly deflected in Wednesday's debate.

Ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo appeared to get heated — and raised his voice — as he insisted nursing home deaths were not undercounted in New York during the COVID-19 pandemic. He also refused to say if he edited his administration’s controversial report on coronavirus deaths in nursing homes — the lynchpin of the investigation into his time as governor by the Department of Justice.

Andrew Cuomo and Zohran Mamdani traded barbs and faced attacks from lower-polling opponents during the two-hour debate, as one rival — city Comptroller Brad Lander — made a final push to break into what polls show is a two-person race.

His closing message is a scorching ad saying New York could be next after Los Angeles and his 33-year-old opponent can’t lead.

Andrew Cuomo refused to condemn state Assembly Speaker and longtime ally Carl Heastie for torpedoing a bipartisan bill that would have commemorated Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 terror attack on the Jewish state.

A proposed flier from a super PAC supporting Andrew Cuomo’s mayoral bid featured an image of Zohran Mamdani with a thicker beard. Mr. Mamdani called the manipulation Islamophobic.