The candidates for mayor faced off Wednesday in the final debate before Election Day. As our exclusive NY1/Baruch College City Poll finds, de Blasio is still enjoying a big lead -- but not as big as he had just a few weeks ago. NY1 Political Reporter Grace Rauh has the poll results below, and the full story below that.
If the election for mayor were held today, for whom would you vote?
Base: LIKELY Voters (Registered weighted by likelihood based on intent and vote history)
Bill de Blasio, the Democratic Party candidate |
49% |
Nicole Malliotakis, the Republican Party candidate |
16% |
Bo Dietl, an independent candidate |
3% |
Sal Albanese, the Reform Party candidate |
2% |
Or would you not vote? |
4% |
Not Sure |
20% |
Refused |
5% |
This telephone poll was of a random sample of 1,089 New York City adult residents, including 800 likely voters in the November 2017 probable electorate. The margin of error for likely voters is +/- 4.5 points.
BREAKDOWN OF THE POLL
Mayor Bill de Blasio is 33 percentage points ahead of his Republican rival, State Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis. But his lead has shrunk from early-October, when polls had him up by as much as 44 percentage points.
Our NY1/Baruch College City Poll shows 49 percent of likely voters are backing de Blasio, while 16 percent are with Malliotakis. 3 percent are with independent Bo Dietl, and 2 percent are with Reform Party candidate Sal Albanese.
But there are many New Yorkers who are undecided: 20 percent say they are not sure who to back.
Part of the problem is that the Republican nominee is so unknown. 74 percent of likely voters say they don't know anything or do not know much about Malliotakis. 25 percent say they know a "great deal or some" about the GOP candidate.
De Blasio, Malliotakis, and Dietl shared the debate stage Wednesday night. The opening question? Whether the NYPD should be monitoring mosques to prevent terrorism — a program de Blasio ended.
"The surveillance program of the past failed because it alienated our police from the very people we needed information from, and it violated people's rights," de Blasio responded.
"We are not going to be targeting any particular group or any particular type of religion," Malliotakis said.
Dietl seemed to be calling on police to profile would-be terrorists.
"Just look at this terrorist. What did he look like? Did he look like the terrorist? If you looked at a dictionary with that beard that he had — this is something that we've got to get past," Dietl said. "Political correctness cannot be there all the time."
The debate came just one day after the deadly terror attack in Lower Manhattan. The mayor said he consults with the NYPD about how to best protect vulnerable areas, like the bike path the alleged terrorist drove down.
"We change constantly with the times," de Blasio said.
"My administration will be proactive, not reactive," Malliotakis said. "We will have bollards where necessary."
The debate was more subdued than the one held last month by NY1. It was perhaps a reflection of the mood in the city after the attack.