NEW YORK — It’s a little-watched race for a little-understood office, but the Democratic primary for city comptroller is contentious.

At Thursday’s debate co-hosted by NY1, WNYC and THE CITY, City Council Speaker Corey Johnson was often targeted.

What You Need To Know

  • Eight Democrats face off in race to be city's fiscal watchdog

  • Most said they wanted to audit agencies, especially the NYPD, more frequently

  • But, like in other races, they also discussed the intersection of public safety and police reform

“You’re running to be the chief financial officer of the city and yet when the City Council held 20 executive budget hearings, you skipped every single one,” said City Councilman Brad Lander.

“The budget under Bill de Blasio and my opponent, Corey Johnson, has gone up by $20 billion per year,” said former financial journalist Michelle Caruso-Cabrera.

The faceoff was the last before early voting begins Saturday.

Johnson, the race's front-runner, didn’t let attacks go unanswered.

“I’ve negotiated three on-time, $90 billion budgets,” he told Lander, adding in a heated exchange: “Brad, Brad, Brad, don’t try to confuse voters. I’ve talked to the budget director multiple times during the last ..."

"Yeah, in the backroom,” Lander interjected.

Johnson also said, “Ms. Caruso-Cabrera is the only person who was a lifelong Republican until 2015, and voters should judge that in any way they’d like.”

A Spectrum News NY1/Ipsos poll shows Caruso-Cabrera and Lander tied for second place.

But 44% of voters say they’re undecided.
 


The comptroller audits city agencies, reviews city contracts and oversees $250 billion in public pension funds.

While most candidates agreed audits, particularly of the NYPD, should be conducted more frequently, they clashed on broader police reform themes.

Voting resources

“Law enforcement in it of itself is not the only component of public safety," said State Sen. Brian Benjamin. "Mental health is a very important component of public safety.”

“We have a significant violence problem, a lot of it is due to gang violence," said State Sen. Kevin Parker. "We actually need to continue to support and find money for things like summer youth employment.”

“How do we make sure that we’re spending money in the right places, that mental health issues and social service issues aren’t being handled by the police, but by people who are trained?” said community leader Reshma Patel.

“I’m not a fan of the ‘Defund the Police’ movement. We’re actually down 3,000 police officers due to the police department budget cuts,” said State Assemblyman David Weprin, adding that violent crime rates are rising.

Weprin is endorsed by several police unions, something Benjamin criticized him for, considering some of the leadership’s incendiary remarks.

But it was former Marine Zach Iscol who had a backhanded compliment after one rival discussed managing federal funds for the COVID-19 recovery:

“That is exactly why, Sen. Benjamin, we need your leadership and also Sen. Parker’s leadership to remain in Albany," he said. "And that’s why we need to make sure that you don’t get elected comptroller.”

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Watch the full debate above.

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