Debate for NY-10′s Congressional District focuses on transit, Trump and immigration

US

Immigration, infrastructure and questions of experience dominated the Democratic primary debate for New York’s 10th congressional district on Wednesday night.

The prospect of a second Trump presidency — anathema to Democratic primary voters in the deep-blue district covering Lower Manhattan and a swath of Brooklyn — also loomed throughout the debate between Dan Goldman, former counsel in the first impeachment of the 45th president, former city Comptroller Elizabeth Holtzman, Rep. Mondaire Jones, Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou, Councilwoman Carlina Rivera and Assemblywoman Jo Anne Simon.

Each indicated they would welcome asylum seekers as national attention has been focused on recent bus convoys sent from red border states to the Big Apple.

“Anyone seeking asylum is someone we have to give safety to. We need comprehensive immigration reform,” said Jones, a freshman congressman who has repped Westchester in his first term but is running Downtown in light of this year’s redistricting.

He went on to tout his U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021, which he said would provide a patch to citizenship for up to 11 million immigrants if passed.

Simon called Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s policy of busing migrants to New York City “highly illegal” and “cruel,” adding that Congress should consider nixing the policy that “criminalized people coming in an unauthorized fashion,” among other steps.

Niou, perhaps the furthest left candidate in the race, repeated the progressive rallying cry of banning U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“The elimination of ICE would be the best way to go because this is an atrocity right now, how we are hurting and harming people,” said Niou, noting she was the only immigrant on stage.

All six candidates said they would join Mayor Adams if he personally traveled to Texas to push back against Abbott’s controversial policy, which is aimed at pressuring Washington on immigration.

Transit issues like congestion pricing dominated part of the debate, with the candidates voicing broad support for Albany’s policy of charging drivers who enter Manhattan below 60th St as well as how to handle the crumbling infrastructure of the triple cantilever on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, better known as the BQE.

Most of the candidates called for some exemptions, with Rivera saying the plan should possibly include incentives for people to use electric cars.

“You’ve gotta make sure that the pricing doesn’t price a family out of getting into Manhattan,” said Holtzman, a member of Congress from 1973 to 1981.

Candidates mostly played nice with one another throughout the debate, until they got the opportunity to ask one another questions toward the end of the session held at the CUNY Graduate Center in Manhattan and moderated by NY1 and WNYC.

Jones accused Goldman of investing in Fox News and Ruger firearms, then asked him: “Will you apologize tonight to the victims of your investments?”

Goldman promised to put his assets into a blind trust if elected to Congress, adding: “I am a vigorous advocate for ensuring that there are no ethical violations and that the American people know their representatives are advocating only in their interest, not in their personal interest.”

Each of the candidates pounced on Trump in the wake of the FBI’s recent raid on his Mar-a-Lago home.

“We have to be firm and strong and see what we can do to protect this country, because he is a menace,” said Holtzman.

The Democratic primary is scheduled for Aug. 23. The winner is all but certain to prevail in the fall general election.

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