NEW YORK (RNS) — New York Metropolis’s non secular leaders gave mayoral candidates a platform to debate their visions for the town at a discussion board on Thursday (June 5), at St. John the Divine Cathedral in Morningside Heights.
The occasion, hosted forward of the June 24 main election, was co-sponsored by a coalition of faith-based organizations, together with Union Theological Seminary, Jewish Theological Seminary, Hindus for Human Rights and the Interfaith Heart of New York.
Although all mayoral candidates had been invited, solely 4 attended: former federal prosecutor Jim Walden, New York State Meeting member Zohran Mamdani, former New York State Meeting member Michael Blake, and former New York Metropolis comptroller Scott Stringer.
The concept for the discussion board got here out of weekly religion chief conferences titled “Witness to Democracy,” held at Columbus Circle in Manhattan. Since March, they’ve gathered each Monday night to wish, sing and replicate on the nation’s political scenario.
“Religion is a vital a part of the civic material of New York, and it’s a important time within the lifetime of the town, so we wish to be a part of the dialog about the way forward for the town and about who’s elected mayor,” the Rt. Rev. Matthew F. Heyd, bishop coadjutor of the Episcopal Diocese of New York (a sponsor of the occasion), informed Faith Information Service.
The discussion board aimed to asses the candidates’ dedication to guard the town’s most weak, stated the Rev. Adriene Thorne, senior minister at Riverside Church in New York Metropolis, a sponsor of the occasion.
“It was essential for us to indicate up tonight and be sure that mayoral candidates heard from religion leaders on what issues to us — and what issues to us is a metropolis that works for all of God’s individuals,” she stated on the occasion. “There are numerous issues occurring in our metropolis that look like in help of what’s occurring within the federal authorities and within the Trump administration, and what that claims to us is that this present administration doesn’t care about probably the most weak amongst us.”
The dialogue, hosted by PBS’s Ray Suarez, centered on the candidates’ plans to guard New York’s immigrant communities, methods to sort out hate crimes and spiritual hatred, and insurance policies on affordability. All through the night, the candidates — three Democrats and one Unbiased — mentioned what they known as the Trump administration’s assaults on the town. All of them instructed the November normal election could be a referendum on what the town’s cooperation with the present administration ought to appear to be.
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“We now have to win this election and cease Donald Trump,” stated Stringer, a Democrat, who left the discussion board after opening statements to attend a fundraiser. “We now have to revive honesty and dignity to authorities.”
The candidates unanimously criticized Mayor Eric Adams, who’s operating as an Unbiased incumbent and didn’t attend the discussion board, for working with the Trump administration to facilitate immigration enforcement operations within the metropolis. In addition they mentioned methods to guard the town’s sanctuary standing, put into query by the Adams administration.
Blake, a Bronx-born son of Jamaican immigrants, stated he hopes to make immigration a problem all New Yorkers are involved about. If elected, Blake, a Democrat, stated he hoped to revive secure havens — barring U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers from conducting arrests in locations of worship, faculties and group facilities with no judicial warrant — and permit for upfront funding for nonprofits working with immigrants.
New York Metropolis mayoral candidate Michael Blake addresses an interfaith discussion board, Thursday, June 5, 2025, at St. John the Divine Cathedral in Manhattan. (Photograph by Future Mata)
“The present mayor has allowed rhetoric to exist for immigrants to not be protected. … That’s unacceptable,” Blake stated.
Mamdani, a Uganda-born son of Indian immigrants, stated his administration would concentrate on funding authorized illustration for immigrants.
“The easy act of getting a authorized consultant will increase your possibilities of going house to your loved ones 11-fold. That’s an funding {that a} metropolis should make,” stated Mamdani, a Democrat.
For Walden, who’s operating as an Unbiased, his precedence is to make sure ICE abides by state legal guidelines and Supreme Courtroom choices by solely conducting arrests underneath judicial warrants, not administrative warrants, he stated. He additionally stated courtroom hearings shouldn’t be used as an event to arrest immigrants.
“There must be a secure passage regulation that makes it clear that if there’s a judicial course of occurring, somebody can’t be arrested with out the permission of the choose that’s supervising their case,” Walden stated.
The candidates additionally addressed the rise in hate crimes within the metropolis. In 2023 — the newest yr with accessible knowledge — the NYPD reported a 12.7% enhance in hate crimes in comparison with 2022, with probably the most assaults in opposition to Jewish, Black and homosexual male New Yorkers.
