As the mayoral elections of New York City approach, the competition between the two candidates — Democrat Eric Adams and Republican Curtis Silwa — seems to grow tighter by the day. The two have shared intense debates before the elections and their divided views on various pressing issues.

Current New York City mayor Bill DeBlasio, who is not in the race for the position, has hinted at his intentions to run for the Governor of the state in the 2022 elections.

Here is all you need to know about the mayoral race in New York City:

–Law Enforcement

One of the most dividing issues that lands on the political agenda for both Silwa and Adams is the funding of law enforcement offices, specifically the New York Police Department. 

Adams, a member of the Democratic party, said that he wants to strategically cut back on the Police Department’s budget and footprint. On the other hand, Republican Silwa previously said he wishes to roll back certain budget cuts and expand the force, according to reports from New York Times.

–Economy

New York City is still on its track to recover from an economic slowdown, which was fuelled by the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to this, both the leading candidates have proposed overlapping policies. 

Both Adams and Silwa said they take assistance from the city government of New York to get residents to get back to work and eliminate regulations that restrict small enterprises from going further, New York Times reported.

–Education

Democratic candidate Adams said that he would make screening young students for any signs of dyslexia and other learning disabilities a priority and built upon his plan of not letting children with disabilities get separated from their peers without cause.

On the other hand, Republican candidate Silwa, while speaking on how he would help reduce racial segregation in educational institutions, said his focus would be increasing teacher bonuses and reducing the sizes of a class.