NYC NOW - Midday News: Queens Mother Charged in Penn Station Abandonment, and Final New York City Mayoral Debate on WNYC

Episode Date: October 22, 2025

A Queens woman has been charged with abandoning her baby at Penn Station. Meanwhile, In the Bronx, the borough’s iconic Christmas House will stay dark again this holiday season. Also, a new poll shows the New Jersey governor’s race tightening between Mikie Sherrill and Jack Ciattarelli. And tonight at 7 live on WNYC, the three candidates for New York City mayor , Zohran Mamdani, Andrew Cuomo, and Curtis Sliwa, face off in their final debate before Election Day. WNYC’s Brigid Bergin joins us to preview the debate.

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. It's Wednesday, October 22nd. Here's the midday news from Michael Hill. Police have arrested and charged a queen's mother with abandoning her baby at Penn Station Monday morning. 30-year-old Asa Diawara is facing child endangerment charges. Police have not yet reported a motive. They say the baby is stable. Attorney information for Diawara.

is not yet available. The Bronx's famous Christmas house at Westervelt Avenue and Pelham Parkway North will once again remain dark this holiday season. WNIC's Hannah Freshberg explains. This year should be the 50th anniversary of the Garibidian families display. Every holiday season since 1974, their pink Pelham Gardens home had been adorned in angels, reindeer, and well-dressed mannequins galore. Hundreds flock to see it lit up every year. It even had a cameo in Mariah Carey's all. I want for Christmas music video. But the family struggled following a 2016 car accident. And while lots of the figures remain in the yard, the family hasn't put on its beloved showcase since 2019. Brother and sister Gary and Linda Garabedian say they can't bring it back this year, but still

planned to revive the tradition once they can make necessary repairs. A new poll shows race for New Jersey governor getting even closer. The Eagleton poll release today shows Democratic Congress member Mikey Sherrill with a five-point lead of a Republican nominee Jack Chidorelli down from nine points last month. Eagleton says Cheryl's five-point lead is within the margin of error. The election will take place November 4th. Early in-person voting starts this Saturday. The deadline to apply for a mail-in ballot is next Tuesday. The Knicks and Nets return to action tonight in this new NBA season.

59 with sunshine in the city. Mostly sunny today. High in the mid-sixies, wind gusts up to 20. 25 miles an hour. Stay close. There's more after the break. The three candidates fighting to become mayor of New York City will lay out their cases to voters one last time tonight ahead of the election on November 4th. Starting at 7 tonight right here on WNYC, Democratic nominee Zeran Mamdani, independent candidate and former governor, Andrew Cuomo, and Republican Curtis Slewa will tell us how they would govern the city. Tony is now to help tee up tonight's debate on WNYC is WNYC's senior politics reporter, Bridget Berg and Bridget.

Where do each of the candidates stand going into tonight's debate? Well, they're going into it similar to the way they entered last week's debate. Assembly member Zoran Mamdani is still in the lead, but Cuomo has been making some recent gains and has been making a very aggressive case that this race should consolidate. We're going to talk a little bit more about that. And at the same time, you have Sliwa staying very firmly in the race, still polling in third place based on what we have seen so far, but really steadfast that he's in it to win it until the end of the race. What can we expect to hear from each of the candidates in this debate? Well, as I mentioned, pretty much every day since the last debate, Cuomo has been making this case for Slewa to drop out of the race.

And so far, Slewa has refused absolutely. you know, it'll be interesting to see if Cuomo makes that case to Sliwa on the debate stage. In general, I think we can expect to see a pretty rough and tumble, Andrew Cuomo. This is really his last call to stand side by side with his challengers, and I think he's going to be relentless. But even he has said publicly when he's been on W. ABC radio recently that he knows that this combative style comes with risks. If he's too tough, he can come across as a bully, so he's going to need to walk a fine line. And Slewa, in the last debate, you know, delivered a really strong performance, aside from a couple moments when it seemed like maybe had trouble hearing the moderators. But he has a certain momentum in the days since with all this back and forth about whether he's in or out of this race.

Recently, all five of the cities, county Republican leaders have voiced their unwavering support for him. One thing that was interesting last week was the Red Beret was off. It came back on in the recent days. So it'll be interesting. and I'll be watching to see, you know, does he stick with the more serious approach or, you know, does he emerge as the sweet what many of us have known and remembered over the years? And then ultimately for Mamdani, you know, he's going to make his case that this race boils down to affordability. But at the same time, I expect he will not just talk about what he wants to deliver, but how he hopes to achieve it. And do it in a way that withstands what's likely to be a barrage of attacks, particularly from Cuomo, who's really in the past week started making more deeply,

personal attacks on Mom Doni's character. And, you know, if it's anything like the last debate, I expect to hear a pretty assertive Mamdani taking his own shots at Cuomo. What will you be watching for specifically tonight, Bridger? Well, of course, this is the debate that's going to be moderated by Ara Lewis from New York Spectrum, New York One, Katie Honin from the city, and our very own Brian Lair. So I am confident that we are going to hear a solid debate on important city issues. And of course, I expect to hear the candidates to weigh in on yesterday's ice raid on Canal Street. You know, we've been reporting on their initial statements released yesterday, but I know that these moderators are going to push the candidates to say more about how they would

manage the city in response to such events in the future. And then, Michael, on a lighter note, I expect we're going to get some more of those kind of quintessential New York moments that we got in the last debate where the candidates say things that, you know, is the late great Cindy Adam used to stay only in New York kids. I'll be watching for those. Exactly. That's WNYC's Bridget Burke. And remember you can watch the last mayoral debate starting at 7 tonight. Co-hosted by the city.NyC, New York One, and of course WNYC, Brian Lear. Our Brian Lear, one of the moderators tonight. Bridget, thank you. Thank you. Thanks for listening. This is NYC now from WMYC.

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