Dem mayoral hopefuls all agree on axing NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea

Dermot SheaTheo Wargo/Getty Images

Dermot Shea

Theo Wargo/Getty Images

Seven Democratic candidates for the 2021 mayoral race all agreed on two positions — they’d oust NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea and would not accept an endorsement from current Mayor Bill de Blasio.

But the contenders were split on a variety of other issues from tearing down the statue of Christopher Columbus in Columbus Circle to personal marijuana usage.

The first mayoral forum for next year’s election was hosted by the Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club and excluded Democratic Candidate Loree Suttonbecause the group’s leader believes she’s too conservative.

The included candidates were Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, Obama cabinet member Shaun Donovan, Former Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia, City Councilman Carlos Menchaca, nonprofit leader Dianne Morales, city Comptroller Scott Stringer and former de Blasio counsel Maya Wiley.

During a lightning round of yes or no questions, all seven participants replied in the affirmative that they would “fire” de Blasio’s current police commissioner.

While mayors routinely appoint new police commissioners once they take office, many city leaders have called for Shea’s ouster, arguing he was too heavy-handed in response to the city’s George Floyd protests.

The candidates also readily agreed that they would neither seek nor accept de Blasio’s endorsement, with Stringer quipping that he’s the “least likely” to get it.

Leading contenders Adams and Stringer opposed removing the Columbus statue. Both men also rejected de Blasio’s decision to remove homeless men from the Lucerne Hotel on the Upper West Side following an outcry about quality-of-life issues from local residents.

The participants were also divided on whether to rename the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge because of the former mayor’s failure to lead on the city’s AIDS epidemic. Garcia admitted she’d never thought of the matter, then added, “I like Ed Koch so I don’t have an answer on you for that one tonight.”

Adams, a former cop, said he would not take money from law enforcement unions but is accepting contributions from the real estate industry.

Garcia and Donovan are the only other two candidates who are taking real estate money with the former sanitation commissioner saying that the industry is a part of the city and “everyone needs to be at the table.”

Many progressives are against real estate contributions, believing the industry is responsible for making the city unaffordable.

Most of the candidates, save for Morales and Menchaca who remarked on their preference for edible marijuana, said they don’t smoke pot.

“But I make a mean gin and tonic,” Wiley joked.

The Democratic club did not invite Republicans to the event. Potential or declared GOP mayoral contenders include Guardian Angel Founder Curtis Sliwa, supermarket mogul John Catsimatidis and former Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s son Andrew Giuliani.

Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club