The first mayoral debate between Eric Adams and Curtis Sliwa featured few, if any, surprises. Adams, the Democratic frontrunner, maintained his composure and stuck to his script while his Republican opponent Sliwa portrayed him as an ally of Mayor Bill de Blasio and a politician with ties to the wealthy.

The one-hour debate was packed with a cornucopia of thorny issues that the next New York City mayor will be faced with, ranging from crime and a mental health crisis to vaccinations of city workers and the fate of the city's gifted and talented program. (The candidates were given at most one minute to answer these questions.)

Sliwa, founder of the Guardian Angels, brought the most energy to the stage, leaning into issues that track well with outer borough conservatives: saying no both to congestion pricing and vaccine mandates, and yes to more money for the NYPD. Prior to the event, the candidate told Gothamist that he was instructed not to bring any props, something he did during a virtual primary debate in May. Although he seemed most at home behind the podium and had the least to lose, he didn't manage to inflict any real damage; still, here are four moments from the debate worth noting (five if you count the below tweet):

Adams Vows To Uphold De Blasio's Vax Mandate While Sliwa Skewers The Policy

On the day when Mayor de Blasio announced that all city workers would now be required to get vaccinated without having the ability to opt-out through weekly testing, both candidates were asked whether they supported such a policy.

Adams had previously made it known that he would be supportive of a vaccine mandate for city employees. But in the wake of the mayor's announcement, he has argued that he would have first negotiated the policy with union leaders. "The heads of unions, they are the credible messengers for their members," he said.

With firefighters and police officers vigorously opposed to the mandate, Adams was pressed on whether he would follow through with de Blasio's decision to "uphold the benching of police officers and firefighters" who defy the order, Adams responded: "Yes, I would. I would follow the orders that are in place."

Read More: NYC Will Mandate COVID-19 Vaccines For All Government Workers

Sliwa, meanwhile, has consistently opposed vaccine mandates. His answer during Wednesday's debate was no different. He called the mayor's ultimatum to city workers, many of whom kept working in person during the pandemic, hypocritical. "We cheered them at night at seven, then all of a sudden we decided...that all of a sudden they would lose their jobs," he said. "We should never fire people for that reason."

Best Adams Line: 'He Made Up Crime...That In Itself Is A Crime'

As expected the two candidates focused on a topic that each professes to be an expert on: public safety and policing. Adams, the current Brooklyn borough president, is a former New York City police officer, while Sliwa is the red-beret-wearing founder of the Guardian Angels, a volunteer group that patrolled the city's subway system in the 1980s.

Both have taken a tough-on-crime stance, pledging to bring back a controversial NYPD anti-crime unit that would target gangs as well as increase policing in the city's subway system.

Nevertheless, there was friction between the two men. Sliwa called out Adams for not calling for an increase in the city's $6 billion police budget and for cozying up with former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, whose administration allowed the NYPD's stop-and-frisk policies to unfairly target young Black and Latino men. The Republican also reprimanded Adams for saying that he would carry a gun as mayor.

"You cannot say 'do as I say but not as I do.' Why would you need a gun?" he asked. "You need to be a role model."

Sliwa, meanwhile, proposed paying for more police officers by ending tax breaks to Madison Square Garden and universities in New York City, an idea that was initially proposed by Democratic primary candidate Andrew Yang, who he praised during the debate.

From the start, Adams fended off the attacks by pointing out that Sliwa's colorful history includes being a fabulist. In doing so, he landed his best line of the night. "He made up crime to New Yorkers. That in itself is a crime."

Sliwa, for his part, chalked it up to his immaturity: "I've made mistakes. I was immature at the age of 25."

He was later asked about a recent incident in which he wrongly claimed on Twitter that he had discovered a gun under a car at a crime scene. Sliwa blamed a campaign staffer who he said was ordered to delete the tweet.

Best Sliwa Attack: 'Why Don't You Answer The Department Of Buildings?'

The question of where Adams lives, which began a few weeks before the primary, continues to linger. Politico reporter and debate moderator Sally Goldenberg, who broke the story, asked the candidate how many nights exactly he has slept in his Brooklyn brownstone in the last six months.

Adams, however, did not provide a number. Instead, he noted that he may sometimes stay late working into the morning at Brooklyn Borough Hall, but he considers his dwelling in Bedford-Stuyvesant to be his home. "That's my primary residence. I don't jot down the number of days I'm there."

The discussion later turned to the topic of illegal basement apartments, in which 11 residents drowned during the remnants of Hurricane Ida last month, during which Sliwa seized the moment to launch what was perhaps his best attack.

Noting that Adams has failed numerous times to respond to notices from the city over a complaint that he himself is living in an illegal basement, Sliwa posed the question: "Why don't you answer the Department of Buildings..?"

Although a moderator jumped in to interrupt Sliwa, Adams was later given a chance to respond to his opponent's inquiry. But Adams declined, saying, "I am responding to the people of the city who have supported me."

Adams, Sliwa Support The Expansion Of G&T

Following de Blasio's decision to scrap the city's gifted and talented program this month, both Adams and Sliwa said they would work instead to expand the program. But neither has provided a real vision of how an expanded G&T would work and how it would dismantle entrenched segregation in the public school system.

The test is administered once a year to children as young as 4 and up to age 7, and during the debate, Adams said he would not support a single test for 4-year-old students. "I don't believe a 4-year-old taking the exam should determine the rest of their school experience. That is unacceptable."

The larger takeaway is that the gifted program is likely to be reimagined next year.

Read More: Here's Your Guide To NYC's 2021 Election

You can find video of tonight's debate here. The next debate is Tuesday, October 26th (7 p.m.). Early voting starts this Saturday, October 23rd.