Andrew Cuomo will try one last time to anger Zahran Mamdani in the final New York City mayoral debate — but Saliwa still stands in the way.

Desperate Andrew Cuomo You will be looking to come out swinging In the final mayoral debate on Wednesday, where he hopes to anger the smiling socialist Zahran Mamdani — which maintains a double-digit lead in the polls with less than two weeks left until the election.

But the former governor is expected to face a familiar obstacle in Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa, who is likely to unleash on Cuomo again, which could help deflect any knockdowns from the front-runner, critics told The Washington Post.

“As long as Sliwa is there to obstruct Cuomo’s attacks on Mamdani and force him on the defensive, it will be difficult, if not impossible, for Cuomo to get what he needs,” said Andrew Kurtzman, a longtime communications specialist.

“Cuomo is in a very difficult position,” Kurtzman said. “He put Sliwa between him and his goal.”

The trio will compete at 7 p.m. from LaGuardia Community College in Long Island City for the second and final debate of the election cycle — with Cuomo and Sliwa facing the nearly insurmountable task of winning over enough voters to oust the Democratic nominee.

The two candidates will have to work together in one of the most unlikely teams in modern political history to have any chance of making a significant dent in Mamdani’s overwhelming support, according to experts.

“Ideally, Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa need to take Mamdani off his game a little bit,” said Democratic activist Ross Wallenstein. “Make him angry. Make him angry. Ask him to show his true colors on an issue.

“But in reality, the only thing Cuomo and Sliwa can do is for one of them to withdraw,” Wallenstein said. “On stage, one of them should sincerely urge his supporters to vote for the other in order to save New York City from the Mamdani administration.”

But critics agreed that this scenario, though made-for-TV, was as unlikely as a fairy tale, with Sliwa likely using his time to take out his anger on his old foe Cuomo.

The three-time Democratic governor has been pushing hard to talk the controversial Guardian Angels founder out of the race — but Sliwa has remained defiant, even as his friend and longtime boss John Catsimatidis Call him out publicly to unite behind Cuomo in an effort to meet with Mamdani this week.

“Unfortunately, Curtis is going to screw things up again,” Democratic strategist Ken Friedman said.

The mad rush to convince Saliwa to end his campaign as the Nov. 4 election approaches comes on the heels of a new poll by AARP and Gotham Polling. Which Cuomo was within the margin of error If only the confrontation was against Mamdani.

For his part, Mamdani will take the stage without having much to prove to come out on top — as long as he stays upright for 90 minutes, according to insiders, who believe the debate will do little to change voters’ minds.

Kurtzman said Cuomo will have to pull some punches at Mamdani to prompt “some kind of game-changing mistake.”

“But Mamdani did not commit a misstep throughout his campaign,” he noted.

Political activist Alyssa Kass, partner at Slingshot Strategies, sets the bar much lower for the Democratic Socialists of America.

“If Mamdani can avoid sacrificing himself on stage, he will become the mayor of the city,” she said.

“For Cuomo, the opportunity is different: It is not a debate but an opportunity to shape and improve the last three sentences of his obituary.”

When and where does the discussion take place?

Hosted by Spectrum NY1, the debate will be held at the LaGuardia Center for the Performing Arts at LaGuardia Community College in Long Island City.

It will start at 7pm and last for 90 minutes.

Moderators will be NY1’s Errol Lewis, WNYC’s Brian Lehrer, and THE CITY’s Katie Honan.

How to watch the discussion:

The discussion will be hosted by Spectrum’s NY1. It will be broadcast live on the channel and streamed on its website.

Who participates?

Democratic candidate Zahran Mamdani

Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa

Independent candidate Andrew Cuomo

Will there be an audience?

Yes. There will be a small studio audience with members of the New York City press corps in attendance.

What do the polls say?

Latest opinion poll On Monday, Mamdani took first place with 43% of the vote, followed by Cuomo with 29% and Sliwa in third place with 19% of the vote.

That poll also found Mamdani slightly ahead of Cuomo, 44.6% to 40.7%, if Sliwa drops out of the race.