After sharing a stage last night in Midtown, the Republican candidates for president were campaigning outside New York City on Friday, with just a few days before Tuesday's big primary. Our Grace Rauh has the story.
As he trails in the polls in New York, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is stepping up his attacks against Donald Trump and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, taking aim at both in an explosive new ad.
"I think he's a smart guy that knows what's going on. And I think he's not going to want to destroy New York."
That was Trump in the ad talking about the city's Democratic mayor, a popular punching bag for conservatives.
Cruz in particular has relished taking him on.
"You look at what de Blasio has done: he's ended stop-and-frisk, he's stopped monitoring areas where terrorists are likely to congregate," Cruz said in an exclusive interview with NY1. "We need to focus on keeping America safe."
"While our murder rate is at historic lows, Mr. Cruz claims crime is rampant — just one more thing he gets wrong about New Yorkers," said Monica Klein, a spokesperson for de Blasio.
At a rally in Plattsburgh, Trump slammed Cruz, mocking him for being the anti-Trump candidate and little more.
"Cruz is going really down, because people have been watching him and somehow there's really nothing compelling there," Trump said. "He's the last hope, he's the last hope to stop Trump. That's all he's got going!"
John Kasich held town hall meetings in Utica and Watertown.
"It's closer to Quebec than it is to New York City right here? Is that true? " Kasich said at the town hall.
The Ohio governor is meeting with Republican Party officials next week to try and convince them that he should be the nominee, despite his delegate shortage.
"I'm probably just going to talk to them about the fact that I can win when you look at the national polls," Kasich said. "I'll talk to him about the qualifications to be president and the future of our party, and how our party has to be idea-driven with a certain hopefulness that brings people together."
Kasich is scheduled to be on Long Island and in Manhattan later Saturday.
Trump, of course, is still trying to avoid a contested convention. But he'll need to win big in New York on Tuesday and pick up the lion's share of delegates for that to happen.