3’s a crowd at debate tonight

MAYOR DE BLASIO will face off against Republican Nicole Malliotakis and independent Bo Dietl in the first debate of the general election Tuesday.

Hizzoner enters the debate with a wide lead in the polls, which also showed that most New Yorkers don’t know enough about Malliotakis, a Staten Island assemblywoman, to have an opinion of her — something her campaign says it expects to change in the coming weeks.

But she may have a tougher time introducing herself to the debate audience thanks to the inclusion of Bo Dietl, the controversial private eye and former NYPD detective who has dominated many of the forums he’s attended. The debate will air live on NY1 and WNYC at 7 pm.