Adams & Sliwa put up their dukes

The city may not sleep, but both mayoral candidates tried hard to make it happen during their first debate before New Yorkers head to the polls beginning this Saturday for early voting before Election Day on Nov. 2.

During the first general-election debate Wednesday evening on WNBC, Democrat Eric Adams and Republican Curtis Sliwa mostly stuck to well-worn messages.

In a more toned-down affair than political observers expected, Sliwa repeatedly tied Adams, the Brooklyn borough president, to “teammate” Mayor de Blasio, while former NYPD cop Adams cast Sliwa as a fabulist who engaged in “buffoonery,”

“This had to be the most boring debate in history,” groaned Stu Loeser, who served as a top communications staff for former Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Democratic-primary candidate Ray McGuire.

Sliwa, founder of the red-bereted Guardian Angels civilian-patrol group, labeled Adams a “teammate,” “partner” and “ally” of de Blasio.

“Adams will be de Blasio 2.0,” read a postdebate e-mail from Sliwa’s campaign.

In an apparent attempt to needle his opponent, Sliwa accused Adams — a former NYPD captain who has vowed to be a “blue-collar mayor” — of spending too much time recently with “elites.”

“Eric Adams is with the elites in the suites with the TikTok girls,” he said, in apparent reference to a Page Six report last month about Adams hanging at club Zero Bond with the D’Amelio sisters, stars on the short-video app.

Adams wouldn’t take the bait and mostly stayed above the fray, often declining to respond to Sliwa’s jabs — and a few times also dodged directly answering debate moderators’ questions.

Asked to respond to Sliwa mocking him for planning a trip to Florida after the election “like he just won the Super Bowl,” Adams opted not to.

“No, I’m speaking to New Yorkers, not speaking to buffoonery,” said Adams.

“Let’s be clear: New Yorkers are going to make a determination of the person who wore a bulletproof vest . . . versus the person who made up crimes so that he can be popular.”

Sliwa has admitted to staging his own fake kidnapping in 1990, claiming he was abducted by transit cops.

Adams reiterated his philosophy about the importance of ensuring New Yorkers enjoy both “safety” and “justice.”

“Public safety is a prerequisite to prosperity. Public safety and justice,” he said. “I will have the backs of my police officers, but that covenant — if you decide not to understand the nobility of public protection, you won’t serve in my department.” He added, “We’re not going to see disorder in my city.”