‘This is a hard job’: NYC mayoral candidate Kathryn Garcia trashes rival Andrew Yang as too inexperienced

New York City mayoral candidate Kathryn Garcia, who’s enjoyed a recent surge in the polls, trashed rival Andrew Yang on Wednesday as too inexperienced to run the biggest city in the country.

In an appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” the former city sanitation commissioner said Yang just isn’t ready to run the sprawling metropolis and managing its 8 million residents.

“Andrew is a lovely person but this is a hard job,” Garcia said with a slight smile on her face. “You don’t want anyone in there looking for the light switch.”

Garcia pushed back hard against Yang’s recent criticism that she left New York streets dirtier than ever, reminding viewers that she quit her post as sanitation commissioner after Mayor Bill de Blasio cut the sanitation budget by $100 million.

“I welcome a conversation about our records,” she said.

Garcia and the seven other Democratic candidates will face each other in person Wednesday evening for their second mayoral debate.

Garcia is locked in battle with both Yang and Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams at the top of the polls with just weeks to go before the primary election on June 22, which will be decided using the new ranked choice voting system.

Other major candidates including de Blasio’s former legal counsel Maya Wiley, city Comptroller Scott Stringer, Wall Street executive Ray McGuire and President Barack Obama’s former housing secretary Shaun Donovan.

Garcia brushed aside a question about whether she would have trouble dealing with Gov. Andrew Cuomo after calling on him to resign over sexual harassment allegations.

“I know you have to be able to sit down and make a deal,” she told Associated Press reporter Jonathan Lemire.