NYC Mayoral Candidates Debate: Should Trains Run Over Kittens?

Two New York subway lines were shut down for several hours this week because of a couple of kittens on the track. So New York magazine asks the city's prospective mayoral candidates the tough question: Should the trains have just run over them? Republican Joe Lhota (notably, the city's former Transport Authority chairman) says they should. "No, Joe does not think a train line should be shut down," says a spokesperson. His main GOP rival, John Catsimatidis notes you can't spell "Catsimatidis" without "cats," but says the decision is up to the police on the scene, not the mayor. But George McDonald says it's worth keeping subway cats alive to eliminate the subway rats.

The Democratic camp is more bleeding heart. Christine Quinn's spokesperson says she "would have stopped the trains for the kitties." Bill Thompson would "work to protect" the kittens. And Anthony Weiner would go above and beyond. "If Anthony is elected mayor," says his spokesperson, "he will not only stop trains for kittens, he will personally crawl over the third rail to do it." (More New York City stories.)