The race for state comptroller heats up in New York City as Democrat Tom DiNapoli and Republican Harry Wilson face off in a debate that you only saw on YNN. Our Bobby Cuza has a recap. ONLINE EXTRA: Watch the entire debate inside this story.

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NEW YORK, N.Y. -- From the start, their opponents' storylines were clear: Republican Harry Wilson is part of the Wall Street crowd that brought down the economy, while Democrat Thomas DiNapoli is a tax-happy career politician.

"Mr. DiNapoli said he was proud of his experience. He failed to note that his experience included voting for over 200 tax increases in the course of his 20 years in the Assembly. Those tax increases are what brought this state to the brink of disaster," said Wilson.

"My opponent comes from Wall Street. He comes from the least transparent, least regulated part of financial services-the hedge fund industry," DiNapoli said.

Wilson objected to that characterization, calling it guilt by association. At the same time, he sought to associate DiNapoli with his disgraced predecessor, Alan Hevesi, who is being investigated for corruption - an investigation that has also extended to meetings that took place on DiNapoli's watch.

"You know full well the comptroller's office was under investigation before I got there," said DiNapoli. "The office has been under investigation since before I got there. Read the papers. You've seen it. Everybody knows that."

Then there was the issue of Wilson's former firm, Silver Point Capital, and its investments in the subprime mortgage market.

"He made millions. In addition, people lost their homes. That shows you were a part of that great wizardry on Wall Street,"DiNapoli said.

Wilson countered that the pension fund, which DiNapoli controls, had similar investments… and that in any case, he wasn't involved.

"My firm had a tiny investment in accredited. It was a fraction of one percent. And I didn't work on it, because I didn't work on financial services investments," said Wilson.

Both men agreed a vacancy in the comptroller's office should be filled by special election; not by a vote of the legislature, which is how DiNapoli won the job in 2007.

"I think Mr. DiNapoli's forgetting which position he was appointed to. He wasn't appointed to U.S. Senate. He was appointed to comptroller," Wilson said.