Cuomo Takes Aim at Progressives During Manhattan Campaign for Mayor 

Cuomo Takes Aim at Progressives During Manhattan Campaign for Mayor 

By:  Hadassa Kalatizadeh

Now that former New York State governor Andrew M. Cuomo has made it official that he is running for mayor, he will need to catch up.  The field of candidates running in the upcoming June Democratic primary is already crowded with well-known names, including City Comptroller Brad Lander, former Comptroller Scott Stringer, Queens Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, former Bronx Assemblyman Michael Blake and state Senators Zellnor Myrie of Brooklyn and Jessica Ramos of Queens.

The former governor posted a 17-minute video Saturday announcing his entry into the race, and pitching himself as the common-sense leader needed to save the city from crime and disorder. “I know government can make a positive difference, because we did. Was it easy? No. But together, we achieved historic progressive accomplishments,” Cuomo said.  He has already garnered multiple endorsements.

As reported by the NY Daily News, the 20,000-member NYC carpenters union officially endorsed Cuomo.  On Sunday, Mr.  Cuomo, 67, held a campaign speech with supporters at the New York City District Council of Carpenters Union Hall in downtown Manhattan.  “We are here today for one reason: We love New York, and we know New York is in trouble,” Cuomo said.  “We don’t need stats, you can feel it.  When you walk down the street and see the homeless mentally ill. When you walk into the subway and can feel the anxiety rise up in your chest.”

Cuomo took a shot at the progressive Democrats running for mayor, saying: “These politicians now wanting to be mayor made a terrible, terrible mistake. They uttered the three dumbest words ever uttered by a government official: ‘Cut police funding.’”

In 2020, progressive politicians had pushed for approximately $1 billion in cuts from the NYPD’s budget, leading to a jump in crime.  The incumbent, mayor Eric Adams, who Cuomo will also need to face off against, has been much more moderate, and has seen overall crime drop this year, in comparison with 2022 when he took office. Still, crime rates remain higher than pre-pandemic levels, per NYPD data.  Cuomo also took the opportunity to criticize “these democratic socialist candidates that released a wave of anti-Semitism throughout our city,” referring to the pro-Hamas, anti-Israel protests which have significantly increased throughout 2024.

Mr. Cuomo had served as governor from 2011 until his resignation in 2021, amid multiple sexual misconduct allegations.  He also previously served as Attorney General of New York from 2007 till 2010, and his father Mario Cuomo had also served as the Empire State’s governor for three terms, from 1983 to 1994.  Andrew Cuomo is now trying to make a political comeback, following his resignation which stemmed from being accused of sexually harassing 13 women, as well as a scandal surrounding the number of COVID-19 deaths of the elderly in New York nursing homes and a cover up.

The former governor has denied any wrongdoing. As per the information in The New York Daily News, he seemed to reference the scandals and his resignation during the campaign event on Sunday, when he said.  “You hit a tough spot in life, which is inevitable that something is going to happen, and you hit that tough spot, and you know what? Then you really find out who your friends are.”

Cuomo has also received endorsements from Staten Island’s Democratic Party, Rep. Ritchie Torres, former state Comptroller H. Carl McCall, and the Village Reform Democratic Club in Greenwich Village, as previously reported by TJV.