After months of speculation, former Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Saturday, March 1, via an online campaign video, that he is running for mayor of New York City.

 

As reported, Democratic Congressman Ritchie Torres (NY-15), who represents a large section of The Bronx stretching from the northwest to the south, had already endorsed Cuomo in anticipation of his announced run. As also reported, rumors of a Cuomo comeback, since his fall from grace in August 2021 amid a workplace sexual harassment scandal, have long been circulating but several judicial proceedings appeared to prolong the scandal, overshadowing his reemergence on the public stage.

 

After the New York State Assembly authorized an impeachment investigation into the workplace sexual harassment allegations in August 2021, Cuomo said he would resign and did so on Aug. 24 that year, paving the way for the ascent of his then-deputy governor, now New York Gov. Kathy Hochul. The governor has consistently denied any intentional wrongdoing. For more on this topic, click here.

 

In appealing for votes for his candidacy, Cuomo said that it was time for a rebirth. “Our New York City is in trouble,” he said. “You feel it when you walk down the street and try not to make eye contact with a mentally ill homeless person, or when the anxiety rises up in your chest as you’re walking down into the subway. You see it in the empty storefronts, the graffiti, the grime, the migrant influx, the random violence. The city just feels threatening, out of control and in crisis. These conditions exist not as an act of God, but rather as an act of our political leaders, or, more precisely, the lack of intelligent action by many of our political leaders.”

 

Cuomo said New York needed someone who was a doer and someone who had experience, before outlining his own experience at every level of government, saying, “In my 20s, with my father when he was governor, with Mayor David Dinkins on homelessness, with President Bill Clinton as secretary of Housing and Urban Development, where we worked with cities all across the nation, and as New York State Attorney General and as your governor, I know government can make a positive difference, because we did.”

 

He said it wasn’t always easy but things were done “they said couldn’t be done.” He highlighted his various accomplishments during his time in office, including setting the highest minimum wage in the nation, a 66% increase, enacting “the toughest gun violence protection laws in America,” and passing marriage equality for the LGBTQ community.

 

He went on to talk about the creation of a paid family leave program, the enshrinement of Roe v Wade into State law, the enactment of the most aggressive green economy program in the country, high minority business participation, the renovation of La Guardia airport and Moynihan Train station, the new Second Avenue subway line, and the Mario Cuomo bridge, “the largest infrastructure project in the nation.”

 

The former governor went on to talk about New Yorkers having to face COVID first and alone, with no warning. “Today, it is necessary to launch a bold action plan to turn New York City around, to save our city. We now walk down the street passing homeless people living in garbage, and it’s become so commonplace that we have become conditioned to think that it is okay, that there’s nothing we can do about it,” he said.

 

He said it was not advancing civil rights to abandon seriously mentally ill people to the street. “We are better than that, and they deserve better than that,” Cuomo said. “We must get them the professional help they need. That is the caring, the loving thing to do. That is what New Yorkers believe is the right thing to do, and that is what a competent, effective government must do.”

 

He said crime also needed to be tackled. “After politicians have been minimizing the need for police and cutting funding, we must acknowledge the simple truth that they are just plain wrong, deadly wrong,” he said. “They set us back, and we must now return to actually fighting crime.” He talked about how former New York City Mayor David Dinkins, the first Black mayor of the City, hired 6,000 new police officers, a 40% increase in the force, while in office.

 

The former governor said today, in contrast, the City has “fewer cops for a larger city,” and needs more police and specialized units. “Law enforcement must focus on the small number of recidivists who commit the large number of crimes,” he said. “We must also restore a relationship of mutual trust and respect between the police and the community. The police have been devalued, and today, people don’t even want to apply to be police officers; that must change.”

 

On transit, Cuomo said the subway system was safe and worked at one time, but today, “people stand with their backs against the walls, away from the tracks and away from each other,” wary and on guard, afraid they might be the next victim of being pushed in front of a train. “Government leadership has failed to perform a basic function – public safety,” he said. “We need a significant presence of real police, not publicity stunts, with short-term efforts, a permanent, significant increase by the City and State.”

 

Cuomo went on to say “the chaos of e-bikes” needed to be also addressed. “Pedestrians are getting needlessly hurt and even killed,” he said. “It must end.” He also said it was time to stop talking and start building thousands of new, affordable [housing] units and create “thousands” of good jobs. “We know how to build; we built the greatest city on the planet,” he said. “We built the Empire State Building in one year in the middle of the Great Depression. It is basic competence.”

 

He said public housing in New York City was 50-60 years old. “Many developments have open areas. We should be transforming them on a large scale basis to modern, mixed-income communities,” he said. “We did it at HUD [U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development] 25 years ago. Cities across the country have done it, and we can too. It’s long overdue.”

 

On social justice, Cuomo said more investment was needed in training and jobs, rather than jails. “We must provide economic alternatives for young, minority men now turning to crime.” He said private employment, partnerships, vocational training, apprentice programs, positive opportunities were what was needed. “We can do it, and we will do it,” he said.

 

On race relations, the former governor described the situation in the Middle East as tragic and one that “generates strong opinions.” He continued, “Understandably, it is a terrible story of human loss and suffering, but nothing justifies racism and anti-semitism. We have the largest Jewish population outside of Israel. They are our neighbors and friends. They helped build this city. It is their home, and they must feel safe.”

 

He said harassment or disparagement of the City’s Jewish brothers and sisters should not be accepted, “and certainly not from our elected officials.” He added, “In fact, they should be condemning it. New York should go even further and be at the forefront, leading the fight against the global rise of anti-semitism.”

 

He said to do this, the City needed a government that could “actually perform.” Cuomo added, “We need a government with leadership that can take a stand and get things done intelligently, professionally, efficiently, effectively, and do it now. To me, the founding premise of a progressive Democratic Party is all about serving working men and women, but the cruel irony is they are the ones now paying the highest price for New York’s failed Democratic leadership, the affordability crisis.”

 

He said it was the poor and middle class that were mainly affected by the “madness of the mass transit system,” with 75% of the victims of crime being Black and brown. “This is not progressive policy, but in fact, regressive policy,” he said, adding that a true progressive government “wasn’t about rhetoric, but results,” and making life better for people. “That is what Democrats must do,” he said, saying New York birthed the original progressive movement, and it worked.

 

“It is time for its rebirth, and the place is New York, and the time is now,” Cuomo said, adding that his obligation was to New Yorkers, not to politicians or special interests. He said he worked like New Yorkers, 24/7. “I know what needs to be done, and I know how to do it. Experience matters. Leading New York City in the midst of a crisis is not the time or the place for on the job training.”

 

He acknowledged that he had “painfully” made some mistakes, adding that he would do some things differently, knowing what he knows now. “I believe I learned from them,” he said saying they made him a better person. “I hope to show you that every day,” he said. “But I promise you this, I know what needs to be done, and I know how to do it, and I will give it my all to get the job done, and it will get done.”

 

The former governor had been criticized in the past for both the sexual harassment allegations, his handling of COVID-19 spread in nursing homes during the pandemic, as well as profiting from a book he wrote about his management of the crisis. The New York Times later reported that a New York State ethics board ordered Cuomo to turn over millions of dollars in profits from his pandemic memoir.

 

The former governor went on to say that he would work with anyone who wants to work for the benefit of New York on any and every level. “I have worked with President Trump in many different situations, and I hope President Trump remembers his hometown and works with us to make it better,” he said. “But make no mistake, I will stand up and fight for New York. I have done it before, and I will do it again. I will fight Washington and Albany to make sure we get our fair share of funding and to protect the rights and values that New Yorkers hold dear.”

 

Cuomo said any discrimination by race, color, or creed was anti-American. “We do not harbor criminals, but we believe in lawful, intelligent immigration, because we are a city of immigrants,” he said. “We believe good government helps people lift themselves up to reach their full potential, and that then raises us all. We believe integrity in government is essential to ensure opportunity and justice for all.”

 

Appealing to the toughness of New Yorkers who “have survived 9/11, the economic attack of 2007, hurricanes, floods, super storms, deadly diseases,” he spoke of “the people built from the greatest talents from all over the globe.” He said New York stood for something bigger at a time when the nation was searching for its soul, divided as never before, questioning its democratic values, questioning the very role of government and the balance of power. “New York must show the way forward and remind the nation of who we are, because it all started here,” he said. “This was the epicenter.”

 

He said it was necessary to turn towards each other, and use diversity as the City’s greatest strength. “Our founding fathers expressed their vision for America in three words, e pluribus unum; out of many, one,” he said.

 

Citing New York City as a guiding light for the rest of the nation, he concluded, “I am not saying this is going to be easy. It won’t be easy, but I know we can turn the city around, and I believe I can help, and that is why I announce my candidacy today for mayor of New York City. I am a lifelong New Yorker, and I love New York, and I want New York to not only survive, but for New York to thrive, for my children and for yours.”

 

New York City Working Families Party co-directors, Jasmine Gripper and Ana María Archila, issued a statement following Cuomo’s announcement, saying, “New Yorkers don’t need one disgraced elected official vying to replace another. Andrew Cuomo could fill a book with all of his scandals. Then again, he’d probably need one of his staffers to write it for him.”

 

Meanwhile, a group called “Women Against Cuomo” are planning a protest on Sunday, March 2, “to forcefully reject Andrew Cuomo’s return to politics and remind New Yorkers of his history of sexual harassment and abuses of power.”

 

Mayoral candidate, Scott Stringer, a former city comptroller, used Cuomo’s announcement to urge his own supporters to donate to his campaign, anticipating Cuomo’s mayoral campaign would be well-funded. Meanwhile, another mayoral candidate, State Sen. Jessica Ramos (S.D. 13), who represents a section of Queens, gave her reaction, saying, “There has to be some misunderstanding. Andrew hasn’t lived in NYC for nearly three decades. Shouldn’t he be running for office in Westchester, where he lived after resigning in disgrace?”