NEW YORK — Andrew Cuomo acknowledged several “mistakes” from his time as governor. Omitted from that list Thursday: allegations that he forcibly touched and sexually harassed 11 women in the workplace and his administration’s handling of nursing homes during Covid-19.
The former New York governor, now a leading candidate for mayor, was asked to expound upon his errors during his inaugural campaign trail press conference. He never mentioned the accusations levied against him in an attorney general’s report, which pushed him to resign from office in 2021. Nor did he discuss his administration’s now-scrutinized order that nursing homes admit patients infected with Covid.
“I was in government eight years as HUD secretary, four years attorney general, 11 years as governor, so I made a lot of mistakes,” Cuomo said, before rattling off the top three.
The mistakes, which the former governor said were listed “off the top of my head,” included failing to put more state police on city subways to offset future budget cuts, being under-prepared for the pandemic and that he “took everything too seriously” and was “impatient with the process.”
The governor made the comments at a union hall in Manhattan, after celebrating the endorsement of Teamsters Local 237 and former Bronx Borough President Rubén Díaz Jr. as he charts a path back to political power.
While avoiding his major controversies Thursday, the former governor did seek to answer questions about where he lives following questions raised in a Gothamist story about his residency.
After living in Albany and the city’s northern suburbs while governor and moving to Westchester County after his resignation, Cuomo told reporters he is “a New Yorker 100 percent through and through” and has lived full-time in Manhattan since the fall.
“I have been a lifelong New Yorker,” he said. “When you’re governor, you’re still a New Yorker. New York City is in New York state. And I was obviously very, very involved with New York City.”
Rival candidate Scott Stringer, who is polling far behind Cuomo, laced into him Thursday over his living situation, and he and other candidates have questioned his commitment to New York City, based on funding and policy choices he made as a governor at war with then-Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Cuomo also dismissed accusations from his rivals that his candidacy is motivated by his own interest in a political comeback, telling reporters that no other candidate in the race has a record “anywhere close” to his.
During his prepared remarks, Cuomo addressed homelessness and moves to cut police funding amid national protests following the murder of George Floyd. The politically moderate Cuomo has emphasized the failings of the “defund police” movement during his short time as a mayoral candidate — an acknowledgment the slogan has become unpopular with mainstream Democrats.
He also condemned the House Republicans campaign arm’s recent description of Democratic New York Rep. Adriano Espaillat — a lawful U.S. citizen who was once undocumented — as an “illegal immigrant” and dodged a question on whether he supports President Donald Trump’s effort to nix Manhattan’s congestion pricing toll.
The move to kill the toll is being fought by Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul, who served as Cuomo’s lieutenant governor and became the state’s chief executive after his resignation.
“The preliminary data says traffic is down, and it suggests people are taking mass transit, which would be the optimal scenario,” Cuomo said. “But I don’t know that all the data is in yet, and it wouldn’t be good if the traffic is down, but fewer people are coming into the city.”
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