Upstate people hate trump Or like trump. Most of us dislike Andrew Cuomo. What ever the opposite of charisma is. He has it
2
Construction "in a more sensitive, community-friendly way?" Are you kidding? See this map of construction sites in the city: https://ny.curbed.com/2018/8/22/17767134/new-york-buildings-construction-map-data-visualization. The sheer volume of it is astounding, and it's been going on for ten years. There is a whole generation of people who have never seen normal sidewalks and, for this, the new buildings will all be "made of ticky tacky and they all look just the same."
2
Let's not forget about the dismantled Mooreland commission, and charter school enabling at the expense of NY public schools. (only 2 ingredients of many in the DINO toxic soup.)
2
Andrew Cuomo might just be the greatest Governor ever... of New York City. Meanwhile upstate continues to dwindle away.
2
Andy is a street fighter and a person willing to take risk with people that pay. And he has the worst speaking voice since Tiny Tim. Perfect for 2020 Dems.
4
Governor Cuomo is as corrupt as the day is long. How can otherwise intelligent New Yorkers continue to vote for these
politically corrupt politicians like Cuomo and Di Blasio? (Read the article on Di Balsio who can't even organize a memorial in today's paper) Even
the Soviet Union in the 1980's can barely compare to the levels of self-dealing, theft and inefficiency which New Yorkers vote in at every election. Wake up, New Yorkers, to the fact that these dirty politicians rob you blind and stuff the power in their pockets! Refuse to endorse bad government at every turn. Liberate yourselves! Aren't you embarassed?
2
@sftaxpayer
I am far, far, from a Cuomo fan, but you, sir, are an embarrassment with this comment. comparing Soviet-era apparatchiks with the current crop of flawed--yet, elected--leaders. I find it indicative of the hysteria-mongering so prevalent during the Trump era. Sad. Now look what you've done. You've forced me to ALMOST defend Andrew Cuomo and our well-intentioned Mayor.
3
Does anyone else see the irony among those saying they cannot stand Cuomo, yet voted for him anyway because...? How effective is such a passive stance?
@Marcel
Far from 'irony', Marcel, it's unfortunately necessary as a defensive measure against the metastasizing extremism being exhibited by the Party of Trump and the sycophantic paladins they're throwing up these days. That being said, I personally still refuse to vote for Cuomo, a pledge I make as a Democrat, because I've been taken in too many times by this political opportunist with a chip on his shoulder. I intend to write in a candidate for governor for the first time in my life.
1
No matter what his ambitions are, he would do well to clean up the ethics swamp in Albany. And, since he's into building, how about a tunnel linking Westchester or Fairfield county (alleviating the perennial traffic jam would do wonders for air quality). He'll also have to look beyond De Blasio and figure out how to fix (once and for all) public transportation in the City. Since "you are what you build," he should consider a new subway line that loops through Queens into mid-town.
2
One tidbit that I found in this article, to be absolutely incredible, was that Governor Cuomo will not run in 2020, if Joe Biden decides to run for president.
So Joe is the presumptive candidate for 2020?
Did the Democratic Party learn anything from the disastrous Hillary run,
“Well she was the next in line...”
Yes, she too (with all her baggage!) was the presumptive choice of the Party. Not the best choice for a run against Trump to be sure. It was quite obvious, early on, that she would lose. On that point, she didn’t disappoint.
Note to the Democratic Party: Stop choosing who’s next in line!
Let the citizens pick who they want to run. From a fresh field.
1
To know him, is to loath him.
10
The apple does not fall far from the tree. Mario was a sanctimonious leftist. The son is a ham handed pol without his father's charm. Only in NY could he ever be elected. y
4
My experience with Andrew Cuomo tells me that his near maniacal focus on getting “it” done, whatever “it” may be, often comes with significants costs. When it comes to programs and policies he has pushed through (as opposed to physical improvements) my experience is that they lack depth and thought in design and implementation. Getting it done is promoted as another notch in his list of accomplishments while snafus that arise from inadequate (inept?) planning are ignored or buried. I also observed the human toll of his “damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead” approach. Anyone who dared to suggest the need for more thought and planning before proceeding felt the full force of his disdain and contempt. He never seemed to learn the benefit of slowing down just a few mph so that more effective results could be achieved.
3
Getting the 2nd Avenue Subway on time was a small miracle with a very large price tag - close to $500 million in overtime. That money is coming out of other subway operations. He also continued an ugly upstate tradition, robbing the subway funds to pay for pet projects - ski resorts.
For the Tappan Zee, he promised to indemnify contractors if they took the risk of opening the new bridge while the old structure was unstable. If such a calamity occurred, the taxpayers would have paid damages.
It's one thing to talk tough on contractors. However, getting them and the unions to do more design-and-build, and eliminate the featherbedding rules (like use 25 people to tunnel, when 10 would do), requires a stronger moral center. Mr. Cuomo, like most politicians, take the road less traveled.
2
In fairness, is the bar for "greatness" in this job, regardless of the names of those who held it, really that high?
Still, do these red flags bother you:
- Indicted associates, including a right-hand man.
- Made Judith Clark, a felony murderer of 3, including 2 police officers, eligible for parole. Announced it the Friday before last Christmas. (The apple doesn't fall far from the tree when empathizing with cop killers.)
- the MTA
- About that autobiography: Over $750k paid to Cuomo; it sold under 3,000 copies.
- Free college tuition? A progressive shout out to the Sanders lovers, but a make-it-up-as-you-go proposition
- ham-fisted re-naming of the Tappan Zee Bridge
13
CUNY is crumbling as a result of needless, steady underfunding. His "Excelsior" program is a sham, effecting less than 5% of the student population. He is a destroyer of higher education in New York. With the likes of him, who needs Scott Walker?
4
Donald Trump gave the rest of the US good reasons not to want another New Yorker in the White House for a LONG time; Andrew Cuomo does nothing to negate that.
5
He may have done some good things, but to me they are overshadowed by his corruption. I would have a hard time supporting him unless he were running against Trump.
2
Seriously! You would have to be tone deaf to this Governor’s incredible brand of narcissism and equally ignorant to even begin this person is a great governor. If you like him you have to believe that being arrogant, ignorant and dishonest are admirable qualities in a leader. He is to NY what Trump is to the country, divisive, corrupt and only concerned with himself.
8
The times is joking right? This guy is a disgracefully corrupt man just like his dad.
2
Maybe “you are what you build” to the 10 million New Yorkers who don’t live in the city, but for the 9 million of us who do, you are the person we direct our rage at when we’re cramped in a stalled E train for 20 minutes every day
15
Let him do handstands on CNN with his equally full-of-himself brother, Chris. These Cuomos make me cringe.
11
VOTE CUOMO!
--Cuz you're SUPPOSED to, dummy--
VOTE CUOMO!
--Don't you know who my father was?--
VOTE CUOMO!
--What, you don't hear so good?--
VOTE CUOMO!
--Remember: He's *entitled* to your vote--
VOTE CUOMO!
--We've been over this. You gotta problem or somethin'?--
9
No
8
Until the MTA is fixed, he remains a hollow man.
11
Do you people pay any attention to what goes on in Albany? Our NYS government is the poster child for political corruption. We run on bribes, kick backs and pay to play. The people surrounding Cuomo are being indicted and going to jail. Do the names Percoco, Howe and Kaloyeros mean anything to you? How about the Moreland Commission? And what about Crystal Run?
Frankly, I'm dumbfounded.
18
This is nothing but a PR piece for Andrew Cuomo. It is as absurd as the NYT endorsement of Cuomo for re-election even after NYT story after story of Cuomo's many failures, outrageous fund raising practices and all the corruption that has flourished in Albany while Cuomo has been Governor.
12
Step one foot outside NY and it's Andrew who?
6
Governor, let's face it -- you're no Mario Cuomo!
6
Cuomo and Clinton. If he runs, he loses. To a woman, probably.
2
A while ago The New York Times studied the homes financed to care for the indigent. That series lasted months. Russ Buettner, Danny Hakim, and others contributed, and it was as thorough as it was troubling, some would say devastating. No question it was accurate. It showed mismanagement, death, thoughtless and careless care... all attributed to Albany...
Gov. Cuomo acted. He called a task force to study it all... and it was largely forgotten.
Andrew Mark Cuomo is trying to live down his reputation. Washington and being his father's man did not help him. But the main problem is simple.
Gov. Cuomo is wickedly poor judgement in people, he resists accountability when clearly it is his, and he is simply another government hack.
He may look good next to President Trump. Personally, I find their less attractive qualities compare.
Increasingly, I see our powerful as thugs poorly disguised.
One exception, perhaps: Gov. John Kasich. As many know, he erred when he went to Lehman Brothers. But Ohio reveals his nature.
Albany reveals Andrew Cuomo's nature. He seems to get along with the worst of them... and his manner reminds me of the worst parts of New York City.
Why can we not find a gentleman or a sound minded good lady to run our state government?
Illinois governors go to jail. New Jersey's should go to jail. New York governors are smarter.
Sheldon Silver? George Pataki? When can we say that we have trusted a leader in Albany?
I cannot remember.
10
I can think of no politician who is more detestable and incompetent than Andrew Cuomo. The subways, for which he is responsible, stink, the streets are crowded with Uber-like vehicles used by people seeking viable alternatives, his Buffalo initiative is an expensive bust, and look at the horrible job he did when he headed HUD.
https://www.villagevoice.com/2008/08/05/andrew-cuomo-and-fannie-and-fred...
He practically, singlehandedly caused the housing and mortgage crises which led to the collapse of banks and the implosion of the economy resulting in the Great Recession.
This whining miscreant has had the job of governor for almost 8 years. His closest associates are in jail, on their way to jail or indicted. How are we better off now? The man has not ever done anything right. How are his new casinos doing? I can think of only one worse governor in my lifetime and that was his father Mario.
It's as simple as ABC - Anybody But Cuomo! Molinaro will do.
11
“You are what you build” sounds like something Robert Moses would have said.
2
Biden/Cuomo 2020
2
@Nate
Lol, like his ego would settle for the number two spot!!
Andrew Cuomo is viewed by many of us as an unsympathetic, unethical old style machine politician.
His father was one of the finest public servants in my lifetime, a man of tremendous empathy.
Andrew Cuomo is no Mario Cuomo.
26
He came out of the gate as Scott Walker light and ran the State like a mob boss. His base is the NY business community.
With his kind of "do whatever it takes" approach to power may God Bless America (and the World) should he ever become President.
PS: Where are the Moreland Commissioners these days? LOL
4
How can the Democrats attack Trump for being corrupt, and then nominate a guy like Andrew Cuomo?
7
I have the most vulgar American accent there is (Boston) and I sound like Benedict Cumberbatch compared to Cuomo.
9
Cuomo's campaign are simply a dry run for his hypothetical presidential campaign against Donald Trump in 2020.
1
You expect a “pure” candidate? Andrew Cuomo stands for the democratic values I believe in. Andrew Cuomo is a fighter. He has the skills and intellect to forcefully challenge any republican candidate. Do I especially like him, no. But so what? I would love to see him run. He’s strong. I just wish he wasn’t expanding the Newburg Airport because it takes so much away from the nature of both the Catskills and the Shawangunks. What was a pristine natural experience is constantly being compromised by the ongoing jets overhead.
Great. Another political hack. Can we not do better as a country than men like Andrew Cuomo?
5
He should go home and bake cookies.
He’s not his father. And the sooner they rename the Tappan Zee Bridge the better.
The corruption with his closest aid is a non starter.
6
Andrew Cuomo is the most unlikeable person in politics. Massive ego and zero sense of humor. Listening to him speak is pure torture.
10
@Jack At least a presidential run would have him debating Ted Cruz.
In one word: no.
He may have a great ego, but that's far from being one of NY's greatest governors.
7
The Governor has done a lot for the state but I'm baffled that he really hasn't tackled the subway problem. As a resident of NYC, It's my number one issue and I feel it should be the same for him.
3
I'm 57 years old and it seems like I've spent my entire adult life voting against this family. Earlier this year I considered switching my registration to the Democratic Party just so I could vote against Andrew in the primary, but I guess I'll just have to wait until next week.
7
It's not only progressives Mr. Cuomo has alienated - it's those who love New York State. Cuomo has expanded corruption, hardened the brazenly unconstitutional "three-men-in-a-room" process, rewarded supporters by shifting aid from poorer, unsupportive regions, and for all his vaunted "determination" is a spineless syocphant to the latest state voter poll. When he thought conservatism on taxes would propel him to the national stage, he shut down conversations on restoring the "millionaire's tax." When Occupy Wall Street resonated with New Yorkers, he pretended he favored of tax reform.
This politician is "cynical" not "pragmatic." He wears blinders so he doesn't have to consider the negative impact of his destructive politics (like the malfunction of the NYC Subway), lines his friends' (and his own?) pockets with projects that miserably fail to meet promises of jobs and economic revitalization, then declares himself successful. If the Republicans would run a smart, well-known, moderate politician against him, Cuomo would be out in a heartbeat. Hopefully, it won't be before the heart of New York beats for the last time.
11
As a progressive Democrat, I have a lot of problems with Cuomo, most notably his long failure to do anything to break the Republican hold on the state senate, which increased his power at the expense of progressive causes. ( I’m not convinced he’s doing much about that this year either). Nevertheless I very much want him to run for president in 2020 because I think he is the only Democrat who can beat Trump. Why? Beating Trump will require a degree of ruthlessness and a willingness to “punch below the belt” that only Cuomo, among the possible candidates, has displayed. And he would get under Trump’s skin, and drive him totally crazy, like no one else could. Cuomo, for all his faults, may be our only chance to save the country from two terms of Trump.
2
@Paul S.
Perfectly said.
Nobody else that the Dems could put up would get in Trump's grill like Cuomo.
As nasty as you wanna be...Bring it on.
I agree with those who are skeptical of Cuomo. I'm not talking about politics so much as personality. I'm turned off by his raw ambition. He doesn't want to run the country because he has something to offer. He's not in politics for public service. He wants to run the country because he wants more power. This is obvious and he won't be able to escape that because it oozes from his every word.
9
@George
Not unlike Mrs. Clinton!
1
The only people who make mistakes are those who actually try to do things. Governor Cuomo is no exception. America has never been great, is just one mistake. His achievements require more than the allotted space!
The question (in my mind) is: has Andrew Cuomo done a wonderful job as the Governor of NYS? The answer is yes. Plain and simple. that begs another: would he make a great POTUS? another yes!
2
First, a point of order:
Third Way is not a “centrist think tank”.
It is Republican-lite masquerading as centrist.
As to Mr Cuomo, stay in New York.
In 2016 we got a non-choice between two New Yorkers- both grifters.
In 2020 we do not need a bankster owned apparatchik trading on his daddy’s name.
If Cuomo is a Progressive, I’m Pope Francis and I’m not even Catholic.
Tell the New Yorkers not to bother in 2020.
Hillary had her chance and a Billion Dollars and still managed to lose.
Trump is setting a record for debasing the image of our nation and trying to repeal the 20th century.
Bernie and Bloomberg are too old.
Gillibrand threw Al Frankenstein under the bus for political gain. Apparently due process does not matter to her.
4
The Federal government, since FDR, has been relatively well-run, bureaucratically speaking (though this is changing, especially since Trump). The same cannot be said of New York State, where nepotism has left important agencies staffed by incompetents. The MTA comes to mind.
We need to move past politics into a post-political, technological vision of government. We need competent professionals dealing with issues like infrastructure, income inequality, jobs and wages, energy alternatives. These are enormously complex problems that cannot be handled by the winner of a media popularity contest's wife's brother's nephew.
6
Andrew Cuomo's entire career has been cultivated with an eye on the presidency. His reluctance, for example, to move forward with decriminalizing/legalizing recreational marijuana using the excuse that it's somehow a "gateway" drug, is insulting. The real motivation, many believe, is that an association with the legalization movement could be used against him in a run to occupy the Oval Office. Along comes Cynthia Nixon, with illumination on the issue, and lo and behold, the Governor has now appointed a "task force" to examine New York's position. An opportunist at every turn. I, for one, miss the credibility and humanity of Mario Cuomo.
8
@Radio Guy Sir:Of all the important issues - poverty, bigotry, jobs schools, housing, taxes,health care, transportation, etc. - is legalizing recreational marijuana so very important to you folks up in Ithaca? Seriously! I don't get it.
1
@Mike It was really meant as an example of Cuomo's character...and his manipulation for personal gain. It just bothered me that he was so righteous about the issue--until the political winds stated to blow in a different direction, and now, he's right there. Again, I don't see that as an evolving position, but rather, a pragmatic posture hoping to draw better polling numbers. And there are consequences to that formula that affect lots of people, mostly of color.
1
He could be more polite when debating, and he could show up at all debates. Looks like he doesn't think he needs to say anything or show up because he assumes re-election is a given.
3
Imagine if Democrats only had a candidate who has won a big state repeatedly, raised the minimum wage, passed gay marriage before the Supreme Court approved it, gets along with unions, fights for immigrants, builds infrastructure, and has been labeled by the NRA as their number one enemy. Oh--wait--its Andrew Cuomo. Purists on the left will make it very hard for him if he runs, but there are a lot of strengths there.
20
you lost me at "gets along with unions."
5
Will the NYT please report on how NY is treating its prisoners?
I remember a few years ago when there was a high profile prison escape and the NYT reported about Cuomo interrogating prisoners with the message that they will be sorry if they don't fess up and tell him everything they know about the escapee, because he can make life very hard on them. Who knows if they had information but Cuomo still made the threats which seemed abusive to me.
5
One gets a glimpse of the brilliance of his father in his son’s TV appearances. Unfortunately you can also see in the lead photo a kind of dark side that I don’t think Mario had, or at least leavened it with a great heart. Part of me still wishes that Mario Cuomo had gotten to the White House, and I think a lot of us regret that it never happened. Let’s just leave it there, and not tarnish that memory.
Self-interest, massive ego, quest for power. Doesn't that describe the current resident of the White House?
But with Cuomo you get a politician who understands laws, policies, politics and doesn't spend all his time tweeting, golfing or going to ego building rallies.
So yes, Cuomo would be an improvement in Washington, but he is a politician, with all that implies.
6
I heard Mr. Cuomo speak while he was HUD secretary and he seemed brilliant and articulate. But I think his candidacy would not play well here in the Midwest where the next election may be decided. He is so stereotypically New Yorkish, so seemingly an East Coast elitist and that will cost him support even if his ideas and presentation are great (to most progressives). We need someone with the same brain and ideas who comes off warm and supportive of ordinary people from the middle American culture, if we want to win next time.
4
@Roy Lowenstein Sherrod Brown?
1
"it’s about this governor’s refusal to preside over the decline of the system and his understanding that being a success demands no less”
Throughout this article it seems that Cuomo is more concerned about how he is perceived and his legacy than policy itself. This could explain why he was so late responding to the subway crises.
18
"Mr. Cuomo, who can be intensely sensitive to how he is portrayed, declined on-the-record interview requests."
We already have a president consumed with his media image. I don't think the country can handle another one. I know I can't.
16
ABC - anyone but Cuomo. It's what got George Pataki elected and would sadly get Trump re-elected. As a life-long democrat, I can't think of a worse candidate than Andrew Cuomo. If that's the best the party can do, they will not get my vote in 2020. But given all of the scandals from his administration, I'm really not expecting him to get very far. Probably about as far as George Pataki got in the last election.
19
His chances for winning even one primary? Slim to nil.
2
This is the man who made sure the Tappan Zee Bridge wouldn't have rail access, and he wants to be known as a master building? He's a master at undermining public transportation, I'll give him that. Beyond that, he's an empty shirt Republican who is so corrupt that anyone that enters his orbit ends up in jail. His father was a hero. He ain't his father.
39
I guess with Hillary Clinton out of the picture it's necessary to do the Hillary treatment on someone else and you've clearly picked Cuomo. That is, you have a Momus glass and can peer into his heart and therefore know his deepest motives, and exactly what he is planning to do. Another part of the treatment is stinting his accomplishments, nitpicking everything, over-covering his critics. The final part is taking his desire to be the best at what he does and pronouncing him guilty of the high crime of ambition.
He'll be missed once you've ground him to a nub and we have to watch the rough beasts slouch toward Albany.
2
Always viewed Cuomos as "faux jetons," beginning with "Mario The Pious" as 1 local wag described him, who tergiversated, hesitated several times before deciding that no, in the interest of safeguarding family secrets, he would not throw his hat in the ring, who, despite the populist image which he had assiduously cultivated, upon retirement from public service bought himself an"hotel particulier"on Sutton Place and attracted wealthy corporate clients, to Gov. Andrew Cuomo whom many hold responsible for the disastrous ,unsafe conditions in public housing--remember the blaze that killed 12 in a firetrap in the Bronx--and his incompetence as head of HUD under Clinton in 1990's. When riots broke out at Clinton Correctional facility 2 years ago, inmates who complained of mistreatment appealed to Cuomo who made a visit and sided openly with the guards, and 1 can only imagine what the lives of those inmates who had complained must have been like after that!No se ofenda, enough of the saintly,righteous Cuomos in public service. Two Cuomos? "Cela suffit nettement!"
5
Just imagine Cuomo taking his corrupt administration and pandering politics to the national level. Imagine him doing what he has done to the moribund economy of New York state to the nation. Why is New York experiencing a net loss of population and jobs in the midst of a booming national economy? Just ask Cuomo. He will tell you that the economy of New York was never that great anyway...
8
As long as we can get that damn Trump out of office no later than 2020 - if not sooner! -- then I will vote for an orangutan. They may have orange hair like Trump but at least they aren't crooked liars.
1
"As Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat, campaigns for a third term — which would match his father’s tenure...."
Unfortunately for the Democratic Party leadership, Andrew Cuomo is nothing at all like his father, who was arguably one of the most honorable and decent public servants in our lifetime. Mario Cuomo would have been a truly great President----Andrew will always remain a corrupt and untrustworthy politician.
19
I truly hope he is the nominee for Ds in 2020.
Show me another D leader who has a track record of getting things done like he does.
Let all the hand-wringers who don’t like his tactics stick with the Don Quixotes who tilt at free (college, healthcare, etc) but no realistic way to get there.
Sure he has a massive ego and wants things done his way and a temper. I wish Obama would have displayed more of all and then some wishes might have become reality.
And a debate between Trump and Cuomo???
BRING IT.
3
@JerseyJon
A debate between Trump and Cuomo - watch what you ask for or you just might get it. And Cuomo will be trounced, eaten alive, insulted etc. by the Don. Cuomo was most reticent to debate Ms. Sex & the City before he was forced into participating for one token debate. Same for the debate with the present Republic nominee - one and done. Mr. Cuomo has too many skeletons in his closet. Proof? Anyone of his close advisors in the same zip code as he, eventually end up in prison on charges of corruption.
Cuomo Jr. is not his father - who had most impressive oratorial skills of any politician and was generally a good man. Not the son. Not this one at least.
1
@Kirk Land
Trump does not debate on substance. HRC won easily on substance but let Trump take the stage away from her. I have no doubt that Cuomo would use every bit of that ego to not be shaded or mocked on stage without a return uppercut.
Dems have to get it - debating Trump is not debating facts. It is countering style with style, baiting him into saying something so colossally stupid or so directly offensive to his opponent that people turn on him.
And let's face it - what was in it for him to debate C. Nixon more than once? Just giving her oxygen that he was trying to deny her.
1
If he cannot get along with fellow Democrat Bill de Blasio then he should not even consider running for president.
4
@Steve of Brooklyn
Considering that DeBlasio is one of the smuggest, most arrogant and hubristic politicians around, that’s actually one point in Cuomo’s favor.
2
@Steve of Brooklyn
His refusal to cooperate with the mayoral incompetent blowhard, a totally unqualified community organizer (a trend), is the only thing Cuomo has going for him.
He looks and acts like a hate machine. BdB is a clueless Larry to his Moe.
2
Andrew Cuomo Has Limitless Ambition. What’s He Going to Do With It? I do not know. Why don’t you ask him?
1
Disappear, you worthless man. Democrats won't let you ruin our chances in 2020.
7
Despite Andy Cuomo’s high visibility he remains obscure. Very odd. Can a divorced guy who lives with his girlfriend run for President it will the right win crucify him? Will the Kennedy clan support him ? Will his ex-Kennedy wife stay in the background? Will the Kennedy Congrssnan from MA - said to be an up and coming star run? Can he be Cuomo ‘s Vice President? Looking ahead....VOTE VOTE VOTE
He is the best guy for Governor NY right now.
I "acknowledge" Andrew Cuomo. He is the Governor who cut his teeth working for his father. Who could forget the time he coined the phrase " Vote for Cuomo, not the Homo!" when his father was running against Ed Koch.
I acknowledge the corruption of those closest to him politically; the partnership with upstate Republicans, which usually led to them getting about $2 from NYS for every $1 they contributed.
Lastly, I acknowledge the incredible job he did with the MTA. To spend so much on (essentially) frills, while ignoring basics, all the time taking money From the system, instead of adding to it, took real talent.
He is the only Democrat I would hesitate to vote for in 2020, even against Trump.
15
Andrew Cuomo’s kind of politics is just what the democratic party doesn’t need right now and personally I don’t see his appeal much beyond the NY base that votes for him. He’s a thug.
16
It's very unusual when a son doesn't inherit the personality of either his father or mother, but rather that of his crazy uncle the President. The 2020 Democratic candidate for POTUS isn't going to be from NY and besides there are two candidates (Bloomberg and Gillibrand) who are far more qualified than subway Andy.
3
He’s going to continue to do what he’s always done... empower Republicans and hold back the Dem agenda so he can appear to be a centrist when he makes a run for the White House. Meanwhile, New York will suffer along with its outdated voting, reproductive rights, gender non-discrimination, etc laws and no meaningful ethics reform.
23
I'll take Andrew at his word. He is not running for the Presidency. There will be no great reason for him to break his word, there are enough qualified people already organizing their campaigns.
While many comments have sought to tear New York's Governor down, I don't know if the people in Buffalo would feel the same, it appears that he has been active in the revival of NY's queen city.
If Mr. Cuomo leaves NY it will be in a cabinet post, and from there a professorship in NYC. He will not be President, but he can help elect one. I suggest Kamala Harris, although in my heart, I know that Hillary has always been our best choice to lead this nation.
He's fooling himself if he thinks he has a shot at the Presidency in '20. I voted for him the first 2 times he ran, though I voted for Nixon in this year's primary.
I think third terms are a mistake, from Pataki to Bloomberg.
I'm not sure Cuomo really will come through on issues that are are crucial to New Yorkers.
Here in the city, we need massive repair and upgrades to public transit; he prefers to play "pass the blame" with the Mayor.
We need single-payer health insurance. He says it's "not time."
He supported the fake Democratic IDC to block legislation in the State Senate. (Now that the IDC is broken up, it'll be interesting to see how he changes his tactics.)
And while I live in NYC, I see that there are many issues that working and middle-class people need addressed in the small towns, rural areas and other large cities in the state:
How does he plan to strengthen and support the state's agriculture business?
Is he REALLY still for fracking?
What about the huge swaths of the state that don't have decent interconnectivity? (Yes, I remember he "threw" Spectrum out of the state for not providing that. They're still here.)
I read, I vote, I stay in close touch with my government representatives.
I know who I'm voting for all the way down the ballot on Tuesday, and how I will vote on City Charter issues as well.
The more of me there are, the better the candidates.
8
Andre Cuomo has been running for president for many years. He will, of course, deny it but sometime in 2019 He will declare taht the country needs him so much that he must reneg on his promise to finish his term.
But it will be all in vein as the Republicans broadcast over and over his saying "America was never that great"
7
He's going to run for president, that's patent obvious. He certainly is not running for a 3rd term to spend the next four years in Albany. The pledge? It can be unplugged. Politics is transitory, transactional and necessarily a business of carpe diem. He will hold back his announcement to later in 2019 and then explain the exigencies confronting the nation demand that he run.
The president is the object of his entire career and at 61 he can't wait to find out how 2020 comes out, he needs to be in it.
3
Does anyone seriously doubt Cuomo's plans for the future? He's built his whole career on running for President, and that's what he'll do -- offering Democrats the opportunity to nominate a Trump clone. What a guy!
11
Cuomo a Trump "clone?" Has the NRA called Trump their number one enemy? Does Trump fight to protect immigrants or protect abortion rights? Etc. Do some homework before resorting to these cliches.
1
@Rick McGahey
As a life-long Democrat, who supported Mario Cuomo, I agree he is a "clone."
I have never seen anyone, except Trump, who exudes such blatant ambition and insincerity.
1
People should look back on his life rather than get caught up in the forward movement. He is an underachiever constantly trying to seem like more and when he can't get what he wants he resorts to bullying, threatening, or straight corruption. Couldn't run HUD, isn't doing anything for NY. If the republicans could only find a decent candidate to run...
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@ace.
I'm afraid New York voters get the government they deserve.
1
@JB
Well said. IMO the last good administrator (and pol.) in the city and state of NY was Hizzoner Bloomberg. Coincidentally, at the end of his term I left the city on account of work and moved to the left coast and couldn't be happier. Every phone call to friends and relatives in NY always has some mention of their daily commuting hell within the boroughs. I am so glad that I don't have to deal with that. And watching the drama of how the mayor blames the Governor and vice versa even as the NYers suffer just boggles my mind.
3
'Questions about his ambitions for 2020'? This guy has been running for President since kindergarten.
41
Please don’t give visibility to this opportunistic man. He is worth nothing as a politician let alone as an honest person. His latest campaign was the last nail on the coffin for me.
28
The Cuomo / Clinton / Perez wing of the Democratic party will lose again, and again, and again.
It's time for some actual liberals, not storefront liberals, to step up and win the day.
The Cuomo's, and the Clinton's, prohibitionist attitudes about marijuana are a case in point. Here in California, we have stores, and it's legal. In NYC, you still use the backwards laws Cuomo supports as a tool of oppression of minorities.
18
But the subway! How many times do we have to repeat this? Cuomo’s decision — and it does appear to be a deliberate choice — to allow business-as-usual to continue at the MTA has created a collapsing system that impacts the quality of life of hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers every day. He must overhaul the MTA, stop contractors from ripping off the agency — and this the taxpayer — and upgrade the subway for the 21st century. No functioning mass transit in NYC = no political legacy.
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@Roz Parr
Yet they vote for him.
1
@Roz Parr You are SO RIGHT! "It's the subway, stupid!"
1
My Dad was an artist and I have a bit of artistic talent myself and an eye for detail. I have done fake Picassos and Degas and other master artists, for stage plays of mine. I am only saying this because I notice details in faces. Andrew's face is very ugly. Not his features, note his brother has similar features and has quite a lovely face. No there is so much anger and hatred and yes greed and demand in Andrew's face. All those miserable lines and furrows , and nasty shaped lips.
Trump's face is that of a confused and angry, petulant boy, desperate to be liked. Terribly unscientific I know.
And another unscientific thing, I just cannot see how anyone can stand to listen to either Andrew or Trump speak. My stomach tells me they are both lying. Strongly tells me! I mean don't other people feel this intense nausea too?
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@cheerful dramatist
Perhaps unscientific but soooo true
5
If Cuomo thinks he's a viable candidate for the presidency he is delusional.
Not only is he ethically challenged, but he is totally unlikable. He is central casting for crooked, power hungry politician.
What a contrast to his father, or his brother!
44
There is nothing to Cuomo but ambition. Ditto the Clintons. Democrats should pause before they say the Republican Tantrump voters are the problem. "We have met the enemy, and they are us." After all, who brought us the war on Vietnam?
And the continued war on dark-skinned drug users? Think for yourself?
14
If anything of Mario rubbed off on him, Then he must pick up where Mario left off & run for the Presidency.He is a relentless fighter for the little man, & the disenfranchised, most of all he'e
a progressive, & will scare the hell out the conservatives.One thing is sure that Anti Semites will hide beneath their rocks & never show their ugly heads.He will restore American values,& happy days will come again.Go Andrew, Chris will follow.
6
Your description and praise describes the father to a tee, not the son -- Mario must be rolling over in his grave to see his gutless wonder of a son pander to Republicans and set his agenda by the prevailing winds. Mario Cuomo was, and is, one of my greatest political heroes. His son is a pale, pale shadow of the original.
2
@Shelby
It's unfair to compare anyone to Mario,However, in his memory, I know Mario would love to have his son as President.I don't see where Andrew is what you say he is.
"It was Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo in his element: An audience of New York’s elite, from business titans to lobbying powerhouses to real estate barons, sat rapt before him."
That is what you would expect were a Republican Governor addressing an assembly of Capitalists
What the introduction should have said
It was Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo in his element: An audience of New York’s Teacher Unions, Nurses, Public employees , struggling Upstate City mayors sat rapt before him.
The NY Times reading elite wonders why working Americans could vote for Trump. Think again
30
Cuomo does just fine with the unions you mentioned and other progressive forces that don't just spend all day on Twitter
Andrew Cuomo wins because he runs against Elmer Fudd equivalents. I can't stand him but always have to vote for him because his opponents are absolutely pathetic.
He is a token of NY corrupt politics, the quintessential deal maker. But better than what he runs against....
28
@Patty Mutkoski Ithaca NY
Elmer Fudd equivalents ?
Cynthia Nixon won Tompkins County , seat of which is Ithaca. Most educated, most liberal, most progressive County in NYS
2
He’s too old school. We need newer ideas. He needs to retire at the end of the term
6
The easy answer to the question posed in the headline...to serve his own self-interest, massive ego, and quest for power. Any benefit to the public is merely a secondary consideration. It’s sad, as well, that we have learned so little about such politicians that the possibility of a fourth term even exists in New York. Shameful.
32
I will be away on Tuesday, but I swallowed my pride and voted for Cuomo on my absentee ballot, only because our options for the primaries and general election were the following:
1. A narcissistic, corrupt incumbent who has let our subway system rot to the state of a third world bomb shelter, whose entire inner circle has been carted off in handcuffs, but who thinks fairly mainstream policies like marriage equality makes him a liberal icon.
2. A Republican who will expand President's Trump agenda and oversee Congressional gerrymandering in 2020.
3. A Sex and the City actress.
Andrew Cuomo is no Mario Cuomo. I know scores of people, even here in deep blue New York City, who are dismayed at voting for him for a third term, and were very disheartened to see no serious contenders on the primary ballot.
Cuomo's White House run is a non-starter. The lack of enthusiasm for him from his home state will be palpable to a national audience. Remember how pathetic it looked when Lindsay Graham took home 1% of the Republican primary vote in his own state of South Carolina? Cuomo's fate in New York will be no better.
We need someone to distinguish themselves from Trump - a man who inherited everything from his father, has a legendary ego, and who has left a sordid trail of corruption and scandal in his wake. If Democrats turn to Andrew Cuomo - who embodies all of the above - to counter Trump, we might as well book our tickets to Trump's 2021 Inauguration Day parade now.
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There's a difference between being a "master builder" and being the tool of New York's real estate mafia. The one thing that Cuomo and DeBlasio have in common, as does virtually every other politician in the state, is their sickening thralldom to the RBNY.
Robert Moses and Andrew Cuomo do have one thing in common: Moses destroyed the fabric of neighborhoods by sundering them with expressways; Cuomo does it by giving carte blanche to developers, who in turn write him hefty checks. What does it mean to be a "progressive" in a city where everyone's got a concierge?
23
@stan continople
I disagree that the current projects are anything like Moses's authoritarian devastations. And Cuomo's projects are actually needed, NY infrastructure has become dysfunctional and somewhere below Malaysia and and above Indonesia.
The issue is the takers (in many senses, the takers of permits, and the takers of the quid pro quos). This is the next decade's investigative reporting (or, maybe it will start sooner, if the bandwidth exists, the DJT era being an engrossing blue streak). "Mafia"? You may be more right than you know. Ever notice how few stories there are about street crime hits... things have changed, but the structures and players are out there.
Go look at how people get permits, get concrete, get union labor, get neighborhood support in NY. It's a racket, so to speak!
3
There is an inverse relationship between Cuomo 's ambitions and his accomplishments. He makes NY look dull and ordinary.
15
I don't understand why people say he is a crook. All his close associates, Howe, Percoco, Kaloyeros, and others, are in jail or going. But their name is not Cuomo. So, he must be clean. Right?
This is one of the biggest jokes around. For years, he's been bullying (dare I say "bully," with this gentleman) the press into dissociating him from his right hand and his left hand. The stock refrain: "Governor Cuomo is not charged with any wrongdoing..." And then the advent of Trump was a shiny object that distracted the press, so they focused on the fact that DJT's a born-on-third-base scion, a phony business success (duh!). So Governor Cuomo gets a long-term pass...
Wake up and dive in. Licenses are money in NY, go look at who's on the boards of the public licensees and check what deals they are in. Utilities, major building permits, public pension investments. If you did half the sleuthing you did on Trump's taxes, you'd have a story.
The only good thing about this guy is his old school, vaudeville sadism. The estimable NYC Mayor is busy working out, stuck in traffic, being late and oblivious to facts, in Iowa/NH, while his venal minions keep the city "moving." At least the Boss of Bosses likes clobbering that bozo...
9
As a conservative Republican, Cuomo is the one Democrat in the country that I can tolerate. He opposes his own party on higher taxes, as well as idiotic proposals such as drivers licenses for illegals.
3
@DRS: New York has the second highest state taxes in the nation. How is that a vote for Cuomo?
This is great because, as a lifelong New Yorker, Andrew Cuomo running for any office gives me someone that I will be happy to vote against.
13
Honestly, I'd prefer Chris. Despite my absolute revulsion from the last two times media personalities became president (Trump, Reagan), I think Chris Cuomo has what it takes to be a political leader: He's an intelligent attorney with a progressive world view; he's extremely well informed about current events (obviously) and, more importantly, their historical context; and has a huge heart, like his father. Andrew Cuomo has done some great things for New York and I support him, but I can't see how he can ever escape the taint of Albany corruption, whether or not he was party to that corruption during his time in the Executive Mansion.
4
His legacy is the broken Subway, which is barely mentioned here but felt but NYC commuters every rush hour. AC wants to be known as a master builder but arguably the most important infrastructure in the state has deteriorated under his watch.
He seems more interested in building projects that he can take credit for, than those that actually serve his constituents. For example a new Kosciuszko Bridge that lights up but is just as bad as ever for traffic congestion. Or new MTA stations with USB ports when the trains themselves are a mess.
He deserves some credit for marriage equality and minimum wage action, yes. But is NY really leading the way on these issues compared to other reliably Democratic states like MA, CA or WA?
25
....but on the other hand, we have all of the $$$$ spent on renaming/ redoing the signage for the “ Mario Cuomo Bridge “ . Bring back the Tappan Zee!
17
There was an article here a while ago about the incredible bridges being built in China. Many are shameless boondoggles to nowhere, which will never pay their own way, but they are spectacular feats of engineering nonetheless. Then I think of the dinky new Kosciuszko Bridge, crossing a Superfund site, which Cuomo trumpets relentlessly. Even the new Tappan Zee, costly as it was, is also a cookie-cutter, cable-stayed design that you could find anywhere. Cuomo, in his self-glorification, confuses building something memorable with just being able to get anything at all done in this moribund state.
6