Cuomo Addresses Congregants at Salem Missionary Baptist Church in Brooklyn
"I will not tell you anything I don’t know I can deliver. You’ve known me for a long time. You knew my father before me. You know my record. If I tell you I’m going to make it happen, I will make it happen. That’s the truth—and I have the experience to back it up." - Andrew Cuomo
Brooklyn, N.Y. – Andrew M. Cuomo, candidate for Mayor of New York City, today joined Pastor James Thornton to address congregants at Salem Missionary Baptist Church in Brooklyn.
A rush transcript of his remarks is below:
Good morning, Salem. God is good.
Pastor Thornton—I’m glad he’s not running against me. He’s the only one who isn’t! It’s a pleasure to be with all of you once again. And as the pastor said, these are toxic times. These are frightening times on many levels.
We have real issues here in the city that we must confront. We still have too much violence, too many gangs, too many unnecessary shootings. Too many innocents being killed.
The city is also very expensive. I was in a Black church last week, and one of the long-time congregants was moving to Georgia. The pastor even joked that maybe he would open a church in Georgia because more of his members have moved there than remain in his congregation here. That’s a direct result of how unaffordable New York has become.
And then we have President Trump in the White House, coming after essential programs that make this city work—programs that provide healthcare, food, and basic support for people. We cannot let that happen. He has threatened migrants, leaving families literally afraid to leave their homes, afraid to send their children to school.
Well, I have news for the President: we have laws in New York, too. I passed them. They’re called sanctuary laws. And if he thinks he’s going to remove migrants from New York, he’s going to have to go through me—and those sanctuary laws.
But affordability is still the greatest challenge. As the old saying goes, “The rent is too high.” It’s not the exact phrase, but the pastor’s here, so I’ll keep it clean. We have to build affordable housing, and we have to build a lot of it—quickly.
We also have a public safety issue. We need to hire more police officers, as we learned from Mayor David Dinkins. But they must work with the community, building trust, because we must do something about this violence. At the same time, we have to give our young people hope: hope for jobs, and a public education that actually equips them with the skills to compete for those jobs. Every district in this city deserves a high-quality education—not just the rich, not just the white districts, but the poor, the Black, and the Brown districts as well.
We have to get that done.
Now, a lot of politicians come before you and make promises: “This is what I’m going to do.” But I will not tell you anything I don’t know I can deliver. You’ve known me for a long time. You knew my father before me. You know my record. If I tell you I’m going to make it happen, I will make it happen. That’s the truth—and I have the experience to back it up.
Can we build affordable housing? Of course we can. I was Housing Secretary for President Bill Clinton for eight years. I built housing across the nation. Can we run this city? Yes. I ran the State of New York. Its budget is double the city’s, and its legislature is four times the size of the City Council.
Can we get big things done? Absolutely. I’ve proven it. They said LaGuardia Airport couldn’t be rebuilt—it was. They said Kennedy Airport couldn’t be modernized—it’s rising from the ground now. They said the Kosciuszko Bridge couldn’t be replaced—it’s done. Moynihan Train Hall, the Second Avenue Subway—impossible projects, now completed. Government is not about talk or rhetoric; it’s about action.
As James 2:17 says, “Faith without works is dead.” Government must be about action, progress, and results. And that is exactly what we are going to deliver.
One last point. The pastor mentioned COVID. COVID nearly killed us. We had it first and worst in the world. Nobody knew what was happening. Nobody came to help. I had to stand up every day and do the best I could, which is all the good Lord asks of us.
But there was a silver lining for me. COVID restored my faith in our collective strength—our ability to accomplish great things when we come together. Because in those dark days, New Yorkers stood up. The grocery store clerks showed up. The utility workers showed up. The bus drivers showed up. Neighbors helped neighbors. And together, we got through it.
If we could get through that, my friends, we can get through anything. And we will take today’s challenges and make this city better than it has ever been.
Thank you, and God bless you.
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