Governor Cuomo Discusses First 100-Day Agenda to Ensure Opportunity, Tackle Affordability, and Improve Public Safety
“Government is about action and production, not just talk.”
“If I don’t get it done in 100 days, you can hold me accountable. But I will not fail.”
“Faith without action is dead. We are going to get things done.”
Queens, NY - Andrew M. Cuomo, candidate for Mayor of New York City, today discussed his First 100-Day Agenda to restore opportunity, address affordability, and improve public safety across New York City.
Delivering remarks at Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church in Queens, Governor Cuomo outlined a bold plan that will:
- Ensure Opportunity by promoting innovation and job creation by attracting the industries of tomorrow, enacting universal 3-K, and closing chronically failing schools and replacing them with proven high-performing models tailored to students and their communities, such as charters, early-college high schools, and specialty programs to prepare students for a changing economy.
- Tackle Affordability by eliminating taxes on working families who cannot afford them, providing free MTA bus and subway service for low-income New Yorkers, raising the minimum wage to $20/hour, and launching the Nehemiah Project to build 50,000 new units of affordable housing every year to lower housing costs across the board..
- Improve Public Safety by hiring 5,000 additional police officers, restoring NYPD staffing to levels first achieved under Mayor Dinkins, and forging new partnerships between precincts and community-based violence interrupters to combat gun and gang violence.
The full transcript of Andrew M. Cuomo’s remarks, delivered at Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church in Queens, is included below.
Thank you very much. Good morning. God is good.
I need a rebuttal to that introduction. First of all, to Reverend Joel Youngblood—thank you. Thank you for all that you do. My father is looking down. See, Pop, it’s not just in politics that you have father-son teams—you also have it in the ministry. God bless you, Reverend Joel Youngblood. Let’s give him a round of applause. Thank you.
The comment about my brother hurt. We want you to know: humble versus cool. I understand some people find my brother attractive. I get it. But you have not seen him without his makeup—that’s all I’m saying. I have. And I would suggest you do that first before you come to conclusions. Without makeup, I’ll give him a run for his money.
Bishop Johnny Ray Youngblood, Mario Cuomo—these were giants. Giants of men. And Reverend Joel was talking about Blake Avenue and Nehemiah housing. I was in my 20s, building housing on the other side of Pennsylvania Avenue, on Blake Avenue, and I was watching what Reverend Johnny Ray was doing. He was battling all sorts of forces to make change—because change is hard, right?
When you make change, you disrupt the status quo. And when you disrupt the status quo, you’re going to have forces opposing you. I watched the battles he was fighting. My father was an ally of the reverend’s, but it was still a fight. God bless what he accomplished. It was unimaginable. But I learned from him, and I learned from that, and I learned from my father. Yes, we have challenges. But if we step up, fight, and act, we can face these challenges—and we can overcome.
We have challenges in New York today. We do. You walk down the street, you feel it. You get in the subway, you feel it. Crime is up. Affordability is a problem—especially rent. People are leaving New York because they’re just giving up. They’re saying, “I can’t afford it. It’s too expensive.” We’re losing jobs. Yes, we have challenges. But there is nothing we cannot overcome. Government is a big part of that—leading the fight, working with community-based organizations.
First, we have to get back to basics. What is New York about? It’s about creating jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs. With opportunity, you have a future. You go to school, you advance, and you can do better than your parents before you. You can provide for your family. But we need those jobs coming to New York—not leaving.
We have to get a public education system that actually educates. Right now, we have schools in this city that have been failing students for generations. And we just continue the same failing schools. No. If a school is failing, close it. Open a new school. Try something else. Open a charter school. Open a specialty school—a high school plus a college. But you must give young people the skills, because this economy is changing. AI is coming. If all you have is a GED, all you’re going to be doing is serving tables and washing plates. You need skills. And we can do that. We start by closing failing schools. I’ll get that done in the first 100 days.
We have violence out there—gun violence, gang violence. We’ve had it before. We dealt with it before. And we have to do it again. Yes, part of it is police. I want to hire 5,000 officers, which will bring us back to the level of Mayor David Dinkins, who really got a hold of crime. God bless Mayor Dinkins’ memory. What a beautiful man. What a beautiful mayor.
That is part of it. But the community is also part of it—community-based groups, violence interrupters who know what’s going on in the neighborhood, who know when a gang problem or retaliation is coming. We have to get police working with those groups, forging partnerships. It won’t work if the community believes the police are the enemy. In the first 100 days, I want every precinct in this city to sit down with the community and come up with a plan to stop gun violence and gang violence. We will get that done.
And affordability—yes, it’s a nationwide problem, but it’s worse here. People are leaving because they can’t afford to live here. So do what you can: help eliminate taxes on working families who can’t afford it. Provide free MTA buses and subway service—not for rich people, but for poor people who can’t afford it. Build affordable housing. I will start a project to build 50,000 units a year. We know how to do it. I did it in my 20s. I’m going to call it the Nehemiah Project. Why? Because Nehemiah is not only the legacy of Reverend Johnny Ray Youngblood, but Nehemiah 2:17 says: “Come, let us rebuild, and we will no longer be in disgrace.” Within the first 100 days, I will have sites for the first 50,000 new units.
I know how to make government work. You don’t want to hear me sing. You don’t want to see me dance. I don’t play golf. I can’t go on TV with my brother and shoot the bull the way he does. But I know how to make government work. I learned from the best—my father. I worked with Bill Clinton as HUD Secretary. I was Attorney General. I was Governor. I know how to get things done.
Go look at the new Kosciuszko Bridge, the new LaGuardia Airport. That didn’t just happen. We made that happen. The Mario Cuomo Bridge across the Hudson. The Second Avenue Subway. We know how to make government work, and we can do it again. The reason I say “100-day agenda” is because government is too good at talking and too slow at doing. I’m giving you a timeframe to judge me. If I don’t get it done in 100 days, then I will come back here and you can say, “You told us 100 days and you failed.” But by the way—I will not fail. Because it’s about getting things done.
James 2:17: Faith without action is dead. We are going to get things done.
Last point is this: Yes, we have problems. But you believe in New York. You believe in New Yorkers. And as Reverend Joel said about COVID—remember what happened when we were at our worst? When we were scared to death, literally, not knowing if we would live or die? That’s when you see what people are made of. That’s when you see into their heart and soul. And look at what New Yorkers did in the midst of COVID, when we were all alone. We had it worst on the globe. Nobody was coming here. Nobody was coming to help. It was just us. And you know what we did? We rose to the occasion. We helped one another. Neighbors helped neighbors. Everybody did what they had to do. The nurses showed up. The doctors showed up. The ambulance drivers showed up. The food store clerks kept working. Everybody showed up to get us through it.
That’s the power of New Yorkers. If we bring that power back, we will make this city better than it has ever been in history. God bless you, and thank you for having me.
###