ICYMI: NY Daily News Editorial Board Endorses Andrew Cuomo for Mayor of New York City
NYDN Joins amNY and The Staten Island Advance as Major NYC Newspaper Endorsements
A mayor, like a governor and a president, needs to make hard decisions and lead. There are forecasts of tough economic times ahead, from dire budget cuts from Washington to many warnings of recession. Cuomo, who navigated 10 state budgets, is well-equipped for that task. Cuomo, the frontrunner, did many good things as governor, like winning same-sex marriage and the $15 minimum wage. He rebuilt LaGuardia Airport and got the Second Ave. Subway finally opened as well as Moynihan Station.
- NYDN Editorial Board
Governor Andrew Cuomo, candidate for Mayor of New York City, today received the coveted endorsement of the New York Daily News’ Editorial Board. Daily News endorses Andrew Cuomo as its top-ranked choice in the mayoral race, citing his proven leadership, experience managing complex budgets, and firm stance against antisemitism. The editorial board concludes that Cuomo’s record and capabilities make him the best-equipped candidate to navigate the city through economic and social challenges– making him the leader who can guide through crises and protect New Yorkers at this critical moment. The endorsement follows amNY and The Staten Island Advance’s editorial board, both of which backed Cuomo for mayor in the Democratic primary.
The editorial board endorsement is below and here.
New York Daily News Editorial Board, Endorsement for Democratic Candidate for Mayor, Cuomo Our No. 1
The lineup in the New York City Democratic mayoral primary is far from ideal, but one thing is clear: Democrats need to keep Zohran Mamdani out of City Hall. Mamdani is unelectable: His economic policies would set New York City back and his stance on Israel bolsters hate.
The primary appears to be coming down to a two-man contest between Andrew Cuomo, the longtime governor who was forced to resign four years ago, and Mamdani, a junior assemblyman from Queens and a democratic socialist whose support of Palestinian rights also comes along with an anti-Israel agenda.
Mamdani’s strident stands like supporting the BDS movement of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against the world’s sole Jewish state, and embracing hateful slogans like “Globalize the Intifada” feed antisemitism, a terrible and growing plague in city with more Jews than anyplace in the world outside of Israel.
We aren’t alone in considering BDS antisemitic. And “Globalize the Intifada” is being used in murderous attacks on Jews in this country. Mamdani even dodges the question of whether Israel even has a right to exist as a Jewish state by saying it has a right to exist as a state with equal rights for all.
Antisemitic rhetoric, and even violence, sometimes masked as anti-Israel bile, must be combatted, not coddled. History has shown again and again that what starts with hate of the Jews always spreads to other minorities.
On other matters, Mamdani, emerging as the standard bearer of the progressive wing, also has it wrong such as maintaining the city’s hard-earned financial stability. Balancing our tax base dependent on property values and personal income taxes with the city’s $115 billion budget is a top priority.
The same for policing; now that crime has been pushed back down, it must be kept that way. That means keeping the NYPD strong to protect the streets and the subways.
Mamdani’s budget-busting plans and doctrinaire leftwing advocacy would aggravate the city’s problems, not solve them.
The Daily News, in line with the ranked choice system voters use in local primaries, offers the following endorsements for the race. This decision comes later than typical in an election cycle as we wanted to let events play out in the field and the candidates make their cases during a particularly volatile campaign.
Rank No. 1: Andrew Cuomo
A mayor, like a governor and a president, needs to make hard decisions and lead. There are forecasts of tough economic times ahead, from dire budget cuts from Washington to many warnings of recession. Cuomo, who navigated 10 state budgets, is well-equipped for that task.
Cuomo, the frontrunner, did many good things as governor, like winning same-sex marriage and the $15 minimum wage. He rebuilt LaGuardia Airport and got the Second Ave. subway finally opened as well as Moynihan Station. He also pushed through congestion pricing. He blundered on banning hydrofracking and shutting the Indian Point nuclear power plant in Westchester and closing down too many mental health beds.
Cuomo’s August 2021 downfall stemmed in part from anger over his handling of COVID, where in the pandemic’s early days in the spring of 2020 he was seen as hero to many, but by the summer of 2021 he was villain to many.
But the biggest matter that pushed Cuomo from Albany was losing all political support when state Attorney General Tish James published a report on 11 allegations of sexual harassment by Cuomo. No criminal charges were ever brought by any of the five district attorneys who investigated. In the years that followed there have been a number of civil suits brought by female complainants against Cuomo that have not been resolved.
As for the AG report itself, a federal magistrate judge ruled it as hearsay, which was never subject to challenge. In the interest of transparency, we have called for years for all the interview memos prepared during the probe to be released. That has not happened.
In this present campaign, Cuomo has done his fair share of dodging and weaving, like supporting repeal of a significant statewide pension reform he won in 2012 called Tier 6 and calling for the hiring of 5,000 more cops, which seems on the high side. He alone among the major candidates is against using a Program to Eliminate the Gap/savings plan when taking office.
We endorsed Cuomo when he ran for attorney general in 2006 and governor three times, in 2010, 2014 and 2018. But what happened during his final term, when he resigned in a swirl of scandal in 2021, does give pause to us, as we were among those urging him to leave his high office.
Cuomo’s experience in government leadership and strong stance on antisemitism argues in his favor.
###