Andrew Cuomo announced on Saturday he is running to become mayor of New York City, more than three years after he resigned in disgrace as governor of New York after being accused of sexually harassing a number of women who worked for him and misleading the public about COVID-19 deaths.
Cuomo, 67, denies the allegations. He is among the most well-known of a number of candidates challenging embattled Mayor Eric Adams to become the Democratic Party’s nominee in the primary election in June.
“I know what needs to be done and I know how to do it,” Cuomo said in a video message, saying the city needs a bold plan to address crime, mental illness and other concerns, and calling for a permanent increase in police numbers and the construction of thousands of affordable homes.
Adams is seeking a second term even as he faces calls to resign by senior Democrats after he was indicted last year on corruption charges and then courted U.S. President Donald Trump, a Republican, as he seeks to have the indictment dismissed. Adams, 64, has pleaded not guilty.
Cuomo entered politics in the 1980s helping his father, Mario Cuomo, win three terms as New York governor, an office he himself won in 2010. He also served in President Bill Clinton’s cabinet as U.S. housing secretary, and, before becoming governor, served a term as New York’s attorney general.
As governor, Cuomo signed bills legalizing same-sex marriage and recreational marijuana, and in New York City he oversaw an expansion of Pennsylvania Station and an overhaul of LaGuardia Airport.
He was known for making daily public briefings in the early days of the COVID pandemic, which killed thousands of New Yorkers, but his response to the crisis became the beginning of his political downfall.
In an audit, New York state’s comptroller found Cuomo’s administration had pressured the Health Department to deliberately undercount, COVID deaths of state nursing home residents. Cuomo had signed a $5.1 million deal for a book about his leadership during the pandemic, but the state ethics board revoked its approval after saying Cuomo wrongly used state employees and resources to write it. Cuomo has said he did nothing wrong or unethical, and has sued the ethics board, which has sought the $5.1 million from him, in litigation that continues.
