NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- With less than a month to go until the mayoral election on Nov. 4, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo answered 1010 WINS' questions about the race and his vision for New York City if elected mayor.
1. What would you say is the number one priority policy you will focus on Day 1 when you enter office?
Building a new New York City: one that ensures public safety by restoring police staffing levels to where they were in the 1990s and implementing precision policing; affordability by capping property taxes for homeowners, eliminating income taxes for low-income families, raising the minimum wage to $20 an hour, and driving down housing costs by building 500,000 new affordable units; and opportunity for all by promoting innovation and job creation by attracting the industries of tomorrow, enacting universal 3-K, funding youth employment programs, and replacing failed schools with proven, high-performing models tailored to students and their communities.
2. When you are looking for deputy mayors, commissioners, and employees to fill out City agencies, what is the one quality you want people to have who take those jobs?
I learned as governor that the way to build an effective administration is to find a group of people united by a passion to serve the public, with a mix of public- and private-sector experts and executives who push innovation by bringing in new perspectives. Over the past 12 years, we’ve seen a talent drain in City government. I want to rebuild and revitalize the ranks with a new generation of people who believe in the mission of government and have the skills to deliver results. This isn’t about bringing in those with political knowledge; it’s about bringing in people with real-life expertise who are willing to challenge the bureaucracy and the status quo, and who understand that execution matters just as much as vision. We’ll be recruiting professionals who understand the urgency and have the dedication required to build a new New York City.
3. How will you handle the City’s relationship with the federal government and President Donald Trump?
I’ve known President Trump for decades and dealt with him for many years, including during COVID, when I fought with him on a near-daily basis to ensure we had the supplies we needed to get through the crisis; when he targeted our immigrant community by kicking us out of the Trusted Traveler Program because of our driver’s license law; and when he threatened to send the National Guard into NYC in the aftermath of the George Floyd murder. In every instance, I fought back—and we won.
Unlike Zohran Mamdani, who Trump would cut through like a hot knife through butter, I know how to manage working with the President. I’ve done it before, and I’ll do it again. I will defend New York from federal overreach, protect our values, and make sure Washington understands that New York City sets its own course, while also working across the aisle in partnership when it is to the benefit of New Yorkers.
4. Would you keep NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch or make your own pick — and what matters most in that role?
As I have said many times, Commissioner Tisch is doing a great job, and I would look forward to her serving as NYPD Commissioner in my administration. What matters most in this role is deep experience with policing and the police department, unquestioned integrity, and high respect for the community the police department serves – that is what she has brought to the role, and will continue to.
5. There are voters who say they’ll never vote for you — what’s your message to them?
I understand that not everyone will agree with me or support me, that’s the nature of democracy. But my record is clear: I’ve always put the people of New York first, regardless of party or politics. I worked across the aisle to deliver marriage equality, middle class tax cuts, the $15 minimum wage, the most ambitious infrastructure program in the nation, and balanced budgets year after year. Those weren’t Democratic accomplishments or Republican accomplishments, they were New York accomplishments.
My guiding principle has always been that we are all in this together. Whether you’re rich or poor, Democrat or Republican, from Brooklyn or Staten Island, our challenges don’t discriminate, and neither should our solutions. Public safety, affordability, and opportunity, these are shared priorities. My message to anyone who says they’ll never vote for me is simple: judge me on results, not rhetoric. You may not agree with every decision I’ve made, but you can be sure of this: I will fight every single day to make this city safer, fairer, and stronger for all of us.
6. Name a mayor you admire, and one you would not model yourself after.
I admire Fiorello La Guardia. I would not model myself after Bill de Blasio.
7. How do you plan on making sure that you meet your stated goal of 100,000 homes a year in the city to develop housing, and how will you make sure that it’s quality housing that is being developed?
My housing plan calls for building 500,000 additional homes in New York City over the next decade (or 50,000 per year). Most of these units will be affordable to low- and moderate-income New Yorkers, and a meaningful number will be available for people with very low incomes. That number is ambitious, but it’s achievable if we align every tool at the City’s disposal.
To accomplish this goal, we will need to aggressively seek expanded development in areas recently rezoned; increase rezoning and housing development in Industrial Business Zones; partner with faith-based institutions to develop affordable housing on surplus property they own in conjunction with housing developers; and ensure that tax abatement programs like Section 485-x are sufficient to generate enough private-sector-developed affordable housing. My administration will also focus on facilitating office-to-residential conversions and identifying all possible city-owned land that could be developed for affordable housing.
New Yorkers don’t just need more housing, they need better housing, and I will deliver both. While it may sound impossible, the same was said about rebuilding LaGuardia Airport, building Moynihan Train Hall, and extending the Second Avenue Subway—but I got the job done then, and I will again now. Failure is not an option.
8. What food spot in NYC would you choose for your last meal?
My mother’s food is the best in New York, hands down, and if I could only eat one more meal, I’d head straight to her apartment.
Gaby’s Pizza in Hollis, where I grew up, is also pretty great.
In my neighborhood in Manhattan, there’s an Irish pub called Parnell’s that I used to go to with my father all the time. Now I take my girls there because it reminds me of him. It feels like home.
9. Do you have a favorite “hidden” spot in the city that you can escape to?
If I told you, it wouldn’t be hidden or an escape anymore!
10. What’s your favorite subway line, and where do you take it?
I’m proud of the Q, because I built it, and it runs near my apartment. But I also love the L because it’s what I take to see my daughter, Cara, in Brooklyn.