Andrew Cuomo is presenting himself as a sensible, competent executive who can pull New York City back from its current leadership crisis. His candidacy announcement video claims that he will bring back a new era of effective and capable good government to New York City. Cuomo hopes New Yorkers will forget that he spent a decade as governor pushing austerity and cutting funding to our basic social services, including those he claims to care so much for. From schools, transportation, housing, and higher education, Cuomo pushed the interests of the rich donor class over working New Yorkers.
On March 1, Cuomo released a seventeen–minute video announcing his official entry into the crowded New York City Democratic primary for mayor His decision came after months of gossip and speculation that he might run, following Mayor Eric Adams’s public disgrace in the wake of a federal indictment on corruption charges, numerous indictments of his inner circle, and resignations at the highest levels of his administration. Cuomo lays out why he should be mayor — arguments that only work if you have a short memory for his tenure as the governor.
Cuomo briefly acknowledges that he is scandal-ridden and disgraced: “Certainly did I make mistakes, some painfully, definitely.” But “I believe I learned from them, and that I am a better person for it.” As his announcement tweet indicated, Cuomo is banking on his ability to promise “effective leadership” as the cornerstone of his campaign, claiming his superior experience and skill. A vote for Cuomo is a vote to get things done.
From the opening scenes of the video, Cuomo presents a view of New York City in “trouble,” where ordinary New Yorkers feel uncomfortable after “making eye contact with a mentally ill homeless person” and feeling “anxiety in your chest as you’re walking down into the subway. You see it in the empty storefronts, the graffiti, the grime, the migrant influx, the…
Auteur: Susan Kang
