New York Metropolis mayoral candidate, and former New York Governor, Andrew Cuomo waves as he attends Sunday service earlier than delivering remarks on the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, March 30, 2025.
REUTERS/Adam Grey
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo picked up one other huge endorsement Sunday within the 2025 NYC Mayor’s Race whereas positioning himself because the one candidate within the race who can take Donald Trump on and defend the Large Apple from the president’s most “diabolical” insurance policies.
The governor got here to the Queens County Democratic Occasion’s headquarters in Forest Hills on March 30 to obtain the endorsement from the get together’s chair, US Rep. Gregory Meeks, who represents a lot of the borough’s southern space.
Meeks hailed Cuomo, a local of Jamaica, as a proud “Queens boy,” a moniker the previous governor has usually used to explain himself. Greater than that, nonetheless, the Congress member mentioned that Cuomo is ideally positioned to guide New York Metropolis over the following 4 years due to his previous expertise as governor throughout Trump’s first 4 years in workplace.
In reality, Meeks referred to as Cuomo “the best person to stand up to that guy at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.,” the Washington, DC handle of the White Home.
“We need a person who can communicate the Democratic Party’s issues and stand and tell the truth,” Meeks mentioned. “We have seen him do this before. The last person that Washington, DC wants to see become mayor of the City of New York is Andrew Cuomo.”
Congressman Gregory MeeksPhoto by Lloyd Mitchell
Cuomo will not be the one Queens native or resident within the 2025 mayor’s race — the sector contains Metropolis Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, state Sen. Jessica Ramos, and Meeting Member Zohran Mamdani — however he at the moment has the wind at his again as a transparent frontrunner within the Democratic main. Latest polls have Cuomo with greater than 40% assist from respondents and a double-digit lead over his closest rivals.
Meeks’ endorsement additionally strikes a blow to Speaker Adams’ late mayoral marketing campaign, given his place as Queens County get together chair and affect within the southeastern Queens space that she represents.
Standing earlier than a room filled with Democratic Queens lawmakers and district leaders, Cuomo noticed that Trump didn’t win the 2024 presidential election a lot because the Democratic get together misplaced it, noting that 500,000 fewer Democrats in New York Metropolis alone failed to indicate up and vote. He attributed that change to an absence of inspiration and perception that the get together now not lived “in the real world.”
“The Democratic party left its seat at the kitchen table,” the previous governor mentioned. “People are saying help me now, help me today. … Do something that helps me with my life that is tangible.”
Together with trumpeting a get-things-done strategy to metropolis authorities — citing his previous file as governor in advancing greater minimal wages, paid household depart and infrastructure enhancements — Cuomo turned his consideration to Trump, who he referred to as an “existential threat” to town.
“We all know this man. He came from Queens. I dealt with him for four years. I fought with him for four years. I know him,” Cuomo mentioned. “He, in many ways, has learned from his first administration to his second, and he’s more diabolical in this administration.”
Cuomo cited Trump’s efforts to chop Medicaid funding and different important social packages to New York Metropolis and blue states alike, and mentioned he was not going to let the president bully town round.
“We know how to deal with a bully in Queens. He’s going to put a finger in your chest and get you to step backwards. But not with a Queens boy,” Cuomo mentioned. “I dealt with Trump. He huffed and he puffed, but he’s not going to blow our door in.”
The previous governor additionally lambasted Trump for sending a message of concern and intolerance for distinction in America — one thing which he described as “a social cancer that he is spreading.”
“This country is all about the opposite. It is all about diversity,” he mentioned. “That diversity is a strength. That’s America. And America started here in New York City.”
He went on to state that New York “has to be the place to stand up to Mr. Trump and say, ‘No how, no way,” to his imaginative and prescient for the nation.
“The counter-force starts here. The counter-revolution starts here,” Cuomo mentioned. “The home of the opposition is New York City, and we’re going to push back, and we’re going to win.”
