Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo takes questions from reporters following a Manhattan campaign event. Thursday, March 6, 2025.
Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Democratic mayoral primary opponents piled on him on Thursday over a report that he has only lived in the Big Apple since September.
Former city Comptroller Scott Stringer called a last-minute news conference Thursday morning to bash the former top executive over the report by the news site Gothamist following Cuomo’s entrance into the race last weekend. The former governor is making his first run for office since resigning as the state’s top executive in 2021 amid multiple allegations of sexual harassment, which he denies.
The outlet reported that Cuomo made a Midtown East apartment his home address last September. The posh two-bedroom unit costs $8,242 a month, according to the report, and was previously occupied by Cuomo’s daughter, Cara Kennedy-Cuomo.
Cuomo was previously a long-time resident of Westchester and Albany. Although Cuomo grew up in Queens, Stringer charged that he abandoned the five boroughs long ago for the suburbs and no longer understands how the city works.
“Andrew Cuomo hasn’t been here, hasn’t thought about us,” Stringer said. “He doesn’t get us, he doesn’t understand us, he doesn’t think about us in the way people who live here every day do…He’s back in town, and that’s okay. But I have to tell you, this notion that he is a New York City person goes out the window with the reporting of today’s stories.”
Stringer argued that Cuomo’s lack of understanding fueled what he characterized as Cuomo’s unfavorable treatment of the city during his 11 years as governor. The former comptroller specifically pointed to Cuomo’s repeated cuts to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and CUNY while in office and his handling of COVID-19 patients living in nursing homes.
“When you overlay his record as the government on policies that mattered most to New Yorkers, he failed, he failed with the MTA, he failed with the city university, he failed during COVID, protecting our seniors,” Stringer said. “And I think part of the problem is he doesn’t get us anymore.”
‘I have been a lifelong New Yorker’
Cuomo pushed back on his opponents’ accusation that he is a carpetbagger during a Thursday afternoon news conference, following an event where he was endorsed by Teamsters Local 237 and former Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.
“I have been a lifelong New Yorker,” Cuomo told reporters. “When you’re governor, you’re still in New York. New York City is in New York State. And I was obviously very, very involved with New York City. So I’m a New Yorker 100% through and through.”
Cuomo said he had rented the Manhattan apartment for a couple of years but only lived there full-time since last fall.
Brad Lander, Stringer’s successor as comptroller, blasted Cuomo for the exorbitant rental price of his apartment.
“Most New Yorkers can’t afford the asking the average unit of $3,500-a-month, I don’t know anyone who can afford to pay $8,800-a-month,” Lander said. “That is not the housing struggle that New Yorkers are facing.”
Cuomo has been fielding attacks from all sides since entering the race as a front-runner less than a week ago. In addition to his residence, Cuomo’s opponents have attacked him over the toll his feud with former Mayor Bill de Blasio took on the city and the sexual harassment scandal that led him to resign.
Nonetheless, Cuomo has continued to dominate public polls — leading the pack with 31% of support in a Wednesday Quinnipiac University Survey.
He has also begun nabbing big endorsements, including those from Mayor Eric Adams’ allies, such as fDiaz Jr. and Manhattan Assembly Member Eddie Gibbs.
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