The groundwork for Andrew Cuomo’s bid for New York City mayor was laid as he made his way through power breakfasts at the Loews Regency, Upper East Side living rooms and the 92nd Street Y.
Now, many of the wealthy and powerful in New York are lining up behind him.
Ken Langone, Anthony Scaramucci and Marc Lasry are in. They see in the former New York governor a version of themselves: a chief executive with a no-nonsense, get-things-done demeanor who’ll stay focused on what they consider the urgent priorities of public safety on streets and subways, as well as homelessness and affordability.
“I’ve known Andrew a long time,” said Lasry, the CEO and co-founder of investment firm Avenue Capital Group. “I think he did a very good job as governor, and I think he’ll do a great job as mayor.”
Cuomo, in his formal mayoral announcement on Saturday, zeroed in on New Yorkers’ biggest concerns. “The city just feels threatening, out of control and in crisis,” he said. “I know what needs to be done, and I know how to do it.”
His decision to run, rumored for more than a year, upends the already-crowded Democratic primary. Polls have shown the former three-term governor with double-digit leads over the other challengers, including incumbent Eric Adams, city Comptroller Brad Lander and former Comptroller Scott Stringer. Adams, whose administration has been at the center of a slew of corruption probes, has been battling calls from other leaders to step down.
“I’m appreciative of Mayor Adams but he has too many problems that the city doesn’t need to take on for another term,” said former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. CEO Lloyd Blankfein.
Voters are weighing whether Adams, the first sitting mayor in the city’s modern history to be charged with a federal crime, is fit for a second term. Criticism of the mayor exploded after President Donald Trump’s Justice Department directed Manhattan prosecutors to drop their bribery charges against him, raising questions about Trump’s potential leverage over the mayor’s agenda.
While “not that fun to deal with” when Cuomo was New York’s attorney general probing Goldman Sachs and other firms, he is “smart, capable and pragmatic, a competent executive,” Blankfein said.
On Sunday, Cuomo looked very much the part of the top executive on weekend duty, in an appearance at the headquarters of the NYC District Council of Carpenters in Manhattan. He wore a navy blazer and white dress shirt, without a tie, and light-colored pants, as he spoke to a crowd filled with union members.
Cuomo, in his remarks, emphasized what he will do for working people in New York as he accepted the union’s endorsement.
He didn’t mention Trump by name during his comments, and business leaders in interviews have said they weren’t preoccupied about him needing to stand up to the president.
“The reason I like Andrew is I know his focus is going to be on helping New York and New Yorkers,” Lasry said.
Blankfein concurred. “I want the next mayor of NYC to be able to work with President Trump and not just be looking for a fight the way some other candidates are positioning themselves,” he said. “Trump is a New Yorker and wants to make New York City successful. There’ll be plenty of disagreements but much more common ground to focus on.”
The business leaders do want Cuomo to take on far-left politicians in the City Council. For example, the council has decriminalized quality-of-life crimes, such as public drinking, and imposed new mandates on employers that add to costs and exposure.
“The city should elect people who will advance economic development and efficiency and not ultra progressives that seem to block progress at every turn,” Blankfein said.
Cuomo, whose father was three-term New York governor Mario Cuomo, comes with some baggage. As governor, he signed a bail-reform law that some have blamed for the up-tick in crimes by repeat offenders. His budgets repeatedly took millions of dollars out of the MTA’s operating funds, and he cut funding for a city rental assistance program that precipitated a surge in the city’s homeless population.
He also shocked New York’s political establishment by resigning in August 2021, shortly after state Attorney General Letitia James released a lengthy report detailing allegations of sexual harassment against him by several women, including some who had been state employees at the time of the alleged acts, one a state trooper.
Cuomo has denied the claims, and spent years battling in court against some of the women who accused him.
At the event on Sunday, women from the Working Families Party gathered to protest Cuomo’s candidacy.
“We refuse to accept the choice of just electing another scandal-ridden politician like Andrew Cuomo,” said Ana Maria Archila, an organizer. “The women here are not suffering from collective amnesia.”
Cuomo “will have to litigate whatever the past grievances are against him,” said Scaramucci, the founder of investment firm SkyBridge Capital who had a brief stint in Trump’s first administration. In some cases, “he’ll probably need more time to get his side of the story out.”
Scaramucci has also made a small donation “as a friend” to Whitney Tilson, another contender for the Democratic nomination. The former hedge fund manager has polled in the low single-digits.
“I’m all in” on Cuomo, Scaramucci said by phone. “I’m going to spend time raising him capital, providing him media advocacy. I’m going to try to rally the business community, the restaurant community.”
An alternative to Cuomo for business-minded voters may come from Ed Skyler, a Citigroup Inc. executive who had served as deputy mayor in the administration of Michael R. Bloomberg, the majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP.
While he hasn’t yet decided to run, Skyler recently switched his registration to Independent from Republican to keep the option open, according to people familiar with his thinking. Skyler oversaw critical functions like fire and police while in public service. In his time at Citi, he’s joined key civic boards including the Hospital for Special Surgery.
“In the business community, there is general disillusion with the political climate in New York,” said Kathy Wylde, CEO of the Partnership for New York City, which represents interests of executives across sectors. “Most business people would welcome a technocrat into the race for mayor.”
More than a dozen events for Cuomo’s bid are shaping up in the coming weeks, including with public relations executive and filmmaker Dan Klores and fashion industry icon Fern Mallis.
Some of these people are coming off similar work for the Democratic presidential race. Former Vice President Kamala Harris’ loss to Trump has left them unsure what comes next for the party.
“Dems just suffered a serious blow at the national level,” said Jennifer Bayer Michaels, a senior advisor to the campaign. “With Cuomo’s announcement, we see palpable enthusiasm that gives me hope for the future of the party.”
And it’s not just Democrats being drawn in.
Simone Levinson, a longtime independent who backed Nikki Haley’s bid for president, will be one of the hosts for a Cuomo breakfast on Friday. She served on two commissions when Cuomo was governor.
“He’s uniquely qualified for the job of righting the ship of New York City at this moment,” she said. “He’s a consensus builder with a back bone and his experience is incomparable.”
