‘Not competent’: Cuomo slams de Blasio, praises Adams and says NYC ready for new mayor
Gov. Cuomo is really looking forward to some change.
The embattled governor held nothing back Wednesday as he weighed in on the city’s mayoral primary and did little to disguise his true feelings for Mayor de Blasio.
“It’s hard for me to work with an administration that is hyper-political and is not competent,” he said during a press briefing at his Manhattan office the morning after voters went to the polls to pick de Blasio’s likely successor. “And it’s hard to do that for a prolonged period of time. And I believe that’s what happened with New York City.
“We need to get things done. We need results. And I need a competent partner in local government,” he added.
The scandal-scarred governor, facing calls for his resignation over sexual harassment allegations and a series of probes into his administration’s mishandling of COVID-19, accused the mayor of overstepping his bounds during the pandemic.
The pair have famously feuded over a number of topics ranging from COVID school closures to the fate of a deer trapped in a park.
De Blasio has become increasingly vocal about his disdain for the governor in recent months, openly accusing Cuomo of “bullying” and more.
“I can’t tell you how many times I have had the experience in Albany of the governor believing he could take things from New York City because he thought he could get away with it politically,” the mayor said during a March appearance on WNYC’s “Brian Lehrer Show.”
Cuomo on Wednesday envisioned a day in which he doesn’t have to deal with de Blasio.
“I think with a new mayor, you’re going to see both an increase in the confidence in leadership and increase in the competence of the management of New York City,” he said.
He went on to sing the praises of front-runner Eric Adams, the current Brooklyn borough president, who appeared on his way to winning the Democratic primary following the city’s first ranked-choice voting election.
Full results will not be known for at least two weeks.
“We did a lot of work together on many budgets, many bills, for many years,” the governor said of Adams, a former state senator and police captain. “I like him very much. We have a good personal relationship, good professional relationship. I think he is a competent, confident individual.”
The governor made clear he believes Adams’ background in law enforcement will be a plus as the city grapples with an uptick in crime.
“I think he is a person who will step up and show real leadership, especially on the issue of quality of life and crime,” he said, before taking another shot at the current mayor. “Doing nothing is the worst thing that you can do and that’s what has happened here.”
Last month, the governor said repeatedly that the three biggest problems facing New York City are “crime, crime, crime.”
Cuomo had kind words for many of the other Democratic candidates, listing off positive traits he sees in the likes of fellow former federal Housing and Urban Development secretary Shaun Donovan, former sanitation commissioner Kathryn Garcia and entrepreneur Andrew Yang.
In the end, however, the governor’s comments made clear he’ll be happy to see anyone other than de Blasio in Gracie Mansion.
“I think, in general, electing a new mayor is very, very positive for the city,” Cuomo went on. “We’re trying to get the city back up and running. Confidence in the mayor is very, very important.”
De Blasio spokesman Bill Neidhardt slammed the governor’s post-primary takes.
“This is all coming from an insecure man so mired in his own scandals that he’s actively rooting against New York City,” he said.
Over the course of the COVID crisis, the mayor repeatedly bristled at the governor’s sweeping pandemic authority, accusing him of getting in the way of the city’s response, vaccination and recovery efforts.
The two publicly sparred over everything from mask-wearing to closing and then reopening schools, with Cuomo constantly reminding the press and the public that the state has superseding authority on most measures.
The governor slammed de Blasio and the NYPD for failing to enforce gathering limits and mask mandates early on as the Big Apple became the epicenter of the outbreak in the U.S.
De Blasio, meanwhile, publicly questioned the state’s vaccination rules and called on Cuomo to open up eligibility to more New Yorkers earlier.
In recent months, an emboldened de Blasio stepped up his criticisms of Cuomo as the governor became enmeshed in multiple scandals and federal and state probes into his administration’s counting of COVID nursing-home deaths, sexual harassment and assault allegations as well as claims that he used staff to help write and promote a pandemic-themed book about leadership.
Cuomo, also facing an impeachment inquiry, has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and defiantly resisted calls for his resignation, urging patience as Attorney General Letitia James’ office investigates the harassment allegations against him.
