In the final weeks of the Democratic primary for mayor of New York City, former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has held on to his lead in the polls.
He has centered his campaign on the idea that the city is in crisis and needs a strong manager to address quality-of-life issues.
His message appears to be resonating with New Yorkers who say the city is heading in the wrong direction. But he faces a crowded field of primary candidates, including Zohran Mamdani, a progressive state lawmaker from Queens who is polling in second place.
Ahead of the June 24 primary election, the leading Democrats in the race visited the New York Times newsroom for interviews. We plan to publish excerpts from those interviews, and this is the first in the series; our conversation was edited for length and clarity.
We asked Mr. Cuomo, 67, questions about 10 themes, with the occasional follow-up, from thorny policy issues to how much he pays in rent.
We’ve written previously about where Mr. Cuomo stands on key issues, the sexual harassment allegations that led to his resignation in 2021 and a federal investigation into his handling of nursing home deaths during the pandemic.
1. What’s the most important issue in the race — affordability, public safety, President Trump or something else?
Lack of management capacity evidenced through all of the above. Lack of affordable housing, deterioration of quality of life — they all stem from poor management. Then the existential threat is Trump.
2. Who is the best New York City mayor in your lifetime?
That’s hard to say. Well, the ones who I know, of the experiences I’ve had — I would say Bloomberg was the most effective manager of the city. Fiorello La Guardia was my favorite mayor — just as a mayor, as a character, as a public elected official.
3. Should the Elizabeth Street Garden in Manhattan be closed to build affordable housing?
In general, I think it’s a mistake to close gardens and green spaces. You know, quality of life. Find a vacant site that is not a green space. A city-owned site that really is suitable for affordable housing.
4. The Brooklyn-Queens Expressway is crumbling. How would you fix it?
Government likes to play football to the extent they like to punt. They punt a lot. I haven’t gotten into it well enough to know how the temporary supports — how real that is and how long that lasts.
I had said to Bill de Blasio, “Do you want to do this together?” Because there could be some really creative alternatives. But I think it was just too big for them to consume.
If you are elected mayor, would you commit to getting that project done?
Yes, it has to be done. Those are the projects that I tend to do, right? If you look at the list of projects I took on, they are all the things that were supposed to be done that nobody wanted to go near to do.
5. What’s one thing you would do in your first year as mayor to meet the legal deadline to close Rikers Island by 2027?
You want to talk about a government debacle on all levels? It’s just a metaphor for the lack of management, lack of competence, and everybody is involved. We start to build borough-based jails, which were fatally flawed by design, since they don’t have the capacity to satisfy the Rikers capacity to begin with. And — surprise, surprise — they’re slow and over budget. You cannot make the legal deadline.
Within the first 30 days, I would start removing seriously mentally ill people from Rikers into supportive housing units and community-based housing with mental health services.
6. What’s one issue in politics that you’ve changed your mind on?
I can’t think of one right now.
What about congestion pricing?
No, no, no. Congestion pricing I did not change my mind on. Congestion pricing was started many, many years ago. Nobody could get it done. I got it passed.
When they went to implement it, remember what congestion pricing was — this is what I promised the people of New York: “The subways will be safe and clean. There’s no reason to drive.”
The moment they go to introduce congestion pricing, the subways have never been worse. It’s post-Covid. People don’t want to go to work anyway, and now we’re going to put another burden to go to work.
All I said was, let’s study this before we do it in this moment, to make sure people aren’t going to say, “you know what, another reason for me to stay home.”
Now that it’s showing signs of success, you support it?
Yes.
7. Do you regret your decision to resign as governor?
[He resigned under immense political pressure and initially apologized for making female staffers feel uncomfortable; he has since fought the allegations in court and argued that they were politically motivated.]
If I had to do it again, I wouldn’t have resigned. At the time, I thought that I would be a distraction to government functionality, that they would all be involved in impeachment proceedings, blah, blah, blah. Looking back, what has really been done in the last four years, anyway, right?
Maybe I could have accelerated this whole process and it wouldn’t have taken four years. It could have been done in six months. If judges actually had people come in and they gave sworn testimony. But in retrospect, I wouldn’t have resigned.
At the time, I thought it would have been too much of a distraction and hurt the great functioning of government, which was going to go build great things and do great things.
It sounds like you don’t think your successor, Gov. Kathy Hochul, has done that.
Well, you can judge the record of accomplishment of the past four years.
8. There have been questions about where Mayor Eric Adams lives. Where do you live?
I live in Manhattan.
How much is your rent or mortgage?
I rent. Why do you want to know how much?
Affordability is an important question in the city right now.
The rent just went up to about $8,000.
When was the last time you had your primary residence in New York City?
I was born in Queens and lived in New York City until I went to Washington for the Clinton administration.
So the last time you lived here was … ?
From zero to 32-ish.
Do you own a car?
I own several vehicles.
How many?
I own more collectible vintage cars: an old Ford Bronco, an old 1968 Pontiac GTO, an old Corvette I’ve had since high school. A lot of memories there. And then an everyday work car — a Dodge.
How often do you take the subway or bus?
I take it fairly often.
Once a week?
Once a week. Once every other week.
Do you use a garage or do alternate-side parking?
It is garaged. I live down the block from my mother, who is elderly and is alone now. The car is garaged, literally in my mother’s building.
9. What is your bagel order or favorite breakfast sandwich?
Bacon, cheese and egg on an English muffin, and then I try to take off the bacon, but I don’t really take off the bacon. The bagel I try to stay away from, to keep my girlish figure.
10. What’s the last TV show you binged?
I’m not a binger, like I can’t do the eight episodes. I watch a lot of sports, more than anything. I had the tragedy of watching the Knicks lately.
What about ‘Sex and the City?’
I don’t watch “Sex and the City.” Brings back bad memories. [The series stars the actress Cynthia Nixon, who ran for governor against Mr. Cuomo in 2018.]
Emma G. Fitzsimmons is the City Hall bureau chief for The Times, covering Mayor Eric Adams and his administration.
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