As a three-term governor of New York, Andrew M. Cuomo was once the most powerful man in the state. Now he finds himself in the unfamiliar role of an underdog.
After suffering a stunning loss in the Democratic mayoral primary to Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, Mr. Cuomo, 67, is running on a third-party line, trying to make up ground by interacting more with voters and attacking Mr. Mamdani as being too far to the left for New York City.
Ahead of the Nov. 4 election, the three leading candidates in the mayor’s race recently visited The New York Times for interviews. We have published excerpts from those interviews, and this is the final in the series.
The first, with Curtis Sliwa, the Republican nominee, can be found here; the second, with Mr. Mamdani, can be found here. The conversations have been edited for length and clarity. (Mayor Eric Adams, who is running for re-election as an independent and is fourth in the polls, declined to participate.)
We asked Mr. Cuomo 10 questions on subjects ranging from thorny policy issues to his favorite subway seat, with room for an occasional follow-up.
We’ve written before about how Mr. Cuomo lost the primary and about his complicated legacy in the city, and we previously asked him 10 questions during the primary campaign.
1. How many police officers should New York City have?
40,000. [The department’s current budget allows for 35,000 officers.]
And you want to hire 5,000 new police officers?
Yes.
2. A new law prevents renters from being forced to pay broker fees. Do you support the law, and do you think it’s working?
I don’t know how well it’s working. I haven’t seen any studies. But I support the law.
3. If President Trump sends the National Guard to New York City, what are three specific steps you would take in response?
Sue, sue, sue. But you have to stop him from sending the National Guard.
When I was governor, he sent the National Guard to cities. He did not send them to New York because we had a very in-depth conversation prior. If you allow him to invade, he has many weapons. Stop the housing funding. Stop the health care funding, stop the transportation funding.
I was successful in stopping him from going down that road a number of times. When he was going to quarantine New York during Covid, I stopped him from going down that road. When he demanded the undocumented driver’s license list and said he was cutting off our travel privileges, I stopped him.
4. Federal budget cuts could hurt New York City. If local cuts are needed, what’s one program you would cut?
You would have to rebalance the budget. I wouldn’t say, “Stop this program.”
There’s a lot of fat to trim. You don’t want to cut the meat. I would start with the premise that there’s waste in all of them, right? When I took over my first budget as governor, largest deficit in the history of the State of New York: about $12 billion. We trimmed everything without causing any disruption or loss of service.
5. Would you accept an endorsement from President Trump?
No.
Would you accept an endorsement from Mayor Eric Adams?
Good question. He is in the race.
If he drops out.
That’s cause for speculation. I choose not to speculate.
You would be open to accepting an Adams endorsement? You didn’t say no, like Trump.
I didn’t say no, like Trump. He is in the race. The implication of the question is, he gets out of the race, and I’m not going to affirm that he’s getting out of the race.
Have you had conversations with the mayor about getting out of the race?
I’ve not spoken with Eric in quite a while.
Have you spoken with Frank Carone, his top adviser?
I spoke to Frank Carone several weeks ago.
Are you asking Republicans to vote for you?
I have not. I will at one point. You represent all New Yorkers, like governor. You ask all New Yorkers for their support. You ask them for their unity, for their cooperation.
So you will be making an argument to Republicans that if you don’t like Mamdani, I’m your guy.
No, I won’t make that argument. My argument is I’m the best person to lead the city. I understand the problems. I have the experience to solve the problems. That would be my argument based on ability, experience and ideas.
6. With Mamdani leading in the polls, how do you win?
There is nowhere near 50 percent that support his positions. You’re not going to get 50 percent of New Yorkers to say I support legalizing prostitution. You’re not going to get 50 percent of New Yorkers to say, “I’m against jails.”
So that’s what the campaign is all about. These are his positions. “Oh, I didn’t know that.” Yeah, well, now you know.
Are you hopeful that Trump will continue to criticize Curtis Sliwa, the Republican candidate, and depress enthusiasm for him?
Trump, first of all, he doesn’t like Sliwa. Trump plays politics very, very well, and in many cases I think his duplicity is his advantage. I believe he wants Mamdani like he wants a steak dinner. I think Mamdani wins him the midterms. I think he takes him and he takes those positions, and he says, “This is the Democratic Party.”
7. Are you committing to campaign to the end of this race no matter what?
Yes.
And is this your last race?
No, not necessarily.
If you lose, is it your last race?
I don’t know what the future holds, but I don’t intend on losing.
8. Yankees or Mets?
No. Never. I was governor of New York. Yankees, Mets, Jets, Giants, Bills — all children of the family. Love them all the same.
9. Best movie about New York City?
10. How often do you take the subway?
Once or twice a week.
Do you usually sit or stand?
I tend to stand and talk and chat.
Which spot would you choose on one of the trains with orange seats?
I like a window seat so I would pick No. 4.
Mamdani said the same. So you have one thing in common.
Why he would pick that, I have no idea. Probably because it’s to the left.