We\u2019d like to say the choice is clear for Staten Island in the upcoming mayoral election, one that could result in monumental change in the way our city is managed.<\/p>\n
But for Staten Island, it\u2019s not that simple. <\/p>\n
For us, the choice is clear between two of the three candidates\u2014Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Mamdani is not ready now, if he ever will be, to lead New York City, its hundreds of thousands of employees and its $110 billion budget. The man\u2019s only real job at 34 years old has been state assemblyman since 2020. Most of his policies and proposals are so out of touch that we\u2019re certain they\u2019re unachievable. <\/p>\n
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo is ready. But then, add Curtis Sliwa to the mix. <\/p>\n
Sliwa speaks Staten Island. He knows the people. He knows the issues. He knows where Hylan Boulevard and New Dorp Lane are. He knows the struggles Staten Islanders face, like bike lanes he says he\u2019d eliminate after six months of non-use, and traffic cameras, which he\u2019d eliminate immediately. And Sliwa has a legion of fans in our borough.<\/p>\n
Elect Curtis Sliwa and we\u2019d have the 1990\u2019s version of Rudy Giuliani in terms of attention to Staten Island, even though Sliwa\u2019s ability to govern a metropolis is unknown.<\/p>\n
That said, we agree with the pollsters. Curtis Sliwa will not be elected in our overwhelmingly Democratic city, no matter how many Staten Islanders vote for him. A recent poll has Mamdani and Cuomo in a dead heat if Sliwa wasn\u2019t in the race.<\/p>\n
We understand many Staten Islanders think Sliwa should be the next mayor. But we urge those Staten Islanders to consider the political leaning of the rest of New York and that a vote for Sliwa is a vote Cuomo does not get, handing City Hall to Mamdani.<\/p>\n
Some put it this way: A vote for Curtis Sliwa is really a vote for Zohran Mamdani.<\/p>\n
If Sliwa supporters want to see New York prosper after the tumultuous years of Eric Adams, they should cast their vote for Andrew Cuomo. At least they won\u2019t have to do what many Republicans find repugnant and vote on the Democratic line. Cuomo is on the Independent line.<\/p>\n
If it eases Republican conscience, when questioned by the Advance\/SILive.com whether, if elected, he would consider offering Sliwa a position in his administration, the former governor was not opposed to the idea. Of course, we have no way of knowing if he would\u2014or if Sliwa would take the job. But for Sliwa fans, your vote for Cuomo is worth the gamble.<\/p>\n
We endorsed the former governor in the primary and as we noted then, Staten Island needs a stronger relationship with the mayor and his commissioners in the next mayoral administration. We can do that with Andrew Cuomo, a politician who has a long history with the borough. He was governor for 10 years, and his father, Mario, governor for 11 years, with whom he worked.<\/p>\n
We are pleased to endorse Andrew Cuomo again.<\/p>\n
Both Sliwa and Cuomo agree on some of the issues, notably that outer boroughs get a raw deal. <\/p>\n
Cuomo says there is a \u201cManhattan-based mentality\u201d that ignores boroughs like Staten Island. \u201cThere\u2019s a different reality in the outer boroughs,\u201d he says, citing transportation policies, like bike lanes that he argues make \u201cdriving impossible\u201d in areas where residents rely on cars.<\/p>\n
He agreed with our continuing criticism of the Department of Transportation\u2019s one-size-fits-all policy, saying he would give more control to the local office in making borough-specific decisions.<\/p>\n
He and Sliwa are familiar with the battery energy storage issue on Staten Island, both saying there needs to be more control over siting.<\/p>\n
Cuomo, when governor, worked to establish offshore wind to help power New York. It was approved and then later rescinded upon Donald Trump\u2019s reelection. The president, instead, is pushing an underwater natural gas pipeline that would hug Staten Island, potentially causing environmental concerns. The project was denied when Cuomo was governor.<\/p>\n
Cuomo opposes it. \u201cWhy would you give him the pipeline that I fought 10 years? It\u2019s bad for Staten Island…\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
As we noted before the primary, it would be disingenuous not to acknowledge that Cuomo brings baggage. He resigned as governor amid accusations of inappropriate sexual behavior, accusations he has denied.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was politically motivated. There was no truth to it,\u201d Cuomo said of the sexual harassment allegations. District attorney\u2019s offices in five counties investigated, declining to bring criminal charges. \u201cIt all materializes to nothing, with the last judge saying it was all hearsay,\u201d he told the Editorial Board. <\/p>\n
Another criticism of the former governor was his decision to place COVID patients in nursing homes, and accusations that his administration hid the number of deaths in those nursing homes.<\/p>\n
Cuomo maintains the decision was based on guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. As for accusations of hiding the number of deaths, he explained the federal government kept changing the parameters of their demand time-and-again as to cause of death and where the patient died, making it impossible to accomplish in the timeframe ordered. <\/p>\n
He signed Raise the Age and bail reform laws that caused controversy. He signed the unpopular-on-Staten-Island congestion pricing bill. <\/p>\n
All that said, Andrew Cuomo is still the best choice to lead New York City come January. His record is decades-long. We\u2019d be interested in meeting any politician who has served that long without their share of critics. We think Cuomo has learned much about how to work with people in a less hostile manner since his fall from grace.<\/p>\n
Zohran Mamdani has charmed New York since bursting onto the big stage in his quest to run one of the biggest and most complicated cities on the planet. <\/p>\n
But what do we really know about him?<\/p>\n
We know he talks to struggling, cash-strapped New Yorkers in language they can understand, many who can barely meet their rent and buy food at the same time, many now living in shelters or at food pantries every week, making promises that will ease their financial burdens.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour rent is too high. I\u2019ll freeze it. Grocery prices are too high. I\u2019ll open cheaper grocery stores. Your child-care cost is through the roof. I\u2019ll make it free. Bus fares keep going up. They\u2019ll be free, too. You pay taxes. Billionaires should, too\u2014at a higher rate.\u201d <\/p>\n
Promises we do not think he can keep.<\/p>\n
We can\u2019t detail much in the way of what he knows about Staten Island issues because he couldn\u2019t find time to sit with the Advance\/SILive.com Editorial Board to discuss those issues. Both Cuomo and Sliwa did.<\/p>\n
What we do know is Mamdani has never run anything, let alone a city of nine million people, hundreds of thousands of employees and a $110 billion budget. <\/p>\n
His life experience includes him being a musician and rap singer, an organizer for an advocacy group in Seattle for four months, and then one in Texas for two months. He secured a job as \u201cmusic supervisor\u201d for a film, which happened to be directed by his own mother.<\/p>\n
He was elected to the New York State Assembly in 2020, again in 2022 and again in 2024.<\/p>\n
During that period, he missed 50% of the Assembly votes. <\/p>\n
Positions he has taken, from Israel to the NYPD to prostitution, should be troubling to any New Yorker.<\/p>\n
His proposals might sound appealing to many but are either not realistic \u2013 or do-able \u2013 given opposition he\u2019d face in Albany, and the massive amount of money he\u2019d have to raise through higher taxes for things like free childcare and free buses.<\/p>\n
He refuses to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, a connection it has had with Judaism for thousands of years, although formally declared in 1948 by David Ben Gurion.<\/p>\n
He called New York cops racists in 2020 and demanded NYC \u201cdefund the police.\u201d Now we find him cozying up to the NYPD. How coincidental when he sees which way the wind blows in his race for mayor. <\/p>\n
He says he has evolved since joining the Assembly. Some evolution, especially when you\u2019re not there for 50% of the votes.<\/p>\n
He plans to raise $10 billion in new taxes through income tax increases on the wealthy and increasing the corporate tax from 7.25% to 11.5%. That\u2019s a bizarre way to lure business to New York, and keep businesses here. Gov. Kathy Hochul says an income tax hike is a non-starter.<\/p>\n
He pledges to freeze New Yorkers\u2019 rents. What he doesn\u2019t make clear is he will only freeze rent-stabilized apartments, about half of New York\u2019s total. So if your apartment is not rent-stabilized, don\u2019t expect a freeze. <\/p>\n
Ironically, Mamdani, who comes from a wealthy family, lives in a rent stabilized apartment himself, and pays just over $2,000 a month in rent\u2014the rent he wants to freeze.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve heard it from Andrew Cuomo that the No. 1 crisis in this city, the housing crisis\u2014the answer is to evict my wife and I,\u201d Mamdani said in a televised debate. \u201cHe thinks you address this crisis by unleashing my landlord\u2019s ability to raise my rent.\u201d<\/p>\n
No, Assembly member Mamdani. The answer is making sure people who can afford market-rate rent pay it, leaving rent-stabilized apartments for those who really need it.<\/p>\n
In that same televised debate, he denied several times he supports legalized prostitution. He must draw a distinction between legalization and decriminalization because he would not address why his name is on a bill in Albany to decriminalize it, finally admitting he thinks social workers should deal with prostitutes and not the NYPD.<\/p>\n
The fact that Zohran Mamdani, nor his campaign team, did not schedule a time to sit with Staten Island\u2019s only local news organization to discuss specific Staten Island issues, so we could bring them to you, should tell you something about the kind of mayor he will be for Staten Island.<\/p>\n
Staten Islanders must come out in force. Vote early, between Oct. 25 and Nov, 2, or vote on Election Day, Nov. 4. <\/p>\n
Vote for Andrew Cuomo, a seasoned executive with decades of governing experience neither of the other candidates possess.<\/p>\n
Staten Island put Rudy Giuliani over the top in 1993, and Mike Bloomberg over the top in 2001. <\/p>\n
Let\u2019s do the same for Andrew Cuomo in 2025. <\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
Editorials and endorsements are developed by the Advance\/SILive.com Editorial Board, and do not represent the opinions of individual newsroom staff.<\/p>\n
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