The Residents Union, one among New York’s oldest good authorities teams, is supporting Andrew Cuomo as a part of its 2025 mayoral race endorsement slate — despite the fact that the group demanded he be eliminated as governor in 2021 over sexual misconduct accusations.
The group, which was based in 1897 to function a counterweight to the notoriously corrupt Tammany Corridor political machine, didn’t provide a proposed particular rating of the three candidates, opting as a substitute to endorse all of them collectively. In an announcement, the group’s board acknowledged the transfer is “unusual,” however argued there’s good purpose for it.
“No single candidate currently running is perfectly equipped to handle this challenge. But New Yorkers are not limited to choosing just one candidate — they can, and should, rank up to five candidates,” the assertion learn.
“The Citizens Union Board of Directors debated this question at length and concluded that the best service to voters at this stage of the election is not to prefer a single candidate, but to provide a clear, nuanced view of the race. In this unusual election, we offer our backing to an unusual slate of three candidates.”
However that’s a far cry from the place the Residents Union stood in August 2021.
On the time, the group’s then-chairman, Randy Mastro, mentioned in an announcement his members had been troubled by Cuomo’s refusal to right away resign after State Lawyer Common Letitia James’ workplace discovered he had sexually harassed subordinates “in violation of both federal and state laws.”
“It is a shame that it has come to this, but since the governor refuses to do the right thing, the State Legislature must. It should immediately commence impeachment proceedings to remove him from office,” Mastro, who has since left the Residents Union and is now Mayor Adams’ prime deputy at Metropolis Corridor, mentioned within the Aug. 3, 2021 assertion.
Cuomo, who has denied sexually harassing anybody, introduced his resignation every week later.
On this week’s endorsement announcement, the Residents Union did acknowledge it stays involved about elements of Cuomo’s report, saying “his decade as governor left serious ethical stains and he too often misused the power whose deployment he so skillfully mastered.”
Grace Rauh, Residents Union’s government director, mentioned the endorsement choice was “hotly debated” by the board’s members, however declined to share a breakdown on how their inner vote fell.
Relating to Lander, the group touted his dedication to “fighting for transparency and reform, focusing on detailed policy solutions,” but additionally mentioned he “must prove he can inspire and lead a city navigating rough waters.” Myrie “represents the next generation of reform” and has “earned a chance to show his leadership at City Hall” regardless of having “no executive experience to date,” the group wrote.
Residents Union is the most recent group to throw its weight behind Cuomo’s mayoral bid regardless of calling for his ouster as governor.
In April, the Lodge and Gaming Trades Council and 32BJ, two politically highly effective native unions, endorsed Cuomo regardless of having additionally pressured him to resign in 2021.
The ex-gov stays the favourite to win the mayoral main, in line with polls. In some current surveys, Queens Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, who has constantly polled because the runner-up to Cuomo, is closing in on the previous governor’s lead. Mamdani didn’t submit a questionnaire to be thought-about for the Residents Union’s endorsement, the group mentioned.
