Cuomo flip flops again with lefty $20 minimum wage proposal for NYC — after shooting it down as gov
Andrew Cuomo is flip flopping once again — this time with a lefty pitch to boost New York City's minimum wage after slapping down such efforts when he was governor.
Cuomo — the frontrunner in the Democratic mayoral primary — rolled out the campaign proposal Wednesday before a raucous crowd of labor union members, saying it was aimed at putting 'more money in people's pockets.'
'The best way to combat affordability, the best way is to raise wages… and today we announce we're going to raise the minimum wage to $20,' he said from the Midtown HQ of the Service Employees Local Union 1199 SEIU.
Cuomo's latest nod to the left-wing of the party comes as he tries to stall the momentum of Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, the state Assemblyman from Queens who has been coming in second to the ex-gov in recent polls.
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Andrew Cuomo also received endorsements from RWDSU, ATU, and UFCW Local 1500.
Stephen Yang
His proposal would raise the minimum hourly pay to $20 by 2027, which he says would bring Big Apple wages in line with inflation.
Cuomo's campaign said the proposal builds on a law he signed as governor in 2016 that mandated a multi-year phase-in plan to raise the minimum wage to $15 by 2020.
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But when then-Mayor Bill de Blasio publicly pushed for the city to set its own, similar increase in 2014, Cuomo sharply shot down the proposal, saying the 'chaotic situation' would be bad for the state's economy.
'We don't want to cannibalize ourselves,' Cuomo said at the time. 'We don't want to have different cities with different tax rates competing amongst themselves.'
If elected, Cuomo would need to go hat-in-hand to Albany and get the approval of state lawmakers to make any moves on the minimum wage.
The union members cheered the announcement.
Stephen Yang
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'How do we get him passed? We get it passed the way we've gotten every progressive reform and in the past 30 years, we've organized the working men and women of this city,' he said at the rally.
The thrice-elected Democrat ignored The Post when asked about the flip-flop at his Wednesday event, instead slinking out of the back of the building and appearing to blow through a red light in an attempt to avoid reporters.
Mamdani — the ex-gov's main challenger in June 24 primary — has proposed a $30 minimum wage by 2030.
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Mayor Eric Adams, who opted out of the primary and will contend as an independent in the general, attacked Cuomo Tuesday for pandering throughout his bid back in public life.
'He would say anything, anything to get elected, to get back in office. That's just how he is,' Adams said at City Hall.
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