Cuomo: 'I will move to Florida. God forbid!' if Mamdani become NYC mayor
'It's all or nothing. We either win or even I will move to Florida. God forbid!' Cuomo told business leaders and other honchos at a Hamptons breakfast hosted by supermarket mogul John Catsimatidis.
The statement drew laughs — and Cuomo's campaign later insisted he was joking.
'It was a wow line,' said one attendee. 'It got everyone's attention.'
Cuomo, who lost the Democratic primary last month to Mamdani and is running in November's general election as an independent, repeatedly referred to the 33-year-old socialist as 'kid' throughout the breakfast held at hot spot 75 Main.
The governor took plenty of shots at Mamdani's pie-in-the-sky proposals to freeze rents on stabilized apartments, calling it a 'death sentence' for the housing market because it would likely lead to many landlords spending less money maintaining properties.
Mamdani's campaign did not respond to The Post.
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo told business leaders at a Hamptons breakfast Saturday he'll move south to Florida if he loses the NYC mayoral race to socialist Zohran Mamdani, but his campaign later said he was joking.
John Angelillo/UPI/Shutterstock
Cuomo saved plenty of ammo for Mayor Adams, another Dem seeking re-election as an independent.
He claimed the Big Apple hasn't had 'a competent mayor' since Michael Bloomberg left office at the end 2013 and that Adams 'could not focus' for much of his three-plus years on the job because of a now-closed federal corruption probe and other controversies.
The city 'feels out of control,' Cuomo said.
The Hamptons crowd included real estate titan Bruce Mosler, former US Ambassador to Greece George Tsunis, state Assemblywoman Rebecca Seawright, Democratic fundraiser Dennis Miehl and longtime Cuomo aide Melissa DeRosa.
Queens Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic socialist, is the frontrunner to win the NYC mayoral race.
Paul Martinka
Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi said Cuomo was joking about moving to Florida and that the crowd got it.
'Governor Cuomo would never give up on New York,' Azzopardi said. 'That said, the line underscored the stakes in the upcoming election and the risk of electing a dangerously inexperienced, hate-spewing 33-year-old socialist whose campaign consists of unrealistic bumper sticker slogans.'
Adams – who told The Post earlier this week he'd never leave New York even if it's run by a socialist – said Saturday if Cuomo 'is serious about moving to Florida, he should go ahead – he's already spent three weekends in the Hamptons.'
Additional reporting by Craig McCarthy.
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