Latest news with #EscapeatDannemora
New York Post
a day ago
- New York Post
David Sweat reflects on 'Escape at Dannemora' 10 years later
A decade after he broke out of Clinton state prison in the infamous 'Escape at Dannemora' and led cops on a 23-day manhunt that riveted the nation, convicted killer David Sweat, in an exclusive jailhouse interview with The Post, confessed to his one regret. He should have picked a better partner in crime. 'If I hadn't done it with him, I'd probably still be out,' Sweat, 44, said of fellow escapee Richard Matt. Advertisement 8 David Sweat shared his one big regret with The Post during a visit at Mid-State Correctional Facility — nearly 10 years to the day after his infamous escape from Dannemora. AP With his wrists cuffed and a thick chain wrapped around his waist, the clean-shaven, bespectacled Sweat spoke publicly for the first time in eight years during a tearful, hour-long interview at the Mid-State Correctional Facility in upstate Marcy. The Post reporter, there for the 10th anniversary of the infamous June 6, 2015 escape, was his first visitor in three years, Sweat claimed. Advertisement 'If I'd known everything about him before, I probably would've done it alone,' Sweat said of the 49-year-old Matt. Sweat said he now believes Matt was as a confidential informant for the police back in the 1990s. Matt's 25-year to life sentence began in July 2008 after he was convicted of kidnapping, torturing and murdering 76-year-old William Rickerson, his former employer, in Niagara County in December 1997. 8 Sweat was recaptured on June 28, 2015, when he was shot twice in the back by a state trooper just south of the Canadian border. AP 'You can't trust someone like that . . . and that's worse than the drinking,' Sweat said. Advertisement He was referring to Matt's heavy boozing after the duo found bottles of liquor at an uninhabited cabin following their escape. 'I try not to live with regrets and look back, because it is what it is at this point,' Sweat continued in a soft voice. 'On the one hand, I'm glad that it helped some guys get better treatment and changed things in [Clinton Correctional Facility], because there was some bad crap going on. 'On the other hand, you know, I'm in here for the rest of my life.' Advertisement He added, 'I just wanted to be free.' Sweat now spends his days in an 18-by-5-foot cell. 8 Sweat and Richard Matt escaped from Clinton Correctional Facility on June 6, 2015 with the help of the prison's seamstress, Joyce Mitchell (pictured). LP Media He claims he has been in solitary confinement for 10 years, shuttled between nine different prisons. Sweat and Matt became close while serving time in adjoining cells at Clinton, where Sweat was serving a life sentence without parole for the 2002 killing of a Broome County sheriff's deputy. They hatched their elaborate bid for freedom with the aid of a prison seamstress — the 'Shawskank,' Joyce Mitchell — who was accused of having sexual relationships with both fugitives. Mitchell has repeatedly claimed she and Sweat were never intimate — though she admitted to investigators she had oral sex with Matt and gave nude photos of herself to Matt to give to Sweat. Using tools smuggled in by a correction officer that Mitchell concealed in frozen hamburger meat, they cut through their cell's steel walls over the span of months. The night of the escape, they crawled nearly 500 feet through a pipe before coming to the surface at a manhole cover outside the prison walls. But Mitchell never met them with a getaway car as planned. Advertisement 8 Sweat slammed Ben Stiller's hit 2018 Netflix series 'Escape at Dannemora' — in which he is played by actor Paul Dano (left) and Matt is portrayed by Benicio del Toro (right) — as a 'Hollywood production.' /SHOWTIME The fugitives made a desperate dash toward to the Candian borden, hiking through dense woods and swamps, and squatting in abandoned cabins, as 1,500 cops hunted them. They eventually split up because Sweat could no longer tolerate Matt's drinking and slow pace. Matt was killed in a standoff with cops on the 20th day of the manhunt. Sweat was captured two days later, after he was shot twice by a state trooper just south of the border. Advertisement Ben Stiller's hit 2018 series 'Escape at Dannemora,' in which Sweat is played by actor Paul Dano and Matt is portrayed by Benicio del Toro, reignited the public's fascination in the caper. Although he hasn't seen it, Sweat is not impressed. 'I don't like it because a lot of things . . . were untrue. Like, the stuff between me and Mitchell. We weren't involved like that at all,' he insisted. 8 Using tools smuggled in by Mitchell, the convicted killers cut and climbed into an 18-inch steam pipe in the facility's underbelly, then crawled nearly 500 feet before coming to the surface through a manhole cover. Getty Images Advertisement He also refuted a scene in which corrections officer Gene Palmer — played by actor David Morse — slams his head into a toilet. 'That never happened,' Sweat said. 'I never really interacted with Palmer. That was Matt's guy.' Sweat does not believe he can escape again. 'They'll never let me go to general population,' he said. 'They think I'd try to do it again or I'd help someone else.' Advertisement Any future escape attempts would be impossible in his cell at Mid State, he insisted. 8 'If I hadn't done it with him, I'd probably still be out somewhere,' Sweat said of his partner-in-crime, Richard Matt (pictured). AP 'If you cut through the walls, you'd just be in another cell. And if you cut through the basement — I mean, they use the basement in this prison.' Asked if he was lonely, tears began to well in Sweat's eyes before he replied, 'Yes.' Despite recent reports that he has a girlfriend, Sweat told The Post the relationship failed because she could not keep up with the constant transfers to the furthest corners of the state. Sweat passes the days by reading books — currently, the 'Wheel of Time' series — and listening to his radio. Between the prison's routine 6 a.m. wakeup call and his 9 p.m. bedtime, he works out by putting his books into a bag, and lifting it 'like a dumbbell.' 8 More than 1,500 law enforcement agents hunted Matt and Sweat during the 23-day manhunt, which cost the state a whopping $23 million. Getty Images His favorite activity is interacting with wildlife through the two windows in a tiny room attached to his cell, which he referred to as a 'pen.' 'There are birds and squirrels and stuff that come in here. I had a rabbit all winter. I tried to feed it carrots — it didn't really like them, I guess because they were steamed — but it ate them anyways, because it was free food. 'I have a groundhog that should be coming back around as the weather warms up,' Sweat said, smiling. 8 Sweat, who now spends his days in an 18-by-5-foot cell, had not had a visitor in the three years before The Post came calling on May 31, he said. He laughed upon learning that Joyce Mitchell, 61, remains married to her husband, Lyle. Clinton County District Attorney Andrew Wylie alleged in 2015 that she had plotted with Sweat and Matt to murder Lyle. 'Wow. She was ready to knock him off, and I guess he refused to believe it — but that's a known fact. That's crazy,' Sweat said, shaking his head. Still, he has nothing but sympathy for Joyce Mitchell, who got out of prison in 2020. 'She lost her job and this affected her and her family,' he said. 'Five years is a long time. It probably did a number on her.'
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
How the longtime ‘Severance' cinematographer wound up directing Season 2's standout episode
As Severance has refined its wintry, corporate aesthetic over the course of two seasons, one woman in particular has been central to crafting the show's look. Jessica Lee Gagné has worked as cinematographer on most of the show's episodes so far, continuing her collaboration with director Ben Stiller from the 2018 miniseries Escape at Dannemora. Mark Chernus, who plays Ricken on Severance, recently told Gold Derby of Gagné that 'her eye, her lens, is the look of the show.' But towards the end of the most recent season, Gagné finally made her directorial debut — and created one of the show's standout episodes in the process. 'I definitely had a lot of doubts going into it. I've doubted myself for a long time,' Gagné tells Gold Derby of taking the step towards directing. 'But then it seemed so obvious that this episode was meant for me to direct, just because of the themes and the possibility of style and language that it could have, and also what the writer wanted from it. So I was like, 'Well, if anyone's going to do this, I have to do it.'' More from GoldDerby Justine Lupe on the unexpected chemistries that power Netflix's 'Nobody Wants This' 'What We Do in the Shadows' cast on alternate series finale endings and the parody that didn't work Catalina Sandino Moreno on 'From' fan theories: 'Whenever you think that you're in the right lane, you're not' 'Chikhai Bardo,' the seventh episode of Season 2, breaks from Severance's usual format by focusing on the character of Gemma (Dichen Lachman). Gemma's shadow looms large over the show, since her supposed 'death' is the reason that Mark Scout (Adam Scott) volunteered for a job on the severed floor of Lumon Industries in the first place. Back in Season 1, viewers met her own Lumon 'innie' persona, Ms. Casey. But 'Chikhai Bardo' actually introduced everyone to Gemma herself for the first time, both in flashbacks to her relationship with Mark before her disappearance and in present-day scenes showing her being experimented upon as a prisoner on Lumon's testing floor. Through the flashbacks, viewers see how Gemma's struggles with getting pregnant pushed her towards Lumon (who apparently own and operate fertility clinics among their many mysterious business holdings). Gagné felt a strong connection to this material. 'I feel like one thing that helped me direct and work with actors in this capacity for the first time is my own life experience with my career and how I've gotten where I've gotten,' Gagné says. 'I got to have access to amazing projects at quite a young age. I really lost myself within my work for a long time. So going into my 30s, I went through a big questioning phase of, 'OK, I need to find my partner, freeze my eggs, do all of these things … or did I miss out on that part of life?'' Gagné adds, 'I felt like those everyday moments, those everyday conversations, are things that I've felt and lived. So it hit really close to home in that sense.' Bringing this perspective to the director's chair was a big help to Lachman, who in addition to portraying Gemma's fertility struggles also had to do something that no other Severance actor has had to do yet: Portray multiple 'innies.' 'When I found out she was directing that episode, I was very excited,' Lachman says. 'I think she's an extraordinary talent, and I love her vision. I love her creativity, and I love how flexible she is in terms of doing whatever she has to do to capture the moment. And I thought it was really nice to have a female director for that episode.' Most Lumon employees have two personas: The 'outie' that exists outside of work, and the 'innie' they become when they take the elevator to their office on the severed floor. But on the testing floor, Gemma becomes a different 'innie' with every room she enters. This revelation has greatly expanded the possibilities of what can happen within the world of Severance. 'I was terrified because it's an expansion of the idea. It's a new iteration of the concept of the show. And I was like, 'Can the show sustain this?'' Severance creator Dan Erickson tells Gold Derby. 'I love the idea in my head, but you always wonder, 'Is it going to play? Is it going to come across?' What I knew we had was this amazing secret weapon in Dichen. Not that she was a secret, but I knew that she was going to be able to play each of these versions of the character so strangely and tenderly and differently, and she just knocked it out of the park. She nailed it. And then of course Jessica Lee Gagné, who directed that episode, is one of the most brilliant people on the planet. Even with all of us knowing how good she was, she managed to surpass those expectations.' Each of the rooms Gemma is forced into seemingly represent a different unpleasant life experience. One of her 'innies' only goes through dentist appointments, for example, while another has to endlessly write out Christmas thank-you cards. Making all of these selves feel real with limited screentime was the episode's main challenge for both Lachman and Gagné — but thankfully they both made each other feel comfortable in their collaboration. 'Dichen's openness to exploration on set and trying different things made it a lot easier for me, working with actors like this for the first time. She wasn't afraid of doing anything or trying anything. There were some moments that we were just exploring and trying stuff,' Gagné says. 'Like I said, I have a lot of personal experience with these kinds of themes. So I just wanted to really anchor them in reality with her as much as possible. So we had lots of conversations, personal conversations, to see what we could touch on. This very female way of hiding parts of ourselves and not fully showing what we feel in order to put other people first, was always a thing we'd come back to. We had many conversations and we moved through it together.' Gagné didn't make things easy for herself. In addition to directing 'Chikhai Bardo,' she still worked as cinematographer on five other episodes in Season 2. But she thinks this amount of work made it easier for her to push through without getting caught up in her own doubts. 'I think that's what really pushed me through. I would be shooting Episode 10 and then prepping Episode 7 at the same time. It was like I had two or three full-time jobs. I lived and breathed Severance for sure. The main difference between cinematographer and director, Gagné found, is how many more questions you have to answer as the latter. 'The prep work is much more laborious and you are answering 3 million questions. I wasn't used to that as a cinematographer,' she says. 'As a DP I'm very involved in terms of set design and these kinds of things, I'm that kind of cinematographer who really gets in there, but I don't get to take over any of the smaller details. So for me, those meetings with the props department and the costume department, when we were researching all of these new things, that was just joy. I was like a kid in the candy store. To get to direct for the first time on Severance was a pretty luxurious first-time directing experience, and I felt like I needed to live up to it. So I gave it everything I had.' The results of her hard work speak for themselves; the episode astounded viewers and set pieces in place for the epic season finale. Not everyone was surprised by this. 'That was not surprising to me because we've been working together for a while and I know how talented she is,' Stiller tells Gold Derby. 'I thought it was really important that that episode had a female point of view. Jessica is just so talented and really is interested thematically in a lot of the ideas that are in that episode, in terms of how we connect with each other, and how people who have some sort of spiritual connection are linked in different ways. What she did with it visually was just so impressive. It's great to watch her do her thing.' Now that Gagné has gone from cinematographer to director, she's ready to start working on her first feature film. She 'leaves some really big shoes to fill' as Severance's go-to DP, according to Patricia Arquette, but also everyone's excited to see what Gagné does next. 'When you're putting your name on something like that and saying that you approved it, you have to be quite vulnerable. You're opening yourself up to criticism, and I have to admit, I was really afraid of that,' she says. 'But after seeing that it went so well, I think I needed that to help push me forward in the rest of my career.' Gagné isn't yet ready to share many details about her plans, but says, 'We're in the beginning stages, but I'm giving it my heart. It's going to be a personal one, and it's very different from Severance.' Best of GoldDerby Chloë Sevigny on Kitty Menendez and 'Monsters' fascination: 'People are endlessly curious about those who have privilege and abuse it' Jason Isaacs relives filming 'The White Lotus' piña colada scene: 'It was one of the reasons I was worried about taking the job' Kaitlyn Dever on playing 'horrible' characters in 'Last of Us', 'Apple Cider Vinegar': 'I just don't see any other option but to give 100 percent' Click here to read the full article.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Two high-profile jailbreaks have grabbed headlines across the US. But Americans are used to being captivated by manhunts
With two escapees still on the run after a mass jailbreak in New Orleans and an ex-police chief convicted of murder on the loose in Arkansas, high-profile cases of daring breakouts have captured headlines for more than a week. As of Tuesday, authorities in Louisiana were still hunting for Antoine Massey and Derrick Groves, more than a week after the two men and eight other – now captured – inmates escaped through a hole in the wall behind a cell toilet in a jail in Orleans Parish. The sheriff has said the breakout was a 'coordinated effort' involving inside help. Police have charged more than a dozen people with helping the inmates. Adding to the intrigue is Massey's background as a serial escapee. Meanwhile in Arkansas, multiple law enforcement agencies are trying to track down Grant Hardin, a former police chief for Gateway, a small town near the Missouri border, after his escape from North Central Unit prison in Calico Rock. Hardin – who was serving decades-long sentences for rape and murder – was spotted on prison surveillance cameras wearing 'a makeshift outfit designed to mimic law enforcement' as he slipped out, according to the Arkansas Department of Corrections. Americans are no strangers to jailbreaks. Nearly 1,400 individuals were sentenced by federal courts for escaping between 2019 and 2023, according to the United States Sentencing Commission. And that's just at the federal level and those who were recaptured and sentenced. An American man also holds the Guinness World Record for the longest known escape by a recaptured prisoner. The title belongs to Leonard T. Fristoe, who was convicted of killing two sheriff's deputies in 1920. He fled the Nevada State Prison in Carson City three years later and roamed free under the name Claude R. Willis for nearly 46 years, according to the Guinness World Record. His son handed him over in 1969. Here's a list of headline-grabbing jailbreaks that captured the nation's attention over the years. This forbidden prison romance was so captivating it was turned into a seven-episode crime series directed by Ben Stiller. 'Escape at Dannemora' is based on the 2015 prison break in northern New York state by David Sweat and Richard Matt, who developed a romantic relationship with prison tailor Joyce Mitchell and convinced her to help them. They escaped after cutting through steel walls with hacksaw blades Mitchell smuggled into the prison. It sparked a weeks-long, nationwide manhunt that ended with Matt being shot and killed by police and Sweat being captured near the Canada border. Mitchell confessed to helping the inmates and was sentenced to up to seven years. On June 11, 1962, three prisoners escaped from the notorious Alcatraz prison, a former US military base located on a small island off the coast of San Francisco. Frank Morris and brothers Clarence and John Anglin, all in their 30s, shimmied with a homemade raft through hidden holes in their cell walls, climbed through a ventilation duct onto the roof and shoved off from the island fortress into the freezing, choppy waters of San Francisco Bay. This escape was also fit for big screen. Clint Eastwood starred in the 1979 telling, which portrayed the unbelievably elaborate lengths the prisoners took to break out. That included making fake plaster heads of themselves – complete with real human hair – to fool the guards on the night of the escape and secretly assembling a makeshift raft and life vests out of more than 50 stolen raincoats. While Morris and the Anglin brothers were never found, fans of outlaw drama – and some of the prisoners' own family members – are convinced they actually made it to shore and lived their lives hidden from justice and the public eye. Alcatraz, now popular tourist destination operated by the National Park Service, was itself cast back in the spotlight earlier this month when President Donald Trump said he would direct federal agencies to reopen the prison to 'house America's most ruthless and violent Offenders.' Trump later told reporters it was 'just an idea' he had because of 'radicalized judges' citing due process concerns and ruling against some of his tactics to crack down on illegal immigration. Despite the reportedly cushy conditions at Mexico's Puente Grande prison, drug cartel boss Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman Loera in 2001 escaped from the prison in a laundry cart, with 12 years left in his sentence. Guzman remained on the run until 2014, when he was captured at a hotel in the Pacific beach town of Mazatlán. A year later, however, he would break out of a maximum-security prison again. This time, he got out through a mile-long tunnel. It took nearly six months for investigators to find him again at a hideaway in the coastal city of Los Mochis in January 2016. He was later convicted in the US for running an industrial-scale drug smuggling operation and is now serving his sentence at a maximum-security prison in Florence, Colorado. Corrections official Vicky White and prisoner Casey White fled a detention facility in Lauderdale County, Alabama, on April 29, 2022. They were finally captured by authorities on Monday, May 9, in Evansville, Indiana. In those 11 days, the guard and the prisoner, who had formed a 'special relationship' at the county jail, traveled more than 200 miles through at least four states, with tens of thousands of dollars in cash to pay for clothes, wigs, hotel rooms and several vehicles. Officers took Casey White into custody, while Vicky White died from what investigators believed to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Casey White was booked back into the William E. Donaldson Correctional Facility in Bessemer – the same prison where he had been at the start of that year. Serial killer Ted Bundy was arrested for the final time on February 15, 1978. He had been previously arrested on murder charges in Colorado but escaped from custody, before being captured in Aspen a few days later. Months after that Bundy escaped again, prompting a nationwide manhunt. While a fugitive in Florida, he killed two college students and a 12-year-old girl. Six weeks after escaping, Bundy was apprehended for a third and final time in Pensacola in a stolen car. He was convicted on three counts of murder, sentenced to death in the electric chair and executed on January 24, 1989. Several experts have told CNN that when jails are short of staff, employees are prone to making mistakes, which is the most consistent factor contributing to prison breaks. Joseph Gunja, a security consultant who previously worked as a warden for several federal prisons, says even small mistakes can lead to problems. 'Sometimes it's just a small mistake, like, you don't pat search somebody, or you don't search a cell, or you let an inmate go into an area he shouldn't be… those things pile up,' Gunja told CNN. Aging facilities with faulty equipment can contribute to escapes, experts also said. Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson has cited understaffing as a key contributor to this month's jailbreak. The jail is only about 60% staffed, and 150 more deputies are needed, she said. She also singled out locks as defective and called for funding to update correctional facilities. During manhunts, police rely heavily on local communities to tip them off about the sighting of escaped inmates. A fractured relationship with the public would make it harder for police to recapture escapees, according to Bryce Peterson, a research scientist who studies law enforcement and corrections facilities at CNA, a security-focused research organization. CNN's Karina Tsui, Cindy Von Quednow, Matt Rehbein, Taylor Romine, Chris Boyette and Zoe Sottile contributed to this report.
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Racing to catch up to well-funded rivals, Cuomo raises big in first mayoral filing
NEW YORK — Andrew Cuomo strengthened his frontrunner status in the race to replace embattled Mayor Eric Adams, with $3 million raised on his behalf in two weeks. He raised half that money from 2,704 donors, and a super PAC formed to support his bid brought in the other half, according to a new public filing and a statement from the political committee. Donors included Melissa DeRosa, Linda Lacewell, Jeremy Creelan and Ben Lawsky, who worked in the upper ranks of his gubernatorial administration. They were joined by Rita Glavin and Elkan Abramowitz, attorneys who have received state funding to defend Cuomo in sexual harassment and Covid-related scandals that pushed him out of office. He denies wrongdoing in both. NYU Langone executive Joe Lhota, a deputy mayor for Rudy Giuliani and Cuomo's appointee to chair the MTA, donated $400 — the most someone with business before the city can give. Cuomo also got a fair amount of support from New York's real estate executives, who generally spread their wealth in competitive mayoral races, as well as bigwigs in the consulting and lobbying sector. Tusk Strategies CEO Chris Coffey, who is informally advising Cuomo, gave $250. Coffey's business partner Shontell Smith is working as political director for Cuomo's campaign. Public relations honcho Ken Sunshine donated $2,100, the maximum contribution allowed. Movie director Darren Aronofsky, who benefited from New York's film tax break, and Michael Imperioli, who played Cuomo in the Showtime series 'Escape at Dannemora,' also contributed. What matters now is whether the former governor can maintain this fundraising pace in order to catch up to rivals who have amassed larger warchests and already qualified for the city's public matching funds program. The 8-to-1 match on $250 contributions is all but essential to run a successful campaign, and Cuomo's team said he is on track to qualify by the next time a payment is made on April 15. The pro-Cuomo super PAC took in $250,000 from RXR Realty's Scott Rechler, $125,000 from cable giant Charter Communications and $100,000 from SkyBridge Capital, the investment firm led by President Donald Trump's short-lived communications director Anthony Scaramucci, according to a spokesperson for the organization. The political committee, dubbed 'Fix the City,' is not regulated by any contribution ceilings akin to the $2,100 limit on donations to a mayoral account. As a result, it can serve as an outlet for the ex-governor's wealthy donors, some of whom have Republican ties. Those connections have already become a source of criticism for Cuomo's Democratic rivals vying for votes in an anti-Trump electorate. But the money will nonetheless help amplify Cuomo's message in the crowded field. The ex-governor wasn't the only candidate with a strong fundraising period. Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani brought in $846,949 from 13,327 donors over the two month filing period — more contributors than the rest of the field combined — which gives the democratic socialist an unrivaled claim to grassroots support. Mamdani supporters have also formed a super PAC to support him, the Daily News reported, but it hasn't reported any donations yet. City Comptroller Brad Lander took in $227,867 this period, which ran from Jan. 12 to March 13, and has more than $3.7 million in his account. His predecessor, Scott Stringer, reported just under $3 million on hand, while state Sen. Zellnor Myrie has a balance of just over $2.3 million. They've all qualified for matching funds. Candidates who participate in the city's matching funds program are all capped at spending $7.9 million in the primary, which takes place June 24. Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, who just joined the race this month, fell short of qualifying for those public dollars, putting her at a severe monetary disadvantage as she looks to raise money from her national Black sorority network. As of 6 p.m. Monday, the mayor had not filed with the city Campaign Finance Board, which has denied him over $4 million in matching funds due to his legal problems. His campaign attorney Vito Pitta did not respond to a request for comment. Investor Whitney Tilson raised $322,803 and loaned his campaign another $25,000 over the last two months. State State Sen. Jessica Ramos continued to struggle with fundraising, bringing in just $70,061 in the period. Ramos hasn't qualified for matching funds and her campaign has a negative balance of $881. Former Assemblymember Michael Blake also fell well short of qualifying for matching funds. Money alone doesn't guarantee success in a mayoral race. Wall Street executive Ray McGuire raised $12 million, more than any other candidate in the 2021 primary, and finished in seventh place. One-time presidential candidate Andrew Yang raised from the most mayoral donors that year and finished fourth. 'Having viable fundraising is your permission slip to enter the final dance,' said Trip Yang, a Democratic strategist who worked on Andrew Yang's 2021 campaign and now represents Public Advocate Jumaane Williams. 'At this stage in the game, a lot of these candidates don't have a ticket to the dance.' Nick Reisman and Bill Mahoney contributed reporting.
Politico
18-03-2025
- Business
- Politico
Racing to catch up to well-funded rivals, Cuomo raises big in first mayoral filing
NEW YORK — Andrew Cuomo strengthened his frontrunner status in the race to replace embattled Mayor Eric Adams, with $3 million raised on his behalf in two weeks. He raised half that money from 2,704 donors, and a super PAC formed to support his bid brought in the other half, according to a new public filing and a statement from the political committee. Donors included Melissa DeRosa, Linda Lacewell, Jeremy Creelan and Ben Lawsky, who worked in the upper ranks of his gubernatorial administration. They were joined by Rita Glavin and Elkan Abramowitz, attorneys who have received state funding to defend Cuomo in sexual harassment and Covid-related scandals that pushed him out of office. He denies wrongdoing in both. NYU Langone executive Joe Lhota, a deputy mayor for Rudy Giuliani and Cuomo's appointee to chair the MTA, donated $400 — the most someone with business before the city can give. Cuomo also got a fair amount of support from New York's real estate executives, who generally spread their wealth in competitive mayoral races, as well as bigwigs in the consulting and lobbying sector. Tusk Strategies CEO Chris Coffey, who is informally advising Cuomo, gave $250. Coffey's business partner Shontell Smith is working as political director for Cuomo's campaign. Public relations honcho Ken Sunshine donated $2,100, the maximum contribution allowed. Movie director Darren Aronofsky, who benefited from New York's film tax break, and Michael Imperioli, who played Cuomo in the Showtime series 'Escape at Dannemora,' also contributed. What matters now is whether the former governor can maintain this fundraising pace in order to catch up to rivals who have amassed larger warchests and already qualified for the city's public matching funds program. The 8-to-1 match on $250 contributions is all but essential to run a successful campaign, and Cuomo's team said he is on track to qualify by the next time a payment is made on April 15. The pro-Cuomo super PAC took in $250,000 from RXR Realty's Scott Rechler, $125,000 from cable giant Charter Communications and $100,000 from SkyBridge Capital, the investment firm led by President Donald Trump's short-lived communications director Anthony Scaramucci, according to a spokesperson for the organization. The political committee, dubbed 'Fix the City,' is not regulated by any contribution ceilings akin to the $2,100 limit on donations to a mayoral account. As a result, it can serve as an outlet for the ex-governor's wealthy donors, some of whom have Republican ties. Those connections have already become a source of criticism for Cuomo's Democratic rivals vying for votes in an anti-Trump electorate. But the money will nonetheless help amplify Cuomo's message in the crowded field. The ex-governor wasn't the only candidate with a strong fundraising period. Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani brought in $846,949 from 13,327 donors over the two month filing period — more contributors than the rest of the field combined — which gives the democratic socialist an unrivaled claim to grassroots support. Mamdani supporters have also formed a super PAC to support him, the Daily News reported, but it hasn't reported any donations yet. City Comptroller Brad Lander took in $227,867 this period, which ran from Jan. 12 to March 13, and has more than $3.7 million in his account. His predecessor, Scott Stringer, reported just under $3 million on hand, while state Sen. Zellnor Myrie has a balance of just over $2.3 million. They've all qualified for matching funds. Candidates who participate in the city's matching funds program are all capped at spending $7.9 million in the primary, which takes place June 24. Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, who just joined the race this month, fell short of qualifying for those public dollars, putting her at a severe monetary disadvantage as she looks to raise money from her national Black sorority network. As of 6 p.m. Monday, the mayor had not filed with the city Campaign Finance Board, which has denied him over $4 million in matching funds due to his legal problems. His campaign attorney Vito Pitta did not respond to a request for comment. Investor Whitney Tilson raised $322,803 and loaned his campaign another $25,000 over the last two months. State State Sen. Jessica Ramos continued to struggle with fundraising, bringing in just $70,061 in the period. Ramos hasn't qualified for matching funds and her campaign has a negative balance of $881. Former Assemblymember Michael Blake also fell well short of qualifying for matching funds. Money alone doesn't guarantee success in a mayoral race. Wall Street executive Ray McGuire raised $12 million, more than any other candidate in the 2021 primary, and finished in seventh place. One-time presidential candidate Andrew Yang raised from the most mayoral donors that year and finished fourth. 'Having viable fundraising is your permission slip to enter the final dance,' said Trip Yang, a Democratic strategist who worked on Andrew Yang's 2021 campaign and now represents Public Advocate Jumaane Williams. 'At this stage in the game, a lot of these candidates don't have a ticket to the dance.' Nick Reisman and Bill Mahoney contributed reporting.
