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Politico

Meet the new Andrew Cuomo

With help from Amira McKee Andrew Cuomo is overhauling his buttoned-up public persona, taking a looser approach to the New York City mayoral campaign and his staid social media presence. The former governor has launched a series of haymaker attacks on his 33-year-old opponent, democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani. He's employed a slang-inflected, sassy voice in the general election, all directed at Mamdani, who has excelled online. Cuomo's retooled approach has included taking Mamdani to task for his familial ties to Uganda, living in a rent-regulated apartment and benefiting from well-off parents. A top Cuomo strategist even accused Mamdani — sans irony — of being a 'nepo baby.' Then there's the Gen Z-sounding language on X, like an appeal to 'lazyweb.' The strategy underscores the generational fight within the Democratic Party between moderates who leverage traditional campaign tools and digital natives who are increasingly adept at energizing voters online. There are drawbacks for a well-known candidate like Cuomo trying to fully reinvent himself in such a short amount of time. As the new Cuomo X account might put it: Critics think the approach is sus. 'It's an age of authenticity, which rewards a Donald Trump, rewards a Bernie Sanders and rewards a Zohran,' former Mayor Bill de Blasio, a longtime Cuomo foe, said in an interview. 'Andrew is not giving people a reason to believe. He appears to be trying on different personalities, different messages, in a clinical, cynical manner. Voters see right through it.' Yet if there's any suggestion Cuomo's campaign has undergone a complete personality transformation, his team's sharp elbows in response to attacks remain. 'Talking about authenticity from a guy who changed his name, dyes his hair and walked the cornfields of Iowa instead of doing his job only to get 0 percent in the polls is rich,' Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi said in response to the ex-mayor. 'The only thing de Blasio did authentically was drive the city's trajectory into the ground for 8 years, but admittedly, at that he was very good.' The former governor is trying to address the problems with his lackluster primary campaign — an effort marked by little interaction with voters and the press. Cuomo is speaking more freely with reporters and his campaign has been documenting his retail politicking with New Yorkers. He does not enjoy the same institutional support that came his way during the primary, when unions and county Democratic leaders lined up to endorse the comeback bid and an air of inevitability initially propelled his campaign. But Cuomo is trying to meet Mamdani on the same field of political battle after the state lawmaker successfully leveraged affordability concerns during the primary. In doing so, he's cast Mamdani as a man of privilege — someone out of step with the real concerns of blue collar New Yorkers. 'Release the lease,' Cuomo demanded Tuesday, to show if Mamdani's parents guaranteed the lease on his rent stabilized Astoria apartment. Mamdani responded with a video calling on Cuomo to #ReleaseTheCuomoList of his consulting clients — citing POLITICO's reporting. And Mamdani's fighting fire with fire, resurfacing a tenuous tie to child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, noting that Cuomo ally and business partner Andrew Farkas previously worked with Epstein. The video was first shared with the Post, the local paper with the hungriest appetite for salacious guilt-by-association. Even before that, consultants were warning that Cuomo's attacks have pitfalls. 'Attacking Zohran for inexperience and for policy positions that are too far left out of the mainstream are still effective attacks,' said Democratic consultant Austin Shafran. 'But personal attacks that reek of hypocrisy won't move the negatives much on Zohran. For every point he scores he's going to lose half a point for throwing stones when he grew up in a glided glass house.' Read more from POLITICO's Nick Reisman on Cuomo's revamped campaign strategy. IT'S WEDNESDAY: Got news? Send it our way: Jeff Coltin, Emily Ngo and Nick Reisman. WHERE'S KATHY? In New York City and Albany chairing a New York Finance Control Board annual meeting. WHERE'S ERIC? Delivering remarks at Finance Control Board meeting and United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg and North Brooklyn's groundbreaking on social services headquarters. QUOTE OF THE DAY: 'The biggest question is why should there be a painting of him in Surrogate's Court at all.' — New Kings Democrats spokesperson Bryan Maygers on former Brooklyn Democratic Party Leader Frank Seddio spending $9,200 in campaign funds on a portrait of himself at Brooklyn Surrogate Court where he used to serve as a judge, via the Daily News. BONUS QUOTE OF THE DAY: 'You must really have a hard-on for me or whoever gave you this stuff. You guys, the Daily News, have to be the biggest assholes in America.' — Seddio, responding to the same story. ABOVE THE FOLD ADAMS AND THE CFB: Mayor Eric Adams has started to neutralize the Campaign Finance Board's decision to deny him public matching funds by raising additional cash from private donations, he revealed in an interview with Playbook. The CFB has repeatedly denied Adams a taxpayer-funded boost to his reelection bid, citing both paperwork deficiencies and the board's belief that the mayor's campaign violated the law. While that initially left Adams with a $3.5 million hole in his war chest, the mayor said Tuesday he has been raising enough cash to shrink the shortfall to something closer to $1 million. 'I never wait on my destiny to be in the hands of others,' he said. 'I'm going to still work hard and do what I'm supposed to do.' Campaign finance rules place a spending cap on candidates participating in the public financing system, with hopefuls typically expecting millions of dollars to come from the city's 8-1 public matching program. Adams suggested Tuesday the CFB's latest denial will end up back in the courts as the subject of another lawsuit filed by his campaign. 'They're moving the goal posts continuously,' Adams said, insisting a defunct federal indictment that accused him of bribery — and was among the reasons cited by the CFB in previous denials — never offered proof he did anything illegal. 'If the courts decide we have a right to get the matching funds, we'll get them,' Adams said. 'If they don't, I have to raise the money based on that. And that's what I'm going to do.' The CFB declined to comment, but pointed Playbook to a strongly worded statement read aloud during its Aug. 6 meeting. 'The board finds the campaign has provided incomplete and misleading information to the CFB and has impeded the CFB staff's ability to complete its investigation,' Board Chair Frederick Schaffer said, adding that the board had reason to believe Adams broke the law in part because of its own investigation. — Joe Anuta CITY HALL: THE LATEST PATERSON FOR ADAMS: Former Gov. David Paterson believes Adams has a shot at turning around his poor poll numbers to win the general election. It's an increasingly unlikely proposition given the incumbent's single-digit standing in some polls. But Paterson — who endorsed Cuomo during the Democratic primary — expects the mayor will run a strong campaign and pick up steam next month, so he's formally endorsing him this afternoon on the steps of City Hall. 'There's a path to victory for him,' Paterson told Playbook. 'I would hate to just have sat out the election and he didn't win but moved up and it became a closer margin. People will start assessing how they feel after Labor Day as they usually do. He's really got to put an effort in even beyond what he did in 2021 to turn this around. He's fully capable of doing that.' Paterson said he had intended to back Adams in the Democratic primary over Cuomo. But then the mayor dropped out of the primary to mount an independent bid. 'He has every right to keep running and last I heard I had a right to endorse him,' Paterson said. And he disavowed a proposal to have the field coalesce behind the strongest candidate to take on Mamdani — an arrangement that at the moment favors Cuomo. 'Why would it make a difference if the last person in the polls got out of the race?' Paterson said. — Nick Reisman WHAT CHRISTINE QUINN IS READING: The nonprofit group that manages Central Park formally asked New York City officials to ban horse-drawn carriages from the park, for the first time taking a public stance on an issue that has been politically contentious for years. (The New York Times) More from the city: — ICE can no longer hold detained immigrants in cramped quarters and 'abusive conditions' observed on the 10th floor of 26 Federal Plaza, a federal judge ruled. (amNewYork) — A lawsuit accuses the NYPD of continued aggression at protests over Gaza. (The New York Times) — Pro-Cuomo super PAC Fix the City has raised $767,500 since the primary, including $100,000 from Walmart heir Alice Walton. (Crain's New York) NEW FROM PLANET ALBANY CONGRESS PIPES IN: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and three other New York Democratic representatives want Gov. Kathy Hochul to extend the comment deadline for a gas pipeline project. The lawmakers say the public, community organizations and experts need more time to weigh in on the Williams Co. Northeast Supply Enhancement project, also known as NESE. 'We share your belief that the public has a fundamental right to evaluate how this project aligns with New York's water quality standards, environmental protection statutes, climate commitments, and public health safeguards,' the Tuesday letter from Jeffries and Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Jerry Nadler and Nydia Velázquez states. 'Providing additional time for public input would reinforce the transparency and public trust that are hallmarks of the state's permitting process.' The pipeline would bring more natural gas into the New York City area, crossing the Raritan Bay on its route from New Jersey. The project was rejected under Cuomo and its revival is backed by President Donald Trump. White House officials said Hochul agreed to consider new pipelines in exchange for the resumption of work on an offshore wind project. Hochul's office has said there is no deal. The governor has signaled openness to considering the project to lower utility bills, however. The project needs both state and federal approvals. The Department of Environmental Conservation is overseeing the state permitting, including a key water quality review. The deadline for comments is this Saturday. That's 45 days since DEC requested comments. The House members want a 120 comment period and public hearings on the project. — Marie J. French More from Albany: — Certain criteria used to award licenses to open cannabis businesses in the state are very likely unconstitutional, a federal appeals court ruled. (The New York Times) — The state budget is being spared some pain for now even as federal cuts loom. (The City) — Hochul won't support tax hikes to address those spending cuts. (Capitol Confidential) KEEPING UP WITH THE DELEGATION GUN SAFETY PUSH: Jeffries and Nadler are leading New York House Democrats in a call for their GOP counterparts to co-sponsor background checks legislation as a bloc by Aug. 28, one month after the fatal mass shooting in midtown Manhattan. 'Importantly, this bill would make no changes for New Yorkers' access to firearms as New York already has a strong universal state background law,' the Democrats write in a letter of the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2025, introduced by Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.) 'The bill would reduce the flow of guns trafficked into New York and used by felons, domestic abusers and those with mental illnesses who are a danger to themselves or others.' The bill currently has 205 co-sponsors in the House, but just one is a Republican. The letter signed by 13 New York House Democrats — plus Thompson — is addressed to the state's seven House Republicans. — Emily Ngo More from the delegation: — Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer plans a September bill to reverse cuts to Social Security. (Spectrum News) — Inside Jeffries' annual California fundraising event. (Axios) — The NRCC mocked Jeffries for failing to meet a self-imposed deadline to roll out a new vision for America with a Democratic-controlled House. (Fox News) NEW YORK STATE OF MIND — Climate Action Council members are calling for a delay of renewable energy targets. (POLITICO Pro) — Electric bills are up this summer and it's not just because of the heat. (LoHud) — A parishioners' abuse suit could have major consequences for the Buffalo Diocese. (Buffalo News) SOCIAL DATA MAKING MOVES: Kyle Ishmael and Derrick Davis have joined Mamdani's campaign as political engagement directors. Ishmael's Back Chamber consulting was previously on Adrienne Adams' mayoral campaign and he is the executive director of the Manhattan Democratic Party, while Davis runs Bellwether Consulting Strategies and is chief of staff to state Sen. Leroy Comrie … Cheryl Watts of Community Voices Heard has also joined Mamdani's campaign as faith communities manager … Abby Paulson has joined Fordham University as its first Washington-based director of federal relations. She previously held the same role for George Washington University. — Sen. Chuck Schumer has appointed social media influencer and Kennedy scion Jack Schlossberg — who once brutalized him in a video for caving in to Trump — to the America 250 Commission. (@SenSchumer on X) HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Assemblymember Latrice Walker … Queens County Clerk Audrey Pheffer … Seth Pollack … NYSERDA's Lauren Bailey … Shenker Russo & Clark's Jill Sandhaas … Marino's Lee Silberstein … Capalino's Tim Kucha … McBride's Gregory Lavine … ANBA's Marcos Salazar … Angelica Katz of Susan G. Komen … Brent Weitzberg … acting CFTC Chair Caroline Pham … Karine Jean-Pierre … former Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen … Kristalina Georgieva … Addy Baird … Andrew Malkin … Chris Dhanaraj ... Emily Myerson … Bloomberg's Joanna Ossinger … AP's Kelly Daschle … Margot Roosevelt … Josh Romney. Missed Tuesday's New York Playbook PM? We forgive you. Read it here.