The disgraced former governor of New York Andrew Cuomo is plotting a political comeback as the mayor of the Big Apple, according to multiple reports.
Cuomo, 65, resigned in 2021 amid a series of scandals including allegations of sexual harassment and claims that his administration lied about the number of Covid-19 deaths in nursing home across the Empire State.
The rumors of a mayoral run comes as the city's current Mayor Eric Adams faces cripplingly low poll numbers as residents bemoan his inability to handle the migrant crisis, not to mention a pending federal investigation.
In a new interview with Politico, Rev. Ruben Diaz Sr., a conservative former state senator from New York, said that Cuomo has given him the impression that he is 'ready' to run for city hall.
'My opinion is if he runs, he will win. People are in need of a leader. Even though Governor Cuomo and I have our differences, we've had many fights in the past, and besides the differences, I think he was a great governor,' Diaz said.
Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo was ousted in 2021 after he was accused of sexual harassment
Mayor Eric Adams faces cripplingly low poll numbers as residents bemoan his inability to handle the migrant crisis, not to mention a pending federal investigation
As the rumors emerge about Cuomo's political future, Page Six reported that the Queens-native will be enjoying Thanksgiving in his ancestral home of Sicily alongside his three daughters.
The newspaper says that the trip was a gift to his twin daughters, Mariah and Cara, to celebrate their college graduations.
The Politico report adds that labor unions and real estate groups have indicated that they would be in favor of Cuomo's return.
Last week, a Vanity Fair also mentioned the support that Cuomo could rely on if her ran.
'Though difficult, he could still be competitive, He does have support in African-American and Latino communities. He does have the support of more moderate voters,' Cuomo confidant Basil Smikle told Politico.
Earlier this month, a book published by Cuomo's former assistant Melissa DeRosa saw her allege that he was planning to run for the governorship but eventually decided against it because of family concerns.
Much of the buzz around Cuomo would depend on the outcome of the federal investigation into Eric Adams.
After the FBI seized his phones and iPad during the first week of November, the first-term Democrat reiterated Tuesday that he was cooperating with what he called a 'review' and said he wouldn't speculate on its outcome.
Many New York City voters are said to be deeply concerned with the migran crisis engulfing the city which has seen undocumented peoples housed in city hotels, shown here
Insisting that he didn't want to impede the investigation, he and his chief City Hall lawyer declined to say whether other administration or campaign figures' electronics were turned over, whether the FBI had asked to interview the mayor, or who or what another Adams attorney meant in saying last week that 'an individual had recently acted improperly.'
The federal investigation burst into public view on Nov. 2 when agents searched the home of Adams’ chief fundraiser during his 2021 mayoral campaign, Briana Suggs.
The development prompted Adams to bail out of a scheduled White House meeting and fly home from Washington, later explaining he wanted to be among his staffers because “a leader needs to be here during those difficult times.”
Four days later after the search at Suggs’ home, FBI agents stopped Adams as he was leaving a public event, asked his police security detail to step away and took his electronic devices.
The U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan, which is overseeing the probe, is declining to comment. A spokesperson for Suggs has also declined to comment. Neither she nor Adams has been accused of wrongdoing.
The New York Times reported that a search warrant indicated authorities have been examining whether the Adams campaign conspired with the Turkish government to receive illegal campaign contributions from foreign sources, funneled through straw donors.