We continued to talk when he became Bill Clinton’s HUD Secretary and I admired his practical turn of mind: “Mario asks why, I ask how,” he once said. We lost touch after I left New York Magazine and began to write for national publications, so I didn’t follow his time as governor very closely—although he did some things that improved my life markedly, like transforming LaGuardia Airport from a near-slum to a state-of-the-art masterpiece. He was brought down by MeToo# allegations; I don’t know whether they had substance or not, but I do know that at a certain point MeToo became a disaster for the Democratic Party—the presumption of male guilt fit too neatly into the toxic male meme that came to dominate the over-feminated progressives. Over time, it cast an electoral pall over the Democrats for many men, especially young ones…of all ethnicities, as we saw in 2024.I don't know if he was a good governor, or anything about the allegations, really, but it's time we stop listening to those silly bitches.
It is time for Democrats to move away from that—and electing Andrew Cuomo mayor of New York would be a step in the right direction. More important, he would be a mayor who concentrated on the “how” of politics, the practical steps that need to be taken—constantly—to keep New York City afloat. This is in sharp contrast to Zohran Mamdani who is the candidate of kindergarten “whys.” Like, why don’t we have state-run grocery stores? (Because a great middle class grew out of New York’s family owned fruit stands and butcher shops and dry goods stores and bodegas, which still could use some love from the municipal government—all small businesses could, a reality that too often eludes Democrats.)
Joe is 79.