Cuomo has led polls throughout his campaign. If he is elected mayor, what would it mean for Staten Island?

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Andrew Cuomo served as governor of New York for 10 years before resigning in 2021 amid a series of scandals.

A 2025 mayoral bid has him poised to re-enter the halls of power in a political career that has taken him across the various levels of government with his name once being floated as a possible presidential candidate.

That rising star came crashing down in 2021 when allegations of sexual misconduct and mishandling of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic saw him resign from office as it became clear state legislators would seek to remove him.

Despite that, his attempted return has seen him leading polls and gaining support from members of the Democratic establishment that once called for his ouster.

Much of the Staten Island Democratic Party establishment fell in line behind the former governor before he even entered the race with the party’s executive committee endorsing him in February. Two of the Island’s elected Democrats and all eight of the Assembly District leaders have also backed the former governor.

While Cuomo’s campaign has largely shielded the former governor from media scrutiny, he hasn’t been a stranger to Staten Island and recently provided responses to a 17-part questionnaire from the Advance/SILive.com. Here are the former governor’s unedited answers:

Public Safety

Crime continues to drop post COVID, but there’s a constant chorus of people saying they don’t “feel safe.” What can be done to ensure people’s sentiments meet statistical realities?

One of the most important issues in this election is the declining quality of life in New York City.

I have a comprehensive plan to restore public safety. We will hire 5,000 new police officers, a 15% increase from current staffing levels. The cost of these additional officers will represent about half the amount of money the city spent on overtime in 2023. I will support NYPD officers by providing them with the resources they need to deter crime and respond quickly, ending the era of understaffed precincts.

The expanded NYPD workforce will be deployed to strengthen neighborhood patrols, improve emergency response times, support precision policing efforts, and enhance community engagement with more officers in neighborhoods and on the streets.

People in mental health crises have become a focus with more elected officials calling for increased institutionalization. How do you balance safety concerns with people’s civil rights?

Individuals with serious mental illness who represent a risk of harm to others or themselves (including by not being able to take care of their basic needs) need services and support. It is not a humane policy to let individuals in this condition sleep in the streets or the subways in the mistaken belief that giving them treatment would violate their civil rights. Involuntary inpatient commitment requires an assessment by two mental health clinicians who agree that admission to an inpatient facility is necessary and appropriate. Court-mandated outpatient treatment requires the approval of a judge. So we can say that we are respecting the rights of these individuals while protecting the public in these individuals themselves by giving them the treatment they need.

A 2023 survey conducted by the Advance/SILive.com found most Staten Islanders were concerned with property theft crimes. What do you think can be done at the city level to better prevent those types of crimes?

Staten Islanders are right to be concerned about property theft and the city has the responsibility to act. At the city level, we need to ensure NYPD precincts have the resources, staffing, and clear direction to pursue property crime aggressively. Judges and prosecutors also need to take property crimes seriously, because lack of enforcement both encourages further property crimes and may eventually contribute to violent crimes. Property theft is often committed by a small group of repeat offenders who commit burglaries overnight when visibility is low. To address this, I will increase enforcement in commonly targeted residential and commercial areas, especially during late-night hours. We’ll increase police patrols in high target neighborhoods, especially overnight and will have officers on the street. That presence is a strong deterrent and detective-driven policing, focused on property theft, ensures that arrests are made with warrants, breaking the cycle of property theft in particular areas.

Transit/Traffic

Staten Island has no rail connection to the rest of the city. What can a mayor do to advocate for that kind of transit improvement? Where would it connect?

Creating a rail connection from Staten Island to downtown Manhattan and other boroughs would be a major investment, but the call for rail service highlights the lack of transit options in Staten Island compared to the rest of the city. In the near term, my administration will prioritize expanding express bus service. This will include an evaluation of routes and speeds, with a particular focus on alleviating bottlenecks at specific points on routes in Staten Island, the BQE, and in Manhattan. I will also explore adding additional fast ferry routes, including to Brooklyn.

Most Staten Islanders drive. What can the city do to improve traffic conditions on the Island?

Most Staten Islanders drive and are forced to deal with traffic bottlenecks due to the deteriorating infrastructure, flooding or outdated traffic flow plans that were designed when Staten Island’s population was significantly smaller. As a result, this can turn a 10 minute drive into a 20 minute drive for Staten Islanders because the city has failed to keep up. My administration will partner with local officials to identify and prioritize the worst pressure points on Staten Island, and not just study them but take steps to fix them in order to improve Staten Islanders’ quality of life.

Would you commit to keeping Staten Island Ferry service free?

Absolutely. While the Staten Island Ferry remains free, those using the ferry to commute still pay a fare when connecting to bus or rail transit at Whitehall or St. George. As mayor, I commit to keeping the Staten Island Ferry service free and will not add an additional cost to Staten Islanders who commute to work in Manhattan everyday.

Housing

What is your position of Mayor Adams City of Yes for Housing Opportunity?

I support the City of Yes, but there is much more we need to do to meet the scale of New York’s housing crisis. The City of Yes created the opportunity for significantly more housing through rezoning in high density areas, manufacturing districts, and other targeted opportunities. The next mayor needs to drive that rezoning process and move aggressively to develop more affordable housing in those areas. While I support the City of Yes and its changes affecting low-density neighborhoods, I would wait for the impact of those changes to become absorbed before pursuing further zoning changes in low-density neighborhoods.

What can be done to improve housing costs for homeowners and renters around the five boroughs?

We need to build additional affordable housing and preserve our existing stock of affordable housing, including, very importantly, NYCHA. My housing plan calls for New York City to build and preserve 500,000 units of housing over the next 10 years, two-thirds of which will be affordable to low- and moderate-income New Yorkers. My plan to Restore and Revitalize NYCHA calls for an additional $500 million per year over and above what is in the New York City 10-year capital plan for renovations and new affordable housing on NYCHA campuses.

My housing plan sets forth a blueprint for development, which includes increasing capital subsidies from the city and state, expanding development in high-density areas recently rezoned, and ensuring that the 485-x tax abatement program is sufficient to support new construction. In addition, we will accelerate office-to-residential conversions using the 467-m program; provide regulatory flexibility to facilitate development of affordable housing on land owned by faith-based institutions; redevelop city-owned sites, like libraries and parking lots; and bring thousands of vacant rent-stabilized units back online. We will streamline the permitting process and reduce bottlenecks at HPD so housing can be built more quickly.

Where do you see the most opportunity to build housing in the five boroughs?

The strategies laid out in my housing plan and NYCHA plan would result in more affordable housing, as well as preservation of existing affordable housing, in all five boroughs. We must be smart about how we approach that development strategy. A one-size-fits-all approach won’t work and we must understand the intricacies of each neighborhood and community across the city to tailor housing projects for that specific community.

Health

What can be done to bring a public hospital to Staten Island?

Expanding access to healthcare has always been a central part of my healthcare agenda. As mayor, I will work with NYC Health + Hospitals to conduct a comprehensive assessment of Staten Island’ healthcare needs, one that will fully account for the patient populations currently served by [Northwell] Staten Island University Hospital and Richmond University Medical Center.

With today’s technological advances, we can now deliver healthcare in more settings than ever before. I will partner with H+H, Staten Island University Hospital, and Richmond University Medical Center to make sure Staten Island has the infrastructure it needs to provide quality care to every resident across the borough.

Staten Island also has one of the city’s highest shares of publicly insured patients — those on Medicaid, the Essential Plan, and Medicare. I will work directly with the leadership of Staten Island’s healthcare system to prepare for and push back against the impact of harmful federal policy changes, ensuring no resident is left behind.

Many Staten Island officials have said the borough hasn’t seen its fair share of the state’s Opioid Settlement Fund. What can the mayor do to see more of that funding directed to Staten Island?

Staten Island has one of the highest overdose rates in the city, second to the Bronx, and while we’ve seen some progress, the crisis is far from over. Staten Island needs to receive a share of funding to address substance use disorders, including from the Opioid Settlement Fund, that is commensurate with the scale of the problem on Staten Island. As mayor, I will work closely with The Staten Island Social Care Network (SI SCN) – formally known as the Staten Island PPS – which has already built a strong model focused on addiction treatment, overdose prevention, and integrated behavioral health. I will help them make their case for a larger share of settlement funding, and I won’t stop until the borough has the resources it needs to save lives.

Community

What would your administration do to improve environmental resiliency around the five boroughs, particularly on Staten Island?

After Superstorm Sandy, I spearheaded efforts to increase resiliency in the hardest hit areas of Staten Island, as well as across the city and state. When I was governor, I passed what became Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act of 2022–originally the Restore Mother Nature Bond Act, to build community driven, climate resilient infrastructure projects. This wasn’t just legislation to repair from the last storm, but was put in place to prepare and equip the community for the storms to follow. As mayor, I will ensure that New York City not only has its fair share, but executes on the promised improvements.

How can the city improve opportunities for small businesses?

The small business owners of the city keep our city functioning and they deserve a partner in government who will work with them through these economic challenges. As mayor, I will cut red tape and costs for small businesses to help them thrive. As governor, I enacted tax cuts and pro-growth policies, and as mayor, I will streamline city inspections, licensing, and fines so entrepreneurs can spend more time growing their businesses and less time fighting bureaucracy.

With President Trump’s mass deportation strategy, what more can be done to protect our immigrant neighbor documented and undocumented? How would you uphold the city’s sanctuary city status?

President Trump believes that his mass deportation strategy benefits him politically. The recent events in Los Angeles show how he will exploit this issue in a way that increases tensions. I support New York City’s sanctuary city law, which permits New York City to cooperate with federal officials in executing a deportation after their conviction of certain crimes in New York, but under all other circumstances prohibits such cooperation.

I have consistently taken action to protect immigrant communities and uphold New York’s values of inclusion and dignity. My record reflects a deep understanding that immigrant rights are human rights, and the government has a role to play in ensuring access to legal protections, public services, and safety for all New Yorkers.

During Donald Trump’s first term, I took steps to limit unjust federal immigration enforcement within New York state, signed the Protect Our Courts Act, ensuring ICE officers could no longer arrest individuals entering or leaving state courts, an atmosphere that was having a negative impact on serious criminal investigations. The law brought critical relief to law-abiding immigrant New Yorkers who were living under constant threat of detention simply for appearing in legal proceedings—often as witnesses or victims. I also committed $60 million in funding for census outreach, helping ensure immigrant and undercounted communities were represented fairly in population counts and resource allocation.

I have a proven track record of practical, effective leadership on immigration at the state level, centering legal protection, community empowerment, and structural reforms to shield immigrants from unjust enforcement practices. My record reflects the values and vision I would carry into City Hall—ensuring all New Yorkers can live, work, and contribute without fear.

Education

What can be done to improve city schools?

Our school system is entrusted with preparing more than 1 million students for the future. As the son of a teacher, I have great respect for our public school teachers and education professionals. With rising chronic absenteeism, declining enrollment and lagging student outcomes, we must address these challenges head on and eliminate the cracks in our system where too many students, especially underserved and historically marginalized students, fall behind. As mayor, I will fight tirelessly to empower and support teachers, invest in proven interventions that move the dial on student achievement, and unify a fragmented system that lifts every student from cradle to career.

We have to start by transforming early education, with a first-in-the-nation model to co-locate early childhood development services, including early intervention, pre-k, and preschool special education, within public school buildings. Additionally, I have proposed a series of reforms to modernize middle and high schools including: a citywide mentorship and career exploration program connecting students to industry leaders; universal dual enrollment and early college access by tenth grade; paid internships and work-based learning for every high school student; and expansion of successful early college models like P-TECH and Career & Technical Education (CTE) programs.

We will establish a unified cradle-to-career data system to track student progress across agencies, from early childhood through college and career. This sweeping agenda will strengthen early childhood education, modernize K–12 learning, support and empower educators and families, and align education with 21st-century workforce needs.

What is your position on charter schools?

As I noted in my education policy paper, specialized high schools and public charter schools that demonstrate strong results for students, especially those of color or from underserved communities, must be supported and expanded, not politicized or undermined.

What is your position on school vouchers?

I do not support school vouchers.