Andrew Cuomo: Democrats need to 'reflect' on 'deteriorated' conditions in New York City

New York City mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo (D) said Democrats must “reflect” on the “deteriorated” state of the city as he runs on a moderate platform advocating for expanding the number of police officers. 

Cuomo told commentator Stephen A. Smith in an interview on Smith’s podcast Monday that he wasn’t planning to run for political office again after his resignation as governor of New York in 2021, which came after a few controversies surrounding his administration. He said he enjoyed spending a few years with family and traveling but is worried about the state of the country’s cities, particularly New York City. 

“The dynamics have changed, and then the quality of life in New York City has really deteriorated, and you’re paying a lot of taxes to be here,” Cuomo said in comments highlighted by Mediaite. “You put those factors together and it is a bad situation for New York, and it has to turn around and it has to turn around quickly.” 

Cuomo pointed to an “anti-police movement” calling for cutting funding for police departments that began in 2020 and the city having “thousands” fewer police officers employed today than in the past. 

“Well, that has consequences,” he said. “You cut the police, don’t be surprised when crime goes up. You cut the police, don’t be surprised when people are afraid to go into the subways because of the rate of crime.” 

Cuomo said the city also has a serious problem with homeless people facing mental illness, “dangerously” to themselves and others. 

Mayor Eric Adams (D), whom Cuomo is facing in the Democratic primary in June, has touted the most recent crime data for the city showing a drop in various categories for 2024 compared to 2023. The police department recorded a 3 percent drop in the overall index crime, including reductions in the number of murders, robberies, burglaries, grand larcenies and auto grand larcenies. 

The department also reported 2024 as the second consecutive year of index crime declining on the subway system, dropping 5.4 percent. 

But some other data points present a mixed picture on the state of crime in the city, with Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch and Adams acknowledging that people don’t feel safe on the subways. 

The New York-based ABC affiliate WABC reported that murders on the subway doubled from five in 2023 to 10 in 2024, while petit larceny also rose almost 30 percent. FOX 5 New York reported that the number of felony assaults on mass transit was 65 percent higher in 2024 than in 2019, before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The ABC affiliate reported that major crime on the subway dropped almost 13 percent from 2019 to 2024. But homicides overall were more than 200 percent higher last year than they were in 2019, which was a historically low year for homicides in the city. 

Meanwhile, the New York City Police Department has struggled with its staffing levels, with many officers choosing to leave the department. CBS News reported in March 2024 that the headcount in the department of about 33,500 was the lowest it’s been since 1990. 

The New York Times reported last month that the department has about 34,600 officers currently, down from a peak of 40,000 in 2000. The department has said it’s working to get the force up to at least 35,000 officers, with 600 rookies hired and almost 1,000 officers expected to go on patrol this year. 

Cuomo spoke of a “crisis” facing the city during his campaign launch video on Saturday, pointing to a feeling of fear that he said residents have when they walk down the street and on subways. 

He told Smith that the law isn’t being enforced as it used to be, and mentally ill homeless people shouldn’t be left on the street but given the help they need. 

“There’s been a philosophical change,” Cuomo said. “They call it quote, unquote progressive. I think it’s anything but progressive. I think it’s regressive, and that’s contributed to it.”