Zohran Mamdani, a leading candidate for mayor, has criticized former Governor Andrew Cuomo’s “Record of Broken Promises” following the announcement of Eric Adams’s exit from the race.
During his press conference in Inwood, Mamdani was joined by Kasha Phillips Lewis, a single mother who experienced homelessness after Cuomo cut funding for the Advantage Housing grant program back in 2011.
“What we see in Andrew Cuomo’s record is nothing short of broken promises,” Mamdani remarked, standing alongside Lewis. “The Advantage Program is just one element of that dishonor.”
The Advantage program, created in 2007, provided transition housing vouchers for New Yorkers experiencing homelessness for as long as two years.
However, Cuomo eliminated $65 million from this program during the 2011 state budget, which effectively ended the grants from New York City due to funding shortfalls.
Mamdani, a self-identified socialist, emphasizes his campaign’s focus on the homeless shelter population, which saw a staggering 35% spike in two years following the cuts.
In his statements, Mamdani stressed, “Homelessness is too often seen as a natural state, but it’s really a political choice—one that people like Andrew Cuomo have made repeatedly.”
On the other hand, Cuomo’s spokesperson, Rich Azzopardi, defended the former governor, stating that events from 14 years ago shouldn’t be conflated with the present. He pointed out that although there was a budget shortfall of $10 billion, funding for rental assistance programs had been replaced and augmented several times since then.
Azzopardi stated, “This is a 14-year-old issue, happening while Mamdani was still in college. The funding sources have seen significant adjustments and increases in that period.”
