Cuomo took the gubernatorial
oath of office at 12:01 AM on January 1, 2011, succeeding
David Paterson. During his first year as governor, Cuomo worked to pass an on-time budget that cut spending without raising taxes, made a new deal with a large state-employee union, signed ethics reform legislation, passed a property tax cap, worked to enact a same-sex marriage bill with bipartisan support, and restructured New York's tax code. In 2014,
Politico reported that Cuomo had been actively involved in the formation of the
Independent Democratic Conference (IDC) three years earlier, which gave control of the state senate to Republicans. He has been accused of failing to bridge the rift between the IDC and the Democratic caucus in the Senate. (center left) in 2012 There was media speculation about a possible presidential run, either in 2016 or 2020. Several reports indicated that Cuomo supported the
Independent Democratic Conference until its dissolution and defeat in 2018 in part to appear more moderate for an eventual presidential bid. Cuomo denied these allegations, and in 2018 was responsible for reuniting the IDC with the mainstream Democratic conference. For his 2018 re-election bid, Cuomo accepted being on top of the ballot line for the Independence Party, a list that featured numerous Republicans, including ardent Trump supporters. In an August 15, 2018, anti-sex trafficking bill-signing event, Cuomo said: "We're not gonna make America great again. It was never that great. We have not reached greatness. We will reach greatness when every American is fully engaged." The assembled audience of Cuomo's supporters booed. In a February 2019
opinion poll, Cuomo's approval rating dropped to 43%, the lowest of his tenure as governor, and a full 50% said they disapproved. The poll showed an eight-percent drop from January 2019; it was taken after Cuomo signed several pieces of progressive legislation, including an
expansion of abortion rights and access and stricter gun laws, suggesting that the legislation may have upset certain voters and contributed to the drop; however, the majority of voters agreed with his position on both issues. By early 2020, Cuomo's favorability rating was up to 77%, a record high.
Appointee donations controversy On his first day in office, Cuomo renewed an executive order signed by
Eliot Spitzer which prohibited Governors of New York from receiving donations from gubernatorial appointees. A February 2018 investigation by
The New York Times, however, revealed that the Cuomo administration had quietly reinterpreted the order, and that Cuomo had collected $890,000 from 24 of his appointees, as well as $1.3 million from the spouses, children and businesses of appointees. The website added two caveats whereby some gubernatorial appointees are allowed to donate to the governor, which
The Times said could potentially lead to more donations from appointees to the governor. He even joked in 2018 that he would be willing to change his name to "Amazon Cuomo" if
Amazon located their "
Amazon HQ2" in the state. His strong support for New York City's bid to become the home of Amazon's HQ2 faced criticism based on arguments that the costs to the state outweighed the possible benefits. Amazon decided on two "major corporate outposts", in New York City and
Arlington, Virginia, instead of a single second headquarters, before bowing out of the former under local pressure.
COVID-19 pandemic response Joe Biden,
Vice President Kamala Harris, and a bipartisan group of governors and mayors in 2021 On March 1, 2020, Cuomo issued a statement regarding
novel coronavirus in New York wherein he mentioned the first positive case of novel coronavirus in New York State. On March 2, 2020, Cuomo said that
community transmission of the new coronavirus is "inevitable". He also mentioned New York City's plans to aggressively ramp up diagnostic testing for the new virus and said that he would like to see New York City conducting "1,000 tests per day". He announced the "world-renowned"
Wadsworth Center was partnering with hospitals to expand surge testing capacity to "1,000 tests per day statewide" for the novel coronavirus. On March 3, 2020, Cuomo signed a $40 million emergency management authorization for coronavirus response and claimed that "New York's overall risk remained low". He also announced the institution of a new cleaning protocol at schools and in the public transportation system "to help stop any potential spread of the virus". On March 4, 2020, Cuomo confirmed nine new cases in the state and said that it was "literally like trying to stop air" and that it was inevitable that it would continue to spread. On March 6, 2020, Cuomo criticized the federal government's response to the COVID-19 outbreak, calling it "absurd and nonsensical". Early in the coronavirus response efforts, Cuomo received widespread praise from
epidemiologists for his handling of the evolving
COVID-19 pandemic in New York State, including a statewide
lockdown and a shutdown of nonessential businesses in an effort to help
flatten the curve of the virus. At the same time, however, Cuomo also received criticism for failing to grasp the gravity of the
pandemic before its risks were fully visible to the American public. On March 28, 2020, Cuomo threatened
Rhode Island with a lawsuit over a state quarantine policy enforcing
quarantine on arriving New Yorkers. In the spring of 2020, social media posters and television hosts such as
Stephen Colbert,
Trevor Noah, and
Ellen DeGeneres came up with the term "Cuomosexuals" to express admiration and love for the governor and his brother, CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, related to their
leadership roles during the COVID-19 pandemic. In June 2021, Cuomo lifted COVID-19 restrictions, following the news that 70% of adults had one shot of the COVID-19 vaccine. Between July and August 2020, it was alleged that Cuomo utilized state resources and property, including assigning work by Executive Chamber government staffers to compile materials and perform frequent work on the drafting of his book on a non-voluntary basis. In October 2020, Cuomo published his book,
American Crisis, proclaiming victory against the pandemic due to his leadership. He wrote that New York "confronted and defeated" the virus, although the state had the highest per capita hospitalization rate in the country by February 2021. Cuomo was paid more than $5 million to write the book. In November 2020, Cuomo received the
International Emmy Founders Award from the
International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for his coronavirus briefings. On August 24, 2021, the morning after his departure, the academy rescinded the Emmy award due to the New York Attorney General's report on sexual harassment allegations against him. On December 14, 2021, Cuomo was ordered by the Joint Commission on Public Ethics to pay New York state $5.1 million in book profits he made during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The commission reversed the prior approval after complaints that Cuomo used state resources, including personnel used to edit, write, prepare, and gather data to write "American Crisis". Cuomo was ordered to return proceeds from the book by January 13, 2022. Cuomo denied these claims and sued the joint commission on public ethics alleging they acted improperly. In August 2022 the state appellate court upheld a lower court decision finding that New York's current ethics watchdog commission was unconstitutional. Cuomo won the lawsuit and was permitted to keep the proceeds from the sale of the book. Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic in his state, nine state health officials resigned, reportedly in response to Cuomo's policies. In a press conference on January 29, 2021, Cuomo stated that he did not trust the expertise of health officials.
Child Sex Abuse Act In 2019, Cuomo signed into law the New York Child Victims Act. The drastically changed New York’s strict statute of limitations for sex abuse cases and rectify the fact that many victims of sexual abuse had forfeited their right to redress by not reporting their abuse until after the statutory limitations period had expired. Among other other things, the law allows for victims who survived sexual abuse as children to be able to file civil lawsuits against abusers and institutions until they are 55 years old.
Criminal justice In August 2017, the Cuomo administration awarded more than $7 million, financed with money from large bank settlements, in grants to New York colleges to offer courses to New York prisoners. In January 2018, Cuomo proposed reforms that would "reduce delays during trials, ban asset seizures in cases where there has been no conviction and make it easier for former convicts to get a job after leaving prison". He also called for an end to cash bail for minor crimes. Cuomo commuted nine sentences. As a consequence, New York struggled to meet its climate goals. In June 2012, the Cuomo administration said it was considering lifting a state ban on the practice of
hydraulic fracturing (also known as "fracking") to stimulate the economy in
upstate New York. But critics said that fracking upstate could contaminate the water supply of New York City, New Jersey and parts of Pennsylvania. Following a long-awaited study started years earlier, New York State health officials cited "significant public health risks" associated with fracking, and on December 17, 2014, the Cuomo administration announced a ban on hydraulic fracturing in New York State.
Gun control and "gravity knives" On January 15, 2013, Cuomo signed into law the first state
gun control bill to pass after the December 14, 2012,
Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in neighboring Connecticut. The
NY SAFE Act was described as the toughest gun control law in the United States. The act came under criticism, and the
National Rifle Association called it draconian. The New York State Sheriffs' Association issued a statement supporting tougher penalties for illegal use of firearms but criticizing several aspects of the legislation, including a magazine limit of seven rounds and a "too broad" definition of assault weapons. On July 5, 2013, Cuomo signed an amendment to the NY SAFE Act that exempts retired police officers from some of the act's ownership restrictions. On April 2, 2018, Cuomo announced the passage of new legislation that prevents those who have been convicted of domestic violence from possessing any kind of firearms as well as losing their gun license. On February 25, 2019, Cuomo signed the "
red flag" gun protection law, allowing a court to temporarily prohibit someone from buying or possessing a gun if they are deemed a threat to themselves or others. On July 30, 2019, Cuomo signed two laws banning the manufacture and sale of
3D printed guns and the other requiring safe storage of firearms when children younger than 16 years of age live in a gun owner's home. On July 7, 2021, Cuomo declared the first 'disaster emergency' in the
United States on gun crime for
New York. Cuomo also resisted repeated efforts by the Legislature to decriminalize the so-called "
gravity knife," which had resulted in many arrests of individuals (disproportionately African-American or Hispanic) who used these folding knives for work, but not as weapons. Cuomo vetoed the first two attempts by the Legislature to decriminalize folding knives that could be opened with one hand by a "wrist-flick," but, on May 30, 2019, signed into law a repeal of the Penal Code provision that had listed the "gravity knife" as a prohibited weapon. Cuomo's memorandum on signing the repeal bill noted: "As I review this bill for a third time, the legal landscape has changed. In March of this year, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York declared the State's existing 'gravity knife' ban unconstitutional. As argued by many who have advocated for this change in law, the court reasoned that the existing law could result in arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement." This was a reference to the case of
Cracco v. Vance, a case decided by Judge
Paul A. Crotty some two months earlier.
Hurricane Sandy After
Hurricane Sandy in October 2012, Cuomo allowed New York voters, via a specific provision aimed at accommodating those displaced, to cast provisional ballots for the 2012 election anywhere in the state. He also appointed a
commission to examine the responses of New York utilities to damage caused by the storm. Controversy ensued when the Cuomo administration used $140 million, including $40 million of federal disaster relief funds, to pay for the broadcast of national TV ads promoting "New New York" slogans outside New York in an attempt to attract new business investment to the state. Many were critical of the effort, including former New York governor
Eliot Spitzer, who called the ads "fluff" and "a waste of taxpayer money". Later that year, a comprehensive bill to
legalize medical cannabis was passed by the state legislature, containing some restrictions at Cuomo's insistence such as a ban on consumption by smoking. On July 5, 2014, the Compassionate Care Act was signed into law by Governor Cuomo. In December 2018, Cuomo announced his support for
legalizing the recreational use of cannabis, after previously stating his opposition and calling it a "
gateway drug" as recently as February 2017.
New York City Subway on December 31, 2016 In June 2017, after a series of subway disasters, Cuomo declared a "state of emergency" for the
New York City Subway system. According to
The New York Times, a series of New York City mayors and New York governors, including Cuomo, were partly at fault for the worsening quality of the subway system and inflated construction costs. though some education experts including
Sara Goldrick-Rab say it won't help the poorest students and that the requirement that recipients live and work in New York after graduating is counter-productive.
Public employees On July 16, 2011, Cuomo finalized a five-year deal with the Public Employees Federation to end pay raises, implement
furlough days, and require additional contributions to health insurance accounts. In an interview with
The New York Times, he stated his top goal in 2012 is the reduction of
public employee pensions.
Public housing In the winter of 2018, Cuomo responded to a class-action lawsuit brought against the
New York City Housing Authority by attorney
Jim Walden on behalf of a group of public housing tenants. The suit was the first of its kind and called upon NYCHA to immediately address decrepit and unhealthy conditions in public housing units across New York City. By early April, Cuomo appointed an independent monitor to oversee NYCHA on an emergency basis.
Remarks about right-wing conservatives In a January 17, 2014, interview with Susan Arbetter on
WCNY's
The Capital Pressroom, Cuomo stated: This remark received a major reaction in the conservative media. Radio host
Glenn Beck wrote a letter to the governor regarding the remarks from the interview.
Fox News contributor and radio/TV show host
Sean Hannity threatened to move out of the state with all of his assets if Cuomo did not apologize for his remarks. Cardinal
Timothy M. Dolan, the
archbishop of New York, said during a radio broadcast that Cuomo's remarks were "most unfortunate at best. Are there pro-lifers who are extremist? Yes, there are. But I think they are a distinct minority." The
New York State Democratic Committee, which is headed by Cuomo, supported his remarks and reiterated them in a May 2014 statement responding to a speech by
Rob Astorino, who was running against him in the
2014 gubernatorial election: "
Tea Party Republicans have done enough damage in Washington, today's speech made it abundantly clear that we don't need them here in New York."
Same-sex marriage in 2013 In keeping with a campaign promise, Cuomo signed the
Marriage Equality Act, introducing homosexual marriage, on June 24, 2011, following an "intense public and private lobbying campaign", and later called for all states to do the same. Cuomo was lauded for his efforts to pass same-sex marriage legislation. One prominent advocate stated that for gay Americans, Cuomo was "the only national politician with hero status". On July 25, 2011, a lawsuit was filed in the
New York Supreme Court seeking an injunction against the Act, alleging corruption and violations of the law in the process of passing the bill. The trial court initially held that the plaintiffs' case could proceed, but the decision was reversed on appeal. Cuomo ordered a boycott of
Indiana and
North Carolina to protest their
legislation on LGBT issues.
Start-Up NY In July 2016, the
Empire State Development Corporation, a state agency, released a report indicating that the state's flagship business tax incentive program, called Start-Up NY, had generated 408 jobs since its inception in 2014. Ads promoting the program had cost at least $53 million. The Start-Up NY annual report was delayed three months in 2016, leading some lawmakers, such as Assemblyman Schimminger, to call the delays "curious".
Taxes Cuomo was praised for his 2011 restructuring of the New York State tax code. He was also criticized for allegedly requesting a unanimous Assembly vote in favor of the proposal and threatening to campaign against Assembly members who voted "no" – a charge he denied. Hoping that the Federal cap on state and local tax deductions will be repealed, Cuomo signed a tax increase on high income workers and corporations and the wealthy worth over one million dollars in 2021. The increase extends until the year 2027.
Voting rights In April 2018, Cuomo announced that he would restore the voting rights of
parolees through an executive order. He said that he would consider restoring the voting rights of all parolees (more than 35,000), and would also enfranchise new parolees throughout his term. The Women's Equality Act included 10 component bills affecting issues such as domestic violence, human trafficking, and pregnancy discrimination. which would have "enshrine[d] in state law existing federal protections for abortion rights", "shift[ed] the state's abortion law from the criminal code to the health care laws", and "[made] it clearer that licensed health care practitioners as well as physicians could perform abortions". During his 2013 State of the State address, Cuomo said, "Enact a Reproductive Health Act because it is her body, it is her choice. Because it's her body, it's her choice. Because it's her body, it's her choice." The Republican leadership of the New York State Senate expressed support for the nine non-abortion-related planks of the Women's Equality Act, but objected to the Reproductive Health Act and expressed unwillingness to allow a vote on it. On the final day of the 2013 legislative session, following the Senate Republican Conference's continued refusal to vote on the full Women's Equality Act, Senator Jeff Klein, leader of the Independent Democratic Conference (IDC), offered the abortion plank of the Act as a hostile amendment to another bill. The amendment was defeated by a narrow margin of 32–31; all 30 Senate Republicans voted against the abortion amendment, as did Democratic Sens. Ruben Diaz and Simcha Felder. "[After] the 2014 election season was over, with Cuomo victorious, the governor and his lieutenant governor Kathy Hochul both declared the abortion plank of the act officially dormant, if not dead." In 2015, the non-abortion-related Women's Equality Act bills passed both houses of the State Legislature. On January 22, 2019, Cuomo signed the 2019 version of the
Reproductive Health Act, which passed days after Democrats took control of the state Senate. Cuomo ordered
One World Trade Center and other landmarks to be lit in pink to celebrate the bill's passage. Cuomo's signing and the lighting of the World Trade Center building sparked intense criticism from conservatives. The Catholic
cardinal Timothy Dolan criticized Cuomo over the Reproductive Health Act. ==Controversies==