Cuomo: Amazon pullout is ‘greatest tragedy’ I’ve seen in politics - Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Friday called the defeat Posted: Feb 22nd, 2019 - 3:02 pm
of the Amazon deal “the greatest tragedy I have seen since I’ve been in politics” — and blamed his fellow Democrats in the state Senate, who he said would “pay a price” at the ballot box.
Cuomo even suggested that the Senate Democrats may have imperiled the big majority they won in last fall’s elections and said it reminded New Yorkers of the dysfunction, incompetence and corruption that occurred the last time Democrats were in charge of the chamber in 2009-2010.
“That is exactly right. And that is the fear. This was a mistake,” Cuomo said Friday on WAMC radio.
“Many of them are new to government and they are making a transition from understanding politics to government.”
There are now 40 Democrats and 23 Republicans in the 63-member Senate.
The withdrawal of the Amazon project was arguably the biggest setback of Cuomo’s eight-year tenure as governor.
An “annoyed” Cuomo was repeatedly asked whether he would support a Democratic primary challenger against Queens Sen. Michael Gianaris, the chief Amazon critic. He said “no.”
The governor said having Amazon would have provided 25,000 jobs and $27 billion in net revenues after receiving $3 billion in subsidies — the biggest economic development in New York state history.
“This is the greatest tragedy I have seen since I’ve been in politics … We’re paying a terrible price in this state now for losing Amazon,” Cuomo said. “What they did here was cede a state … obligation to one senator’s political needs.”
He said which party controls the state Senate depends on whether Democrats or Republicans win races in Long Island, the northern suburbs and upstate — not in New York City, where nearly all districts are represented by Democrats.
“You have a senator who is nervous about a primary in Queens. That doesn’t mean you hand him your vote when you’re representing Long Island or the Bronx or Brooklyn or Buffalo,” he said of Gianaris’ colleagues. “And that’s where they’re going to pay a price.”
Cuomo said he doubted that Amazon would reconsider its decision because the political dynamics haven’t changed.
Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart Cousins (D-Yonkers) had nominated Gianaris to the obscure Public Authorities Control Board, giving him veto power to defeat or stall the project. Cuomo called that decision a “death knell” for the project.
“The state Senate made a mistake … by giving the local senator veto power,” he said.
“I am beyond annoyance … losing Amazon was bad government. It made me sick to my stomach.”
The Senate came back with a sharp response.
“It’s unfortunate that Governor Cuomo is once again failing to accept any responsibility for this failed deal,” said spokesman Mike Murphy in a statement.
“We have no member on the PACB. We made a recommendation and if the Governor was so upset he could have rejected it. In fact, the full Board met this week without our recommended member further proving the Governor’s argument has no merit. As we told the Governor numerous times we would be happy to make a new recommendation if he rejected this one. New Yorkers deserve facts from their elected leaders. The Governor should spend less time with baseless attacks and attempts to divide Democrats and more time fixing his flawed economic development process so we can move forward and help business and the community thrive.”
LINK/URL: Cuomo: Amazon pullout is ‘greatest tragedy’ I’ve seen in politics
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