Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Democrats should "reflect" on how the city has "deteriorated" since the COVID-19 pandemic ended.
Cuomo, who recently announced his campaign for mayor of New York City, said during an appearance on "The Stephen A. Smith Show" on Monday that he decided to make a bid to unseat Mayor Eric Adams after seeing how the city "deteriorated" since Cuomo left office in 2021 after sexual harassment allegations.
"I had a good few years spending time with family, doing some traveling. I was enjoying myself," Cuomo said. "But I'm really worried about what's happening in New York City — frankly, not just New York City, cities all across the nation — but I'm worried about what's happening in New York City."
Cuomo, noting that he also served as secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the Clinton administration, said, "I know cities. I know the trajectory of cities and the trajectory is not good for New York City."
He said that after the pandemic, due to remote work options, many New Yorkers are no longer required to travel to offices in the city, allowing them to move to other states without losing their jobs based in the city.
"So, 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. "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 also took aim at progressive movements that look to reallocate resources given to police departments.
"You've had this move starting in about 2020, an anti-police movement, right? 'Cut the funding for the police.' 'Police are bad.' We have thousands fewer police today than we had," he said.
"Well, that has consequences. 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."