ALBANY WATCH

Cuomo talks unity, upstate economy in inaugural

Jon Campbell
jcampbell1@gannett.com


Gov. Andrew Cuomo is sworn in Thursday during an inaugural ceremony at One World Trade Center in Manhattan. At right is his partner, Sandra Lee.

ALBANY – Gov. Andrew Cuomo began his second term Thursday with a pair of symbolism-heavy ceremonies on opposite ends of the state that came just hours before his father passed away.

With his left hand on a Bible held by partner Sandra Lee and two of his daughters by his side, Cuomo twice took a ceremonial oath of office Thursday: first at One World Trade Center in Manhattan and later at The Buffalo History Museum.

Later in the evening, Cuomo's father, former Gov. Mario Cuomo, died at age 82 at his home in Manhattan, according to the governor's office.

"We're missing one family member," Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, said during his Manhattan speech. "My father is not with us today. We had hoped that he was going to be able to come. He is at home and he is not well enough to come."

Cuomo had abruptly canceled a private swearing-in ceremony that had been set for Wednesday at the Executive Mansion in Albany. Instead, Cuomo traveled back to New York City late Wednesday, where he said he spent New Year's Eve with his father.

"I went through the speech with him," Cuomo said. "He said it was good, especially for a second-termer. See, my father is a third-termer. But he sends his regards to all of you."

Prior to his father's death, Cuomo used the location of his speeches as a symbol in his similar-but-not-identical addresses, citing the World Trade Center site as a sign of resiliency and the Buffalo museum as a reminder of the city's early to mid-20th century glory days. In Manhattan, Cuomo referred to the new World Trade Center building as the "high point of New York" rising from "the low point of New York on 9/11."

"That's what this building says: You knock us down, we get up twice as tall," Cuomo said during his first half-hour speech. "You give us adversity, we turn it into opportunity. You try to divide us, and we come back more unified and tighter than ever before."

Cuomo used his Manhattan speech to directly address the death of Eric Garner, a 43-year-old Staten Island man who died in July after being placed in a chokehold-like maneuver by a New York City police officer. Garner's death, which did not result in charges against the officer and sparked a series of heated protests, highlighted the need for changes to the state's justice system and for more protections for police, Cuomo said. Tensions were inflamed by the ambush-style shooting death of two police officers in Brooklyn last month.

"The situation has devolved into one which everyone is talking and no one is listening. It must stop, and it is time for the truth," Cuomo said. "The truth is the justice system does need review. The truth is there are troubling questions that have been raised that must be answered. The truth is police officers do need more safety and need more protection. The truth is law enforcement needs to respect the community as much as the community needs to respect law enforcement."

In Buffalo, Cuomo shifted focus to the long-struggling upstate economy, citing recent development successes in Buffalo as a model to transform the rest of the state. Under Cuomo's watch, the state has pledged $1 billion for economic-development projects in Buffalo, a city that lost 70,000 residents since 1990. The city has been home to high-profile projects, particularly in its downtown, including a redevelopment of the Erie Canal harbor and the construction of a major medical campus.

"We're then going to take the Buffalo model of success and we're going to bring it across upstate New York," Cuomo said. "And we're going to bring it to other cities, and we're going to take Buffalo and say we can do in your city what we did in Buffalo. Because when it comes to economic development and revitalization, if it worked in Buffalo, it's going to work in Rochester and Syracuse and Utica and Ithaca and all across upstate New York."

In both speeches, Cuomo previewed his legislative agenda for the coming year, which will focus on education. Cuomo has said he favors overhauling the state's system for evaluating and disciplining teachers, changes opposed by the state's teachers union.

Like he did during his re-election campaign last year, Cuomo called for a further increase in the minimum wage, which was just raised to $8.75 an hour Wednesday. And he again pushed his Women's Equality Act, a 10-point bill that includes equal-pay legislation and a measure to strengthen the state's abortion laws, which is opposed by Republicans.

Cuomo's second term continues his family's history with the governor's office, which was held by his father for three terms from 1983 through 1994. Mario Cuomo spent nearly a month in a New York City hospital late last year with a heart ailment but he had returned home before passing away Thursday.

New Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul also took her ceremonial oaths Thursday, joined by her family including husband William Hochul, the U.S. attorney for the Western District of New York. She replaces now-former Lt. Gov. Robert Duffy, who chose not to seek re-election and soon begins as head of the Rochester Business Alliance.

"Governor, thank you for allowing me to come back into public service, something that I missed and something that I am so grateful to the voters of New York for putting their faith in us," said Hochul, a Buffalo Democrat and former congresswoman.

Cuomo and Hochul eschewed tradition by holding their inaugurations outside of Albany. The events were minimal compared with other recent governors. In 2007, then-Gov. Eliot Spitzer held an open-to-the-public inauguration on the Capitol steps before capping the day with a concert by James Taylor and Natalie Merchant. In 1995, Gov. George Pataki held his inauguration in an Albany arena with capacity of over 15,000.