fight!

Cuomo Is Much Nicer to de Blasio Than ‘Cuomo Administration Official’

An accurate photo illustration of how Cuomo and de Blasio told reporters they feel about each other recently. Photo: Thos Robinson/Getty Images; Spencer Platt/Getty Images

NY1 tracked down Governor Andrew Cuomo at an event in Harlem on Wednesday night, very eager to ask him about the interview they had just done with Bill de Blasio, in which the mayor said, “we’ve often seen is if someone disagrees with him openly, some kind of revenge or vendetta follows.” After the interview, Cuomo’s office had sent out a somewhat passive-aggressive statement. “For those new to the process, it takes coalition building and compromise to get things done in government. We wish the mayor well on his vacation.” 

Cuomo was a bit more magnanimous, or at least more evasive, than the statement and the “Cuomo administration official” who called de Blasio “bumbling and incompetent” and probably inspired the mayor’s fighting words — an anonymous official whom Cuomo refused to say wasn’t him last week.

Everybody’s entitled to their own comments and their own feelings,” Cuomo said, “and I’ll leave him to speak to his … You know what, I’ve known Bill, the mayor, a long time. I consider him a friend. He says what he says, I say what I say, and I’ll let him speak for himself.”

The governor also did some PR for his maligned political style. “I choose to bring people together. I choose to seek compromise. I choose to seek coalitions. It has worked in New York.” Cuomo and de Blasio’s approval ratings have hit record lows in recent months.

The Great New York Statement War of 2015 has led to some political advice from unexpected and amusing places.

Cuomo Is Much Nicer Than ‘Cuomo Official’