![\"man](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/DSC_2483.jpg\" "\\"NYC")
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Former Gov. and mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo.<\/p>\n
Photo by Lloyd Mitchell<\/p>\n
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo came under fire on Monday for claiming that he \u201cwasn\u2019t in charge\u201d of building affordable housing in New York City during his 11 years as the state\u2019s top executive.<\/p>\n
Cuomo, who is running for mayor as an independent<\/a> after losing the Democratic primary<\/a> to socialist Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani (Queens), argued that because he was governor of the state and not the city\u2019s mayor, he did not control housing production within the five boroughs.<\/p>\n \u201cI wasn\u2019t the mayor of New York and I wasn\u2019t in charge of building affordable housing in New York,\u201d said Cuomo, referring to the city, during a July 28 interview with WNYC host Brian Lehrer<\/a>. Cuomo was responding to the criticism that his actions as governor<\/a> directly contributed to the city\u2019s current housing crisis.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I were mayor of New York, we would have housing,\u201d Cuomo said.\n<\/p>\n He contended that his record of constructing large-scale infrastructure projects in the city, under the state\u2019s purview, as governor shows that he is best positioned to address its acute housing crisis, which has seen rents soar and left just 1.4% of apartments vacant<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI built LaGuardia,\u201d he said. \u201cI built Moynihan Train Station. I built the Second Avenue Subway. I built the new Kosciuszko Bridge, new Shirley Chisholm Park. Those were all much harder than building housing. I can cut the red tape. I know how to do it. And I can get it done.\u201d<\/p>\n Cuomo also cited his experience as the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under former President Bill Clinton to show that he is the most qualified candidate to boost housing production in the city.<\/p>\n The moderate former governor is not only in a November general election rematch with Mamdani, but is also competing against incumbent Mayor Eric Adams<\/a>, Republican Curtis Sliwa, and indepndent Jim Walden.<\/p>\n Cuomo\u2019s comments drew swift backlash from critics who charged that, as governor, he had immense control over affordable housing construction in the city and simply did not act on it.\n<\/p>\n \u201cThe governor has enormous powers to solve New York\u2019s housing crisis, both in NYC and across the state,\u201d the pro-development group Open New York wrote on X<\/a>. \u201cThis claim is ridiculous, and New Yorkers aren\u2019t falling for it.\u201d<\/p>\n Political strategist Sam Raskin, who worked on former city Comptroller Scott Stringer\u2019s unsuccessful primary campaign, also slammed Cuomo\u2019s remarks in an X post<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a pretty revealing admission by Cuomo that he was asleep at the wheel as the statewide housing-affordability and homelessness crises got significantly worse while he was governor,\u201d Raskin wrote.<\/p>\n