On Fred Dicker’s radio show this morning, Governor Andrew Cuomo was asked if the reportedly frosty relationship between Mayor Michael Bloomberg and himself has warmed with the recent budget deal cheered by Mr. Bloomberg.
“Those stories of the mayor and I being at odds were grossly overblown. I understand the sensational value of them, but it just wasn’t true,” Mr. Cuomo responded. “It is true, institutionally, a governor and a mayor sometimes advocate for their own causes and sometime advocate for different causes, because of their institutional roles.”
Mr. Cuomo went on to stress his personal friendliness with New York City’s mayor.
“But I’ve always had a very strong personal relationship with the mayor. I’ve known him for many, many years,” he explained. “We’re friends. He’s friends with my family. He was supportive of me in my election when he didn’t have to be, so he’s gone out of his way to be kind to me and I enjoy our personal relationship.”
Mr. Bloomberg had strongly advocated for a number of aspects of the new budget, including juvenile justice reform, but Mr. Cuomo seemed most appreciative of his efforts on behalf of pension reform.
“I thank him and I applaud him for his efforts,” Mr. Cuomo said. “He organized officials all across the state on pension reform and he’s one of the major factors in the success of pension reform, there’s no doubt about that.”
“Mayor Bloomberg didn’t get everything he wanted, and he’s been quite reasonable. But it was fair, his argument was heard, there was a rationality to the process rather than the past irrationality,” he continued. “I think he’s appreciative of the fairness and the competence of the function. I’m appreciative of his professionalism and his cooperation and his assistance in the process.”
