This is not sitting well with tenant advocates who protested outside a $2500 a head Cuomo fundraiser at the Plaza Hotel:
"I'm here because of the rent," said Margie Trisbend, a 70-year-old Bronx resident. "For years, I was paying $723. Last month, it went up to $1,574. If I can't afford my rent, where am I going to go?" Trisbend was skeptical of Cuomo's commitment to renters. "He's not acting in good faith," she said. "He's acting in favor of the landlords."
Carrying banners that mocked the Governor's $1.5 million campaign donation from ethically embroiled real-estate giant Glenwood Management, the crowd stood in a pen of police barricades across from the hotel, chanting "La renta sube sube! El pueblo sufre sufre!"
In recent days, Cuomo has said that he is willing to strengthen rent protections—but only if the legislature agrees to a tax incentive that shunts public money into private schools, a plan his critics point out is especially attractive to the billionaires who donate to his campaigns at events like yesterday's.
"He wants to take money from the poor and give it to the rich," said Everett Stembridge, 57, a Harlem parent of public high school students.
"Our public schools are underfunded. We need money," said Mindy Rosa, a public school teacher. "Why should I pay for private schools, pay for charter schools, when my schools don't have our resources?"
But you have a weapon against Cuomo and his betrayals:
Jean Folkes, a 73-year-old member of the Flatbush Tenant's Association, who has lived in her neighborhood since moving to the country in 1969, wanted to speak directly to the Governor. "Cuomo, where is your humanity? Did money eat your humanity?" she asked. "We have elephant memories. We'll see to it that you lose if you run again. Enjoy your last two and a half years in Albany, if you're not indicted before then."
Yes, holding him accountable if he tries to run for re-election is one way to pay Cuomo back for his betrayal.
But three years is a long time to wait for payback - there's something NYC residents can do right now to pay back Cuomo for his betrayal.
Cuomo's poll numbers have fallen to all-time lows in all three major polls - the Siena poll, the Marist poll, and the Quinnipiac poll.
His support upstate is in the toilet, he has lukewarm support at best in the suburbs - the only thing propping him up from falling below Spitzer levels is the support he enjoys in NYC.
Cuomo's currently set to screw NYC residents by destroying tent regulations if he doesn't get his way on his education tax credit.
Isn't it time NYC residents pay the governor back by withdrawing support and sending him plummeting past the Spitzer line?
Some commenters on this blog think Cuomo doesn't care about poll numbers so long as he's got the support, both political and financial, of his wealthy donors.
I don't think that's the case
Believe me, when the headlines come that Cuomo's in the mid-to high-twenties in job approval because his NYC support has cratered, he'll be paying attention.
Nothing takes a politician closer to irrelevancy faster than poll numbers in the twenties.
That doesn't mean Cuomo won't still try and impose his preferred policies on the state if he falls below the Spitzer line.
But it's a lot harder to be successful at that when you're at 25% approval.
The billionaires ARE stealing from the poor and giving it to the rich, themselves. And politicians like Cuomo are backing them up with the law. Just look at the Robinhood Foundation as an example. It is a farce and a misnomer meant to deceive the public. There is a way to GET Cuomo out and not have to wait. It's called a RECALL. It starts by getting enough signatures on a petition. I want to be the first one to sign. Get this bastard out of office.
ReplyDeleteNope. No recalls in New York State.
ReplyDeleteFeel free to get as many signatures on as many petitions as you want, there are NO RECALLS of governors in New York State.
Recalls tend to be pipe dreams anyway. Look as Wisconsin's example. They rarely, if ever, lead to a governor getting removed....and at worst they actually re-legitimize the governor who survives a recall attempt.
So nope, the solution to the Cuomo problem is not a recall. Its starting to look like it isn't an indictment either. And thats fine because we as citizens have to face and deal with the real issues behind "the Cuomo problem." The issue isn't even about Cuomo himself...its about how these neo-liberal, corporate, principle-less, soul-less, reptilian, DINO democrats get elected in the first place. And thats on us.
Aside from that hard introspection, our last chance was Teachout....and we know how that went down.
80,000 votes would have done it for Teachout.
80,000 would have been achieved with a NYSUT endorsement and heavy push.
Thems just the facts.
There is another solution besides a recall. We could impeach him or have a popular uprising
ReplyDeleteWe could also do a mock recall. Pull his name through the mud. We all know that we are in dire need of campaign finance reform, but are we really going to sit and wait for that while doing nothing? Billionaires don't wait. Corrupt politicians don't wait. They have multiple strategies in place and if one fails another creative idea is put in place. It's time to get bold and creative.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, this is not a betrayal as the title states. This was predictable. In a way, he should succeed in letting rent regulations expire. Because that will be the final nail in his coffin. That's when the riots will start.
ReplyDeleteOur governor's arrogance and sell out to BIG MONEY is going to bring him down. It may not be tomorrow or even the day after but it WILL happen. Bad people ALWAYS get theirs and Cuomo has SO many enemies and has soured so many of his former supporters that it is hard to believe that he will emerge from this unscathed. The recent polls show that folks are beginning to really see what an awful governor and despicable human being this guy really is and if the rent regulations loosen as a result of his linking rent regulations to his ridiculous education tax break, there will be mighty big trouble for Andy. While I don not wish ANY harm on NYC renters as a result of our pretend governor's B.S. rhetoric and wheeling and dealing, I do hope that the result of all this will be a call for Cuomo's defeat. Those "heavy heart" democrats in the Assembly better not cave-in twice. It's time for the Assembly dems to "grow a pair" and to call out the a-hole for what he is, a liar, bully and bought and paid for P.O.S. 3-1/2 years left in office gives Cuomo plenty of time to destroy what is left of a once great state. Where is NYSUT and the UFT and why aren't they piling on?
ReplyDeleteJust like a loss of a union job degrades the wages of other workers ,so too the weakening of rent regulations degrades the cost of housing for others. Nothing happens in isolation. You are correct, however, that in 3 1/2 years this a_ hole can do a lot of damage.
Delete