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A citywide group representing Asian Americans is pushing ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo to run for mayor — because they think the Democratic Party has swung too far left.
The Asian Wave Alliance told The Post it’s encouraging a Cuomo candidacy after members had an extensive Zoom meeting with the former thrice-elected governor.
“Andrew Cuomo would probably be the most common-sense candidate in the Democratic primary,” said Asian Wave Alliance President Yiatin Chu.
The Asian Wave Alliance advocates for merit-based education and tougher anti-crime policies.
The group’s leaders are deeply connected to the city’s growing ethnic Chinese population in the outer boroughs of Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island, as well as Manhattan.
AWA said it discussed numerous issues with Cuomo during the Feb. 5 virtual meeting including: homeless and migrant shelters, public safety and other qualify-of-life issues, preserving and expanding merit-based specialized high schools and gifted and talented programs, and traffic issues such as congestion pricing and rogue e-bike/scooter cyclists.
“In these challenging times, we need leaders who have a record of proven experience, accomplishments, and have a genuine commitment to their constituents which includes Asian New Yorkers,” said Donghui Zang, an AWA executive board member and former Democratic candidate for City Council, in a statement.
“For those reasons, we strongly urge former Governor Cuomo to enter the Democratic primary for mayor.”
Residents in the city’s large Asian precincts have shifted right in recent election cycles, with many voting for Republicans Curtis Sliwa for mayor in 2021 and Lee Zeldin for governor in 2022, amid a backlash against disorder and disagreements with Democrats’ education policies.
Sliwa last week announced his bid again to be the Republican nominee for City Hall.
Notably, AWA did not specifically endorse Cuomo. But it expects to make endorsements in the party primary and general elections at some point, Chu said.
Members said they are cognizant that in overwhelmingly Democratic New York, the winner of the June 24 Democratic ranked choice primary will likely be elected the next mayor in the general election Nov. 4.
Aside from Mayor Eric Adams, other Democratic candidates already in the race include city Comptroller Brad Lander, former city Comptroller Scott Stringer, Brooklyn state Sen. Zellnor Myrie, Queens state Sen. Jessica Ramos, Queens Democratic Socialist Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, hedge fund manager Whitney Tilson and others.
“It’s a blue city,” said Chu, who switched parties and ran as a Republican candidate for state Senate in Queens last year.
Chu said the group’s members grilled Cuomo on some of his controversial policy decisions when he was governor, such as approving laws to impose congestion pricing and no-cash bail.
The controversial $9 congestion toll to enter Manhattan went into effect last month, with proceeds going to fund the MTA’s maintenance and capital construction program.
Cuomo now says he opposes the toll, arguing it’s not the right time to sock New Yorkers with another fee — as he explained in the meeting, Chu said.
The sexual-harassment accusations from staffers that forced Cuomo’s resignation from office in 2021– which he denies — did not come up in the meeting.
Chu said Adams had some support in the Asian community when he first won the mayor’s office in 2021. But she said the corruption scandals that have touched not only Adams but other other members of his administration have hurt him with voters.
The group’s members said they were confident that Cuomo would appoint a strong management team to run the city should he run and be elected mayor.
“AWA was impressed with Governor Cuomo’s depth of knowledge on the complexities of each issue along with his candor and pragmatism on potential solutions, and believes he would bring experience in navigating city and state politics and bureaucracy to address these problems,” the group said in a statement.
The group said it wants a more centrist mayor to confront “an extremist city council body that is unlikely to change much in November” and to stand up for middle-class values.
In recent days, the Staten Island Democratic Party and former state Comptroller H. Carl McCall, the first black elected to statewide office in New York, pledged their support for Cuomo if he makes a comeback bid for mayor.
