Ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo banking on far-left policy shifts to win NYC mayoral race

Former Gov.Andrew Cuomo is ripping entire chapters out of the playbook of the Democratic party’s far left faction in his bid to become New York City’s next mayor, according to critics and a review of his positions by The Post.Cuomo — who resigned in 2021 amid a barrage of sexual harassment allegations he vehemently denies — began soliciting key powerbrokers to support his political comeback last year — but began his leftward tilt as polling for the Democratic primary showed his strongest challenger is extreme left Queens Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani .“He knows his past positions are incredibly unpopular with Democratic primary voters, who he is trying to trick and fool,” said Bill Neidhardt, a former top aide to ex-Mayor Bill de Blasio who is now part of a political action committee trying to get Mamdani elected mayor.In 2014, Cuomo vehemently rejected avowed Marxist de Blasio’s push to launch a universal “pre-K” program in the NYC public schools, telling The Post at the time “I don’t think there is a rationale for it” and that it wouldn’t be fair to other cities in the state to tax the rich so only de Blasio’s constituents benefit.Cuomo, still the frontrunner in the race to unseat incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, did team up with other top state lawmakers that same year to provide $300 million to expand the city’s prekindergarten program.

He is now pledging as a mayoral candidate to make the pre-K and 3-K programs created under de Blasio “truly universal.” “He was one of the earliest opponents for universal pre-K, so for him to say he’d do anything to expand it is pure chicanery,” said Neidhardt.Other lefty policy shifts include:The transit proposal sounded all too familiar to Mamdani, who successfully lobbied for a free bus pilot program serving all five boroughs that ended last year after state funding ran out.“They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery,” said Mamdani in a March Instagram post poking fun at...