Bronx Rep. Ritchie Torres is backing Andrew Cuomo for New York City mayor even though the former governor hasn’t formally entered the race,
“The two most important things we need are competence and courage,” Torres told The Post. “Andrew Cuomo has the competence to govern the city. He has the courage to stand up to extremist politics — both from the far left and far right.
“We don’t need a Mr. Nice Guy. We need a Mr. Tough Guy.”
Cuomo has not officially entered the race, but is expected to shortly.
“He has my endorsement as soon as he enters the race,” the congressman said.
Cuomo, he noted, has a well of support in his mostly black and Latino working class constituency and predicted the former governor’s critics will be surprised by the level of backing he will get.
Torres said he wasn’t interested in “relitigating” Cuomo’s resignation from office in 2021 over sexual misconduct claims leveled against him by a slew of women, including female staffers. Cuomo, for his part, has denied the allegations.
“I predict the comeback story of the 2025 election will be the resurrection of Andrew Cuomo,” he said. “America loves a comeback, New York loves a comeback.”
Instead, Torres focused on Cuomo’s tangible accomplishments — such as the face-lift of LaGuardia Airport, the building of the Moynihan Train Hall at Penn Station and overhaul of the Javits convention center.
He also noted that Cuomo, during his first year as governor in 2011, pushed through the law to legalize gay marriage in the state.
“[Cuomo] succeeded when others have failed,” Torres said.
Torres called Mayor Eric Adams, who is seeking re-election, a “disappointment,” an “ineffective mayor” who made “questionable appointments.” He said Adams hasn’t earned re-election even putting aside his legal woes.
“The city is in crisis,” he said.
Torres did not mention any of the other Democratic mayoral candidates — with the exception of Queens Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani. Torres said Mamdani’s association with the Jewish-bashing Democratic Socialists of America makes him unsuitable to be mayor.
He said DA members celebrated the “mass murder of Jews” at a rally right after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 invasion of Israel.
“We’re confronting a level of extremism unprecedented in the history of New York,” Torres said.
Torres’ pre-emptive endorsement, a key Democratic member of New York’s congressional delegation, will certainly reverberate in New York political circles.
Torres himself is considering running against Gov. Kathy Hochul in a Democratic primary next year. He has consistently needled Hochul, claiming she’s a weak and ineffective governor.
He did not divulge whether he and Cuomo discussed his own potential run for the statehouse.
Cuomo, without entering the race, has lined up a string of endorsements in what looks like a choreographed rollout of a campaign.
Aside from Torres, he has the backing of former state Comptroller H. Carl McCall, the Staten Island Democratic Party and the The Village Reform Democratic Club in Greenwich Village.