On Saturday, after months of teasing, former Governor Andrew Cuomo finally entered the race for mayor. At the very beginning of Cuomo's 17-minute (!!!!) mayoral campaign launch video, he talks about how New York City is "in crisis." You feel that crisis, he says, "every time you walk down the street and try not to make eye contact with a mentally ill homeless person."
Cuomo neglects to mention his own responsibility for that "crisis" situation—during his time as governor, he cut thousands of beds reserved for psychiatric treatment for kids and adults, a turning point in the state's ability to care for mentally ill residents, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. And while in Albany, he did nearly nothing to stop New York City's runaway affordability crisis, which left thousands homeless, instead scheming to keep Republicans in control of the state government in an effort to prevent the passage of laws that would hurt his real estate donor base, while continually re-upping a tax break that gave developers millions in return for building a paltry amount of affordable housing.
The rest of Cuomo's seemingly unending campaign launch video plays out almost precisely in this fashion—Andrew Cuomo is here to save you from the horrible mess that he, Andrew Cuomo, created for New Yorkers.