By Dan Murphy
Andrew Cuomo’s bid for NYC Mayor took him to Yonkers last week to the home of former State Senator Nick Spano for a fundraiser.
Spano, who is now a democrat and a lobbyist in Albany, has known Cuomo for a couple of decades, dating back to when Cuomo was NY Attorney General and Spano was a State Senator.
In a story for Politico, https://www.politico.com/newsletters/new-york-playbook/2025/04/10/spano-for-cuomo-00283182
Spano explained “He is a friend of my family as well. I think he’s perfectly suited to be able to take over the reins of the city of New York and to move it in the right direction.”
Nick Spano’s family includes his brother Mike Spano the Mayor of Yonkers. And while Mayor Mike Spano has yet to endorse Cuomo for NYC Mayor, he attended the event and the fact that Nick Spano welcomed Cuomo to Yonkers is a clear sign that the Spano family supports Cuomo.
“Mike attended the Cuomo fundraiser at his brother’s home, and shares the same views on how to govern a city like Yonkers or New York City. He wouldn’t be there and Nick wouldn’t host Cuomo if his brother wasn’t on board,” said one person at the event, which features Nick Spano’s famous homemade Chili.
10 years ago, Nick Spano welcomed then Governor Cuomo to Yonkers for a re-election fundraiser.
“What we need in government and politics these days is less acrimony and more results,” Spano told Playbook Wednesday. “You only get results by communicating and working well on both sides of the aisle. Andrew Cuomo is prepared to do that.”
Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi also pointed out in the Politico story that “Senator Spano has a history of supporting democrats” including Chuck Schumer, and Governor Hochul.
Nick Spano also welcomed Hochul to Yonkers for a fund raiser recently
When his endorsement becomes official, Mayor Spano will become the first prominent democrat to support Cuomo for NYC Mayor. Other notable democrats, including State Senate Majority Leader ASC, State Senator Shelley Mayer, Assemblymember Amy Paulin, Congressman George Latimer and County Executive Ken Jenkins, have not endorsed Cuomo or any candidate for Mayor.
Some Westchester democrats explained that most of the Westchester dems we mentioned “don’t have to endorse anyone for NYC Mayor because they don’t represent NYC. Only George (Latimer) does.”
Stewart-Cousins, Mayer and Paulin, were among the many NY Democrats who called on Cuomo to resign in 2021 for sexual harassment allegations.
Cuomo maintains a large lead in polling for the upcoming democratic primary in June for NYC Mayor. Current NYC Mayor Eric Adams has vowed to run as an independent candidate for reelection in November. The republican candidate for Mayor will be Curtis Sliwa.
