Top 60 Andrew Cuomo Quotes (2025 Update)

1. “I believe global warming and climate change are real threats to our planet.”

— Andrew Cuomo

2. “I believe we need to attract a new generation of the best and brightest to public service and I believe that government can be a source of inspiration, not degradation.”

— Andrew Cuomo

3. “I believe discrimination still exists in society and we must fight it in every form.”

— Andrew Cuomo

4. “There is energy and power in a crisis.”

— Andrew Cuomo

5. “The Declaration of Independence says when government fails, the people have the right to replace it. Well, New York State government has failed and the people have the right, indeed the people have the the people have the obligation, to act.”

— Andrew Cuomo

6. “There was never a war on poverty. Maybe there was a skirmish on poverty.”

— Andrew Cuomo

7. “We need marriage equality in every state in this nation. Otherwise, no state really has marriage equality, and we will not rest until it is a reality.”

— Andrew Cuomo

8. “I have a portrait of Saint Thomas More in my office.”

— Andrew Cuomo

9. “What made Manhattan Manhattan was the underground infrastructure, that engineering marvel.”

— Andrew Cuomo

10. “People who assume I want to run for elected office may be dealing from a bad assumption.”

— Andrew Cuomo

11. “New York State is upside down and backwards; high taxes and low performance. The New York State government was at one time a national model. Now, unfortunately, it’s a national disgrace. Sometimes, the corruption in Albany could even make Boss Tweed blush.”

— Andrew Cuomo

12. “Too often government responds to the whispers of lobbyists before the cries of the people.”

— Andrew Cuomo

13. “I respect the state workers and I respect their unions, but we simply can’t afford to pay benefits and pensions that are out of line with economic reality.”

— Andrew Cuomo

14. “I believe women still face a glass ceiling that must be shattered.”

— Andrew Cuomo

15. “I never thought I would be divorced.”

— Andrew Cuomo

16. “I believe public education is the new civil rights battle and I support charter schools.”

— Andrew Cuomo

17. “It’s time for the people of the Empire State to strike back.”

— Andrew Cuomo

18. “I am against the death penalty.”

— Andrew Cuomo

19. “As my Sicilian grandfather used to say, you get more flies with honey than with vinegar, right?”

— Andrew Cuomo

20. “The time has come to return integrity, performance and dignity to New York and make it the Empire State once again.”

— Andrew Cuomo

21. “I haven’t lost my head yet.”

— Andrew Cuomo

22. “I’m a Queens boy at the end of the day.”

— Andrew Cuomo

23. “There is no dispute that Albany needs to be changed. There is no dispute that the current situation in Albany is untenable. Nobody knows that better than I do.”

— Andrew Cuomo

24. “If there’s a silver bullet in the battle to recapture Albany, it is the re-engagement of our citizens. This capital has become a physical metaphor for the isolation and alienation of our people.”

— Andrew Cuomo

25. “The essential job of government is to facilitate, not frustrate, job development.”

— Andrew Cuomo

26. “I did experiment with marijuana when I was a youth.”

— Andrew Cuomo

27. “He was the keynote speaker for our better angels.”

— Andrew Cuomo

28. “I’m a harsh critic of the status quo.”

— Andrew Cuomo

29. “New York State is upside down and backwards; high taxes and low performance.”

— Andrew Cuomo

30. “Ninety percent of the students take the ‘preferred lender.’ Why? Because that’s the nature of the relationship. You trust the school. The school is in a position of authority.”

— Andrew Cuomo

31. “I’ve been not only articulating the dissatisfaction with Albany, I’ve been acting on it. I’ve been very aggressive in bringing public integrity cases and public corruption cases and bringing cases against sitting legislators.”

— Andrew Cuomo

32. “Once you start saying, ‘Let’s talk political, my own politics, my own aspirations,’ it can become not just distracting in that it takes time, but it can become confusing and frustrating, and is this now a political agenda or a governmental agenda.”

— Andrew Cuomo

33. “I think there’s a lot to learn from Rockefeller on how to pass legislation.”

— Andrew Cuomo

34. “I was elected to come to an incredibly dysfunctional capital and make the government work better, and that’s what I’m doing.”

— Andrew Cuomo

35. “I want to be the candidate placed on the ballot by the people, not the party.”

— Andrew Cuomo

36. “I don’t think bonuses are always bad.”

— Andrew Cuomo

37. “Fight as hard as you can, and then understand there’s going to have to be some amount of reasonable compromise.”

— Andrew Cuomo

38. “If I’m breathing in 2016, I’ll be happy.”

— Andrew Cuomo

39. “Lesson 1 from Spitzer: Don’t alienate the legislature on Day 1.”

— Andrew Cuomo

40. “My father was against the death penalty, and that was hard in the Son of Sam summer when fear was driving the desire for the death penalty.”

— Andrew Cuomo

41. “I’m going to change everything you believe about HUD.”

— Andrew Cuomo

42. “There’s a rhythm to the legislative session and there are rhythms to legislative sessions. So I think that’s very important to take into consideration when you are deciding what to do when.”

— Andrew Cuomo

43. “I’ve worked on the urban agenda all my life. All. My. Life.”

— Andrew Cuomo

44. “Lesson from Pataki’s success is: Use the political moment.”

— Andrew Cuomo

45. “There is also something called the Legislature. There is something called the press. There is something called people. These are all different players on the stage.”

— Andrew Cuomo

46. “There’s no such thing as a 100-year flood.”

— Andrew Cuomo

47. “Flooding damage is not customary for New York, especially downstate.”

— Andrew Cuomo

48. “Showed good business judgment, knowing that these continued lawsuits would be the untimely death of the gun industry.”

— Andrew Cuomo

49. “I’m running for governor; I’m not running for a legislative office.”

— Andrew Cuomo

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50. “Politicians are good listeners. Because if they’re not, they aren’t politicians for very long.”

— Andrew Cuomo