Cuomo denounces Mamdani’s socialist ‘fantasy’ and cites AOC’s Amazon fiasco

Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo reminded business leaders Wednesday that socialism had already failed in New York when Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and progressive activists rallied against Amazon’s plan to build a headquarters in Queens.

At Crain’s New York Business Mayor’s Forum Wednesday morning, with less than a month until Election Day, Cuomo denounced the threat that Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani’s policies pose to the city’s economy.

“We are not socialists,” Cuomo said. “We all saw the danger of this philosophy foreshadowed when we lost the Amazon project in Queens and 50,000 jobs to socialist opposition.”

Cuomo told business leaders that New York City is at a crossroads: It will either “decline dramatically” under Mamdani or “pivot and actually see a renaissance.”

CUOMO CALLS NYC MAYOR’S RIVAL ‘DANGEROUS’, WARNS SOCIALISM WILL BE ‘THE KELL’ OF CITY

Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo (R) criticized the policies of Zohran Mamdani (L), telling business leaders that socialism had already failed in New York when Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., (center) and progressive leaders rejected Amazon’s plan to open a headquarters in Long Island City. (Rashid Umar Abbasi/Fox News Digital; J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo; Al Drago/Getty Images)

“My opponent’s proposal to provide everything financed by tax increases for free is pure ideological fantasy,” Cuomo said during his opening remarks.

ZOHRAN MAMDANI’S POLICIES “WON’T WORK” IN NEW YORK, ANDREW CUOMO ARGUES

And Cuomo cites a consequential business failure as proof that socialism has no place in capitalist capital.

“We are financial and commercial capital. We are a regulated capitalist economy,” Cuomo said, clearly criticizing Mamdani’s self-described “democratic socialist” politics and his distaste for capitalism.

During his term as governor, Cuomo courted Amazon to build its second headquarters in New York, personally urging founder and CEO Jeff Bezos to choose Long Island City and offering billions in state and city-level incentives, as well as infrastructure and workforce commitments, to seal the deal.

But the deal faced growing backlash from community activists and progressive lawmakers, like Ocasio-Cortez, who rejected the estimated $2.5 billion in incentives for Amazon.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., speaks at a rally in New York on May 1, 2025. (Angelina Katsanis/AP Photo)

“Now what I DON’T WANT is for our tax dollars to fund free helipads for Amazon billionaires and robber barons,” Ocasio-Cortez written in 2018“while NYCHA and public schools are underfunded and moms and dads are nowhere near that kind of relief.”

In 2019, Amazon announced that it had decided “after careful consideration and deliberation” not to move forward with plans to build its headquarters in Long Island City, Queens.

“A number of state and local politicians have made it clear that they oppose our presence and will not work with us to build the type of relationships necessary to advance the project that we and many others envisioned in Long Island City,” Amazon said. shared in a statement.

Alfredo Ortiz, CEO of Job Creators Network, told Fox News at the time that Ocasio-Cortez’s “reckless scuttling of the Amazon deal cannot be overstated.”

“Not only did AOC cost New York 25,000 good-paying jobs, she sent a message to job creators everywhere that they were no longer welcome in her city,” he said.

Amazon planned to create at least 25,000 jobs in Long Island City, with the governor’s office projecting potential growth of 40,000 jobs over 15 years.

Zohran Mamdani, Democratic candidate for mayor of New York, speaks to supporters during a canvassing kickoff event in Prospect Park on August 17, 2025. (Deirdre Heavey/Fox News Digital)

During his speech at the business forum on Wednesday, the socialist candidate cited Bezos, whom he described as “a man whose tax burden I would like to significantly increase.”

“Jeff once said to me – not to me personally, but publicly – ‘You have to be willing to be misunderstood if you want to innovate.’ And make no mistake, my friends: When I’m mayor, this city is going to innovate,” Mamdani told the New York City Hall of Business Leaders.

But Mamdani’s plans to raise corporate taxes and charge the richest 1 percent of New Yorkers to fund ambitious campaign promises, like free busing, free day care and city-run grocery stores, have sparked skepticism in the business community.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP

Cuomo, in particular, took advantage of that skepticism in the race for Gracie Mansion, telling business leaders Wednesday that “the time has come for New York City to reclaim the crown as the greatest city in the world.”

Mamdani and Ocasio-Cortez did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Fox News Digital.