GOV. CUOMO and his long-shot primary challenger Zephyr Teachout marched Monday in Brooklyn’s West Indian Day Parade — crossing paths for the first time in the campaign.
The two Democrats didn’t march together and generally kept their distance. Teachout said she said hello and shook Cuomo’s hand at one point — but she didn’t seem to get any closer in her bid to get the governor to agree to a debate.
Teachout’s running mate, Tim Wu, talked about her debate challenge when he greeted Cuomo. “I said, ‘How about a debate?'” Wu said. “He sort of smiled and looked away.”
Cuomo, who has refused to debate Teachout before the Sept. 9 primary, was greeted warmly at the parade, part of which he marchedmarching alongside Mayor de Blasio for part of it. Some revelers waved “Caribbeans for Cuomo” signs, and many chanted his name.
“If he’s out here to support us, I’m going to support him,” said Mukti West, 28, of Brooklyn.
Teachout, a law professor at Fordham University, also won cheers, though some of the affection might have been caused by the energetic dance moves she flashed along the parade route.
Many parade watchers said they didn’t recognize her. “She’s running for governor?” said Joyce St. Clair, 81, of Brooklyn by way of Trinidad. Told Teachout was a candidate, St. Clair added, “Gov. Cuomo is doing just fine.”
But some were more intrigued. Thomas Kingsley, a Democrat, said he would research Teachout online because he was unhappy that Cuomo disbanded the Moreland Commission to investigate public corruption.
“If there’s corruption, it’s everybody’s right to know,” he said.
Wu accused Team Cuomo of badmouthing him out of “desperation.” He was referring to comments former Gov. David Paterson made to the Daily News that Wu was unfit for the job.
“I’m going to do a lot more than David Paterson did in that job,” said Wu, a Columbia Law School professor.
Cuomo, meanwhile, waved away mounting concerns about his running mate, former upstate Congresswoman Kathleen Hochul.
“It’s not gonna happen,” he said when asked what he would do if Hochul lost her primary for lieutenant governor, and he ended up with Wu on his ticket.
Cuomo also dismissed a report that he was weighing whether to drop Hochul as his running mate.
“She’s going to win,” he said of Hochul. “People understand that lieutenant governor could become governor, and experience really matters.”
The governor also downplayed the low number of campaign events he has held so far this year.
“The campaign season hasn’t really started yet…That’s just starting, that’s what starts after Labor Day,” he said.
“We have delivered for the people of the state. … And we’re going to run on the strength of what we’ve done and our plans to do even more.”
