Democratic gubernatorial candidate for New York, and current state attorney general Andrew Cuomo has revealed his “Urban Agenda” policy, detailing new programs for affordable housing and other social welfare elements in a reach-out to the poor and vulnerable residents of the state.
"There are whole parts of this state that have just been forgotten about and have been left behind, and that's what the urban agenda is all about," Cuomo said in an address at City Hall. "Impoverished communities, impacted communities, high-percentage-minority communities."
The launch of the agenda, a 202-page booklet with substantial detail, also gave Cuomo the opportunity to showcase his team of black and Latino elected officials; the Democrats have been worried that, with an all-white candidacy this year, minority voters may skip the polls.
Cuomo also used the launch to further elaborate on his reasoning for not entering into a one-on-one debate with primary rival and controversial figure Carl Paladino, and extend his credentials on minorities:
"I don't think we should be excluding the African-American candidate. I don't think we should be excluding the female candidate," Cuomo said of the exclusive debate idea.
All up there are seven
candidates running for governor, and the one debate that has been held between
all the candidates was held last week. "We had a great debate with
everybody who is on the ballot on stage. I think it was informative, for the
most part,” said Cuomo, reiterating that he wasn’t planning on participating in
any more.
