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A group of self-described Andrew Cuomo boosters has angered several prominent New York unions by claiming they back the disgraced politician’s efforts to rehabilitate himself in a new campaign-style flyer that’s been mailed across the state.
The double-sided mailer, which was obtained by The Post, urges union members to “support” the ex-governor, who resigned after his political base collapsed amid allegations of sexual misconduct, profiting from use of state resources to write his pandemic memoir and misleading the public and federal regulators over COVID-linked nursing home deaths.
The mailer lacks the type of legal disclosures typically found on campaign paraphernalia and is simply signed by a group identifying itself as New Yorkers for Justice. There is no such group registered with the State Board of Elections, online records show.
Political committees are required to report their donors and expenses to the agency.
It features the logos of several unions — including the New York State Nurses Association, the political committee for the city’s District Council of Carpenters, the national Teamsters Union and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers — printed on the front.
“Governor Cuomo led the hard-hit state of New York through the worst pandemic of our time and as a result, became a role model for the world,” it claims.
The mailer borrows quotes from 2018 in which New York State AFL-CIO president Mario Cilento and Gary LaBarbara, the powerful head of the Buildings and Construction Council, praised Cuomo’s past support of unions — a couple of years before the sex harassment allegations began to emerge.
And it goes on to attack the state attorney general who would become Cuomo’s bête noire: Letitia James.
James earned Cuomo’s ire after his request she investigate his office concluded with a bombshell report that affirmed or revealed allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct by Cuomo from 11 women.
“August 2021 the Attorney General held a news conference stating, she believes Andrew Cuomo was guilty of sexual harassment, but in reality, that was a politically motivated ambush against Governor Cuomo,” the message on the back of the mailer reads.
Several of the unions included in the mailer were outraged and said they had no knowledge of the effort.
“The NYC Carpenters union was not asked, nor would we ever give our permission to use our logo to falsely slander Attorney General James who fearlessly took on Andrew Cuomo to ensure justice for his victims,” said Joseph Geiger, a top official there. “Andrew Cuomo has no one to blame for his resignation except himself. Period.”
The state AFL-CIO sent the group a letter demanding they remove all mentions of Cilento and the organization from the mailer — a demand the group accepted, the union told the Post.
“The New York State AFL-CIO has no connection to New Yorkers for Justice. We are disappointed with the unauthorized use of our logo,” Cilento said.
The Nurses’ Association also assailed the mailer.
“We condemn this deception,” said Pat Kane, who heads the union. “We want to call on this group to admit the deception and stop printing these mailers and we feel they should release an apology.”
The group is also soliciting donations via a GoFundMe campaign and has raised over $5,600, halfway to its stated goal of $10,000.
“We have no knowledge of this effort,” said Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi in a statement that also attacked AG James.
The group did not return requests for comment.
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