The incredibly irritating Zohran/Cuomo endgame

Zohran Mamdani volunteers congregating in Astoria, Queens — November 3, 2025

I went to a Zohran Mamdani rally/press conference last night. Frankly, I assumed the turnout was going to be much bigger. Most of the people there were either press, or pre-existing Zohran campaign volunteers. Now, to be sure, that’s many more volunteers than Andrew Cuomo has ever had in this mayoral race. And I’m not denying the palpable “grassroots” enthusiasm for Zohran, at least among certain segments of the population. But I don’t know — if you had asked me prior to showing up last night how many people I would’ve expected to see at this Election Eve rally in Astoria, I would have assumed significantly more than the ~100 who were there. (Don’t quote me on the exact crowd size; I’m roughly subtracting the number of journalists on hand.) As to the substance of the rally, the entire focus was basically on Donald Trump and Elon Musk, who had (amazingly and bizarrely) just endorsed Cuomo.

Zohran Mamdani, with Donovan Richards and Mike Gianaris to his left

Speaking on behalf of Mamdani included Donovan Richards, the Queens Borough President, and Mike Gianaris, the Deputy Majority Leader of the New York State Senate. Since Cuomo’s testy relationship with the state legislature had been raised by Gianaris, I couldn’t resist asking about the circumstances of his ouster as governor four years ago. He (Gianaris) told me it was “completely within fair play” for Zohran to have trotted out Cuomo’s chief “accuser,” Charlotte Bennett, at the final mayoral debate on October 22 — as though she was some perpetually tormented victim, rather than someone who had recently been compelled to drop her own lawsuit against Cuomo, on the eve of her deposition, after she was about to be confronted with mounds of evidence demonstrating she had repeatedly fabricated claims of sexual assault and harassment, including before she even met Cuomo.

“All he said was she was there, and this is what she accused him of,” Gianaris explained. I guess according to the Senator, it’s “fair play” to completely distort the circumstances of the litigation process, and declare that Bennett was being “hounded” by a lawsuit that she herself brought, and had to drop, when her accusations fell apart!

She can’t speak for herself? Huh? That’s totally not true. Bennett can speak all she wants. And has. If she’s now been advised to shut up — because if she says anything further, she’ll continue to obliterate her non-existent credibility — that’s not a function of anyone maliciously “hounding” her, it’s a function of the whole sleazy “accuser” paradigm she constructed finally crumbling.

Donovan Richards, the Queens Borough President, told me he was in the little Zohran debate cadre that night with Charlotte. Meaning, he was in the debate audience alongside her. So I wanted him to specifically address the merits of Charlotte’s accusations, and the subsequent legal developments. Especially if she’s now going to be used as a political prop for the Zohran campaign, for which Richards is a surrogate.

“Twelve individuals who said he sexually harassed them and they felt uncomfortable,” Richards told me. “As a man, it doesn’t matter what I feel. It matters how they feel.”

“Well,” I replied, “it matters what the legal process culminates in, right?”

“Twelve! Twelve!” he exclaimed. “Not one, not two…”

But again, I reiterated, what about Charlotte Bennett in particular? Why can’t we just talk about Charlotte Bennett for a second? You know, the “survivor” you guys brought in Zohran’s posse, and whom he declared his impassioned solidarity with from the debate stage?

“I’m not gonna dwell on one,” Richards told me.

Yeah, I can see why not.

Richards’ retort was a variation of what I always get when I mention this whole obnoxious issue: ‘But what about the other 12 women?’ (Or is it 11 women? 13? People can’t seem to keep the number straight.) And here’s my answer: OK, what about them? Which other women are you talking about? Is it the woman who proudly displayed an affectionate photo she took with Cuomo on her desk for several years, only to then “re-interpret” the photo after Lindsey Boylan and Charlotte Bennett introduced their ridiculous allegations? While Bennett, by her own admission, was working to corral additional women to publicly vindicate her tales, just like she had at Hamilton College? (Here’s an August 2021 clip of me talking about this on Frank Morano’s WABC radio show.)

Are we talking about the woman who claimed she was victimized by Cuomo visiting her neighborhood to survey storm damage, and kissing her on the cheek as a greeting? (Seriously.)

Are we talking about the women who told Tish James’ sham of an investigation that behavior by Cuomo which could be seen as flirtatious “was not only normal, but to be valued”? (That’s a direct quote from the ridiculous report.)

Are we talking about the medical doctor who was supposedly victimized by Cuomo saying on live television, at a COVID press conference, that she made wearing a medical gown “look good”?

Or the women who were supposedly abused by Cuomo using such 70s sitcom terminology as “mingle mamas”?

Or the former NY State Trooper who sued not just Cuomo but two of his well-known staff members for somehow abusing her, only to drop the two staff from the lawsuit? And whose litigation is still in progress, with her feverishly trying to quash subpoenas for discovery material?

Here is an accurate summation of the relevant facts by Cuomo’s lawyer, Rita Glavin. Please don’t take her word for it. Or my word for it. Look up the details on your own:

Until Lindsey Boylan made a series of tweets in December 2020 shortly after she announced her campaign for Manhattan Borough President, no one had ever advanced a charge of sexual harassment against Governor Cuomo—despite his having been in the public eye for decades, and having withstood two FBI background checks, two Senate confirmations, and bruising political campaigns for state-wide elected office. Governor Cuomo’s political opponents and those eyeing the Governorship and 2022 Democratic primary, including New York Attorney General Letitia James, seized the opportunity to mortally wound the popular Governor who was running for a fourth term

So please, when I point out the utter scurrilousness of Lindsey Boylan and Charlotte Bennett, the two ringleaders who colluded to get other women to vaguely corroborate their confabulations, yes, I’m impeaching the entirety of the case against Cuomo, including as it relates to the 12 (or 11, or 13, or whatever it is) “other women.” (Only one of them ever made a bonafide claim of groping and/or assault against Cuomo, and that was later dropped when the Albany County DA discovered exculpatory evidence.)

It’s simply insane that Mamdani could’ve pulled his little Charlotte Bennett stunt at the final mayoral debate, and the NY press corps still refuses to report the actual facts!

The facts should be accurately reported whether you like Cuomo or not! That’s irrelevant! Go ahead and oppose him, critique his other positions, whatever. Support Mamdani. I don’t even really care. What I care about is the utter abdication of journalistic standards that have been endemic to this story for years now, with another political campaign having passed, and the public still egregiously misinformed about what actually transpired when the New York State government was toppled in 2021.

Anyway, here’s Cuomo eating some pizza yesterday in Staten Island. Yes, I was offered, and took a slice. It was really good. I will never apologize for accepting free pizza!

It was a really weird event because hardly anyone was even there. Like, the campaign did not seem to organize anyone to turn out at this Italian restaurant to meet Cuomo.

I later meandered next door to a great Italian deli, Bella Vita Salumeria, and chatted with the owner, Scott Christensen, who said he’s probably going to be voting for Cuomo today, because he doesn’t want socialism and figured Cuomo is the only viable option to stop Mamdani. However, he wasn’t totally decided yet, and said he doesn’t follow politics that closely. It would’ve been a perfect person for Cuomo to do some old-fashioned retail politicking with, and seal his vote, but instead of gladhanding for a few minutes, Cuomo had already sped off in his white ‘96 bronco.

Cuomo hightails it out of there in his Bronco, which people were fascinated by (including myself, I have to say, and I’m not even really a “car guy”)

Here’s a funny interview I did yesterday with an older black lady in Brownsville, Brooklyn who had attended a pro-Cuomo event at a Senior Center. She starts chanting “Como, Como, Como!” at me. And she still doesn’t care to learn how to pronounce Zohran’s name! LOL

Brief video from the Senior Center:

I’ll be out more today doing what I normally do, so stay tuned, if you want.

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