NYC mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo vowed to roll back a controversial pension policy he himself put in place as governor at a Saturday mayoral forum.
The former governor dealt a blow to public employee unions in 2012 when he enacted Tier 6, an unpopular policy that raised the retirement age to 63 and cut benefits for new hires. But at a forum hosted by powerful union United Federation of Teachers, he said he’d push to revert the retirement age back to 55, saying that times have changed.
“That’s ancient history,” Cuomo said of his policy.
Cuomo faced immediate pushback from his competitors, who accused him of running from his own record as governor, and even audience members.
“No it’s not,” a union member in the crowd yelled in response to his “history” comment.
Former Comptroller Scott Stringer bashed the frontrunner’s comments, calling him “Pro-tier 6 Andrew Cuomo.”
“Keep in mind one guy did this to us,” Stringer said. “And for him to come here today and say this was ancient history is one of the dumbest things he said of our campaign.”
Zohran Mamdani, a current state assemblymember and himself a Tier 6 member, stepped onto the stage as Cuomo walked off.
“It was exciting to see the man who created it in person,” Mamdani quipped.
Cuomo enacted the changes after pension costs skyrocketed in the 2010s. Pension decisions go through Albany.
“The state has the funding, the pension fund threat is over,” the former governor told union President Michael Mulgrew, who has called the 2012 pension change a “sneak attack” on teachers.
“Roll back Tier 6 so you can compete and get the best teachers and keep them.”
Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi on Saturday said the governor’s pension decision was made to help local governments rebound from the recession and in turn slammed other candidates’ track records.
“The politicians in this race attack Gov. Cuomo’s record because they have no real records of their own — even though they’ve been legislators, citywide elected officials or in some cases in office since before ‘Friends’ hit the air,” Azzopardi said.
All participants at the forum, including Brad Lander, Jessica Ramos and Zellnor Myrie, vowed to chip away at the current pension policy. The candidates appeared on the stage at a Midtown Hilton one by one.
The UFT has yet to endorse any candidates ahead of the June 24 Democratic primary.
Cuomo’s history with public sector unions has cost him the endorsement of DC37, the city’s largest municipal employee union, which opted to throw its weight behind Council Speaker Adrienne Adams in part because of Cuomo’s pension decision, President Henry Garrido said last month.
