New York City mayor's race turns its attention to proposed Queens public safety academy. Here's what the candidates are saying.
The New York City mayor's race is getting hotter by the day.
On Sunday, opponents to incumbent Mayor Eric Adams criticized his plan to open a new public safety academy, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo got a big endorsement from a high-ranking member of Congress, and the New York Working Families Party announced four candidates it favors.
New training facility in Queens is under the microscope
Last year, Adams announced a plan that will cost $250 million to consolidate public safety training for all city agencies to a new facility in Queens. As primary day inches closer, several candidates now say it should be canned.
However, the mayor came out and defended it on Sunday.
The new training facility, which may not open until 2030, is under the microscope again. Adams says funding for it was allocated under previous Mayor Bill de Blasio and that it's needed to train city-wide law enforcement, but opponents running to be the next mayor say it's a waste of money.
"Our correction officers should not be holding training inside malls, that our Sheriff's Department should not be looking for places to train," Adams said.
Cuomo, considered a frontrunner in recent polls, said the money instead should be used for recruitment and retention. Adams, however, said the budget doesn't allow for the money to be used that way.
"We now pay over a billion dollars in overtime -- $1 billion. My proposal is take half that amount -- $500 million -- [and] you can hire 5,000 police officers and then have $500 million to do education, job training," Cuomo said.
Rep. Gregory Meeks endorses Cuomo
Cuomo was endorsed Sunday by Rep. Gregory Meeks, a high-ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the chair of the Queens County Democratic Party.
The New York Working Families Party endorsed four candidates in the race -- Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, City Comptroller Brad Lander, state Sen. Zellnor Myrie and City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams.
"We're all working together to make sure that this city works for working people and not just the billionaires. Today, we're proud to stand with the set of candidates who have reiterated that," a party member said.
This is part of a two-step endorsement process for the organization. In the coming months it says it will propose its top candidate.
