The delegation included the governor, his top aide Melissa DeRosa, counsel Alphonso David, two officers from the New York National Guard, the state’s deputy commissioner for emergency services and Kamilah Smith, a former FEMA official on Cuomo’s staff. “Guidance from JCOPE was sought and they determined that based on the emergency situation and circumstances this donation was permissible under the relevant state laws and guidelines,” Azzopardi said in a statement. “Now he’s on an unnecessary trip to the Virgin Islands when he needs to come home and do the job New Yorkers are paying him to do.”Ĭuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi said transportation for the trip was donated to the state delegation by John Catsimatidis - an oil and supermarket mogul who is also a political donor - “at no cost to taxpayers.” “We have serious problems in New York, including with our subway system, and the most we can expect from the governor is a good headline or photo op, with no attention paid to actually managing the nuts and bolts of managing the state,” said Ed Cox, chairman of the Republican State Committee.
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Cuomo has made several trips to Israel to study security measures and express solidarity (New York is home to a significant Jewish population) and led state expeditions to Puerto Rico to assist with its faltering finances.Ĭuomo promised a series of trade missions in his second term, but completed just two: a trip to Israel in March and a quick journey to Cuba in 2015, soon after the Obama administration relaxed trade sanctions against the communist island nation.Ĭaribbean-American leaders lauded Cuomo’s trip, and the governor noted that many Virgin Islanders were born in and are still part of “the family of New York.” But Republicans reacted more fiercely to Friday’s trip, saying there was little to justify the involvement of New York’s governor beside his own ambition.
state, but upwardly mobile governors have frequently found reasons to venture abroad and gain some standing to talk about foreign affairs. “We’re asking you for your help.”įoreign travel is not an explicit part of governing a U.S. “The people of the Virgin Islands need help,” Mapp said, addressing the U.S. Mapp thanked him “from the bottom of our hearts” and said Cuomo’s offer of assistance was “tremendously heartfelt.”
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