Updated, March 1, 2025, 1:16 p.m.: The year was 2018, and the building trades were at war over nonunion labor at Hudson Yards.
As a crowd of construction workers at Union Square yelled expletives about Related Companies’ Steve Ross, a smiling Andrew Cuomo stood on a stage before them, crediting construction unions for electing him, at that time, to two terms.
When he was governor, Cuomo repeatedly aligned himself with the state’s construction unions, backing their demands for higher wages on projects that received lucrative property tax breaks, overseeing the expansion of union-level wages on public projects and prioritizing large-scale infrastructure projects that meant years’ worth of work for their members.
In other words, it is not surprising that some construction unions, including the city’s largest, have already decided to support Cuomo’s run for mayor. The former governor made his bid official on Saturday, announcing his campaign in a nearly 20-minute video.
The New York City District Council of Carpenters is expected to endorse Cuomo, in his bid to replace Mayor Eric Adams, the New York Times was first to report. The union’s political director, Kevin Elkins, is reportedly in talks to take on a senior role in his campaign.
It is not clear where other construction unions stand, nor if the Building and Construction Trades Council will be an early endorser.
Gary LaBarbera, who leads the city and state chapters of the Building and Construction Trades Council, once called Cuomo the “greatest” governor in the state’s history and across the United States. In 2021, after Cuomo faced multiple allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct but before he stepped down, LaBarbera told TRD that he didn’t “diminish the allegations” but that his relationship with the governor had not changed.
LaBarbera has not acknowledged Cuomo’s likely run and declined to comment through a spokesperson on Friday.
Rich Azzopardi, a spokesperson for Cuomo, said the former governor “has the most successful pro-labor record in modern history,” citing his push for higher wages and the state’s family leave policy approved in 2016, among other policy initiatives.
In recent years, the carpenters’ union has taken a more combative approach than LaBarbera’s umbrella organization. When the property tax break 421a expired during Cuomo’s administration, LaBarbera went to bat against the Real Estate Board of New York to fight for prevailing wages as part of its renewal. The governor said he wouldn’t sign off on a deal that didn’t pay prevailing wages, though the agreement hashed out between REBNY and the BCTC ultimately included average wage requirements instead.
When the tax break expired in 2022, the carpenters’ union was REBNY’s most public antagonist, accusing the trade group of failing to negotiate in good faith to replace the program. Real estate executives fear that Cuomo’s hiring of Elkins could further drive a wedge between construction labor groups and developers, according to Politico New York.
The BCTC has largely refrained from public kerfuffles with REBNY since reaching an agreement with Related and then with REBNY in 2019.
Meanwhile, the carpenters’ union has also supported policies opposed by the real estate industry, including good cause eviction, and endorsed a campaign by the Democratic Socialist of America to promote the creation of a state-run housing development arm to finance social housing models. The union also broke with the BCTC on the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity, saying it would not publicly weigh in on the text amendment because it did not guarantee work for union construction workers.
The union has also been pushing a bill in the City Council that would require developers to pay their construction workers prevailing wages at certain projects receiving $1 million or more in city funding. Having a mayor who has repeatedly supported expanding prevailing wages could bode well for the bill. Doing so, however, would hurt Cuomo’s relationship with the real estate industry.
Editor’s note: This story was updated to reflect Cuomo’s campaign launch.
What we’re thinking about: Who are you supporting for mayor, and what issues are most important to you? Send a note to kathryn@therealdeal.com.
A thing we’ve learned: Some 25 inflatables will be seen outside the Empire State Building on Saturday, in what was described to me as a “menagerie of animals objecting to the contracting practices of Empire State Realty Trust.” “Scabby the Rat” and “Greedy Pig” will be in attendance. The laborers’ union is holding a rally to “irresponsible contractors with a history of exploiting construction workers” at the Empire State Building and across the real estate investment trust’s portfolio.
Elsewhere in New York…
— City taxis have seen a jump in trips after congestion pricing went into effect, Gothamist reports. Data from the Taxi and Limousine Commission show that yellow tax cabs saw a 19 percent increase in total trips within the toll zone last month, marking the highest number of trips logged in January since the pandemic.
— Ed Skyler, a Citi executive who previously served as a deputy mayor under the Bloomberg administration, has left the Republican Party with an eye on potentially running for mayor, Politico New York reports. Skyler registered as an independent to better appeal to Democratic voters, sources told the news site.
— The Federal Highway Administration has given the city until March 21 to end its congestion pricing program, the Associated Press reports. The state has filed a lawsuit fighting the federal government’s reversal on the program.
Closing Time
Residential: The priciest residential sale Friday was $4.8 million for a 2,064-square-foot single family house at 875 East Eighth Street in Ocean Parkway.
Commercial: The most expensive commercial closing of the day was $60.8 million for 29 office condos at 866 United Nations Plaza in Turtle Bay. The Carlyle Group sold the units to Alliance Bernstein.
New to the Market: The highest price for a residential property hitting the market was $14 million for a 2,559-square-foot townhouse at 257 West Fourth Street in the West Village. Paul Kolbusz of Corcoran has the listing. — Matthew Elo