A former, and possibly future, opponent of Gov. Andrew Cuomo says things are beginning to unravel and he's creating diversions to distract voters.

Rob Astorino (Photo Credit: Bob Joseph, WNBF / Townsquare Media)
Rob Astorino (Photo Credit: Bob Joseph, WNBF / Townsquare Media)
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Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino joined the Keeler in the Morning Show on Monday to talk about why New York, and specifically upstate are 'floundering', and Cuomo's recent proposal to provide free college education to students who meet certain economic criteria.

'A few years ago, in 2014, when I criticized the nano project I got heavily, heavily attacked for that' Astorino said who referenced the Utica Nanocenter project and the Buffal Billions.

'My criticism was not that we were going to have jobs created - we need that, we need that everywhere - my criticism was how everything was being put together in the state because it's false. It's based on sand, and not on concrete and it's all starting to collapse everywhere.  Look at [Cuomo's] new proposal; let's pay people to live in upstate New York. Well, how about you just fix the problems and people will live there because they want to live there. Or, free college tuition. There's nothing free about college tuition, someone pays for it. And, you know who pays for it?...all the time, it's the middle class', Astorino said.

Lieutenant Governor Hochul Breaks Ground On SUNY Polytechnic State-of-the-Art Chip Fab in Marcy
P.W. Creighton/TSM
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Several state officials have been charged with corruption for alleged bid rigging in the Buffalo Billions effort. Meanwhile, the Utica Nano initiative seems to have been put on hold prompting one of the private investors, AMS, to announce is no longer intended to bring jobs and investment on the Marcy campus of SUNY Poly.

Astorino was the GOP candidate for governor and was defeated by Cuomo in the 2014 election. While he is critical of the governor's handling of state issues, Astorino would only commit that he is seeking re-election for his county executive post this year. The 49-year-old Republican said he'd wait to see what the 'landscape' looked like regarding a potential second bid for New York governor in 2018. Cuomo, who is rumored to be considering a bid for president in 2020, has said he plans to run for re-election as governor in 2018.

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