Assemblyman: Cuomo’s Silence On Marcy Nano Is ‘Disgraceful’

Utica Assemblyman Anthony Brindisi is laying into Governor Cuomo over his continued silence regarding the hold-up with the Marcy Nano project on the SUNY Poly campus.

On Wednesday, Brindisi joined the Keeler in the Morning Show on WIBX to discuss the start of the new legislative session in Albany, and one of Cuomo's initiatives to provide free college educations.

Brindisi offered some support for that idea, but added the 'devil is always in the details with this Governor. He gets the splashy headline but it's never really quite what it seems.'

That last jab was rooted in Cuomo's promises to land a chip-fab manufacturer in Utica and Oneida County, bringing billions in private investment and some 3,000 jobs. That deal that was announced by Cuomo a few years ago, but has fallen through the cracks with the recent news that AMS - one of the two businesses set to invest at the site - had backed out of their commitment citing project delays on behalf of New York State.

Brindisi outlined the efforts he and other local officials made to to get the Governor to act and put the project 'back on course' over the past several months, including that he and Senator Joe Griffo attended the opening of this year's state fair with the intent of getting a moment to speak with Cuomo face to face as they were being stonewalled about delays and concerns with the SUNY Poly campus.

'If he wants to be a leader he needs to be there in the good times and the bad. And, I've also criticized him for not coming here to tell the people of this region that he is going to make this right. He's the one who made the promise...he's not come to the region to say that. It's disgraceful in my opinion that he hasn't. It's easy to be here for the ribbon cuttings and ground breakings, but to be a true leader you've gotta be here for the tough times as well,' Brindisi said.

'It's one quality his father did not have. His father [Mario], whether you liked him or didn't like him, he was always there. He didn't run away from bad stories,' Brindisi said.

Then, when asked if the Utica-area would be on the governor's itinerary in his recently announced plan to tour New York during his annual State of the State Address, Brindisi made clear that he wasn't expecting see Cuomo in his district.

'He won't come here because he's afraid of the reaction he'll get, he's afraid of [the] tough questions that he'll get here if he comes. He's trying to get away from controversy,' Brindisi said.

Later in the interview, Brindisi continued to call on Cuomo spread progress around the entire state saying you can't call it the Empire State when parts of New York continue to struggle.

'If he really intends to run for president in four years...[the] Mohawk Valley, Southern Tier, North Country, that looks like Ohio and Wisconsin and Michigan and all those rust belt states Hillary Clinton just got shellacked in,' Brindisi said, adding that if Cuomo could fix upstate New York it would be good economic evidence to share in parts of the country that are reeling.

Full interview with Assemblyman Anthony Brindisi from Wednesday, January 4, 2017:

check back for full audio