Astorino: 'Things Need to Change in Albany'

Westchester County Executive Robert Astorino addressed the statements he made to a New York Post reporter earlier this week indicating that he is considering a run against Gov. Andrew Cuomo in 2014.

But he gave no sign which way he is leaning in terms of the decision-making process.

“I answered the question to Fred Dicker and the New York Post in honest way and I have said that anytime I’ve been asked, that I would always consider it,” Astorino said Friday, following his budget presentation. “But I had a campaign to run, a tough campaign, this whole year and, you know, I think the speculation has been increased, certainly, because of the way we won.”

Astorino said he loved what he was doing as county executive, not just in terms of dealing with the budget, but in his dealings with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the affordable housing settlement.

“We’ve been dealing with a lot for the last four years and I think, because of the size of the county and what we’ve been able to do budget wise, it’s been seen as a little bit of laboratory for what could be for other counties throughout the state,” Astorino said. “The voice that I have as county executive in a large county is one that I will use.”

Astorino pointed to his budget proposal and the unfunded mandates from the state that are driving up many of the costs as a reason for why he believes there needs to be change in Albany.

“They affect everybody,” Astorino said. “Anyone that I talk to in this state, Democrat and Republican, it’s the same conversation that we’re having pointed towards Albany and their inaction—you ask any school superintendent, any teacher, any parent—it’s the same.”

When asked by a reporter which politician he would compare himself to, Astorino jokingly responded by saying a thin Chris Christie, the Republican governor of New Jersey.

“I mean that in all due respect, because I think what he’s done in New Jersey has been fantastic,” Astorino said. “He’s battled the same type of things on a bigger level and he did it on bipartisan way and the state of New Jersey is better for it.”

Astorino also pointed to the work that’s being done by Democrat Gina Raimondo, the general treasurer of Rhode Island.