Andrew Cuomo is luxury-boat shopping — after earning $5.1 million in a COVID-19 book deal hammered out amid a stunning wave of daily virus deaths at nursing homes and adult-care facilities.
New York’s scandal-scarred ex-governor, who was busy writing about the pandemic while he was supposed to be fighting it in 2020 — was filmed jauntily browsing pricey powerboats in Manhattan last week, footage posted on his YouTube channel showed.
The 65-year-old pol is seen checking out the New York Boat Show at the Javits Center while fawning over the expensive water toys with money earned on on the backs of dying New Yorkers.
Nattily dressed in a black suit, Cuomo is shown hamming it up while jazzy, upbeat music plays in the background.
“1,200 horse power,” he crows in the video, posted Jan. 26, while gesturing toward a powerful boat engine.
Cuomo then points to a high-priced boat built in upstate New York, declaring local brands really float his boat.
Andrew Cuomo went browsing for high-priced vessels at the New York Boat Show. @GovAndrewCuomo56/YouTube“Steiger Craft. Made in New York. So what’s my favorite? Steigher craft,” he says with a grin, the footage shows.
Cuomo — who allegedly enlisted staffers to work on his self-congratulatory pandemic memoir as roughly 1,000 New Yorkers were dying daily from the virus — appeared to know the ropes at the boat show, which attracts the super-rich and other big spenders.
“If you’re wondering what to get me for Christmas this is it, in this color,” Cuomo says while pointing to another gleaming vessel.
He didn’t end up buying anything, according to a source, who said the former governor used to attend the boat show every year.
Early in the pandemic, Cuomo won a lucrative $5.12 million deal to write the memoir despite his controversial directive for nursing homes to accept COVID patients— resulting in the deaths of thousands of New Yorkers.
Cuomo made big bucks on his controversial pandemic book deal. @GovAndrewCuomo56/YouTube“American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic” was released in October 2020 as the public health crisis raged.
The boat-loving pol later found himself up a creek without a paddle when he was hit with a barrage of sexual harassment allegations, leading to his resignation in August 2021. He has denied the allegations.
He has denied the allegations.
“The Governor oversaw the expansion of the Javits Center into a modern world class convention space and has supported and attended the boat show – itself a major economic driver for the city – for many years. He was glad to attend and see for himself how the new improvements are helping to make shows like this bigger and better,” spokesman Rich Azzopardi told The Post in a statement.
