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Astorino Names Three 'Major' Cuomo 'Fake News' Stories In Tarrytown Speech

TARRYTOWN, N.Y. -- Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino said 2017 has begun with plenty of "fake news coming out of Albany" as outlined in this week's State of the State speeches by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino speaks to a guest at Thursday's annual breakfast of the Westchester County Association in Tarrytown.

Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino speaks to a guest at Thursday's annual breakfast of the Westchester County Association in Tarrytown.

Photo Credit: Jon Craig
Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino speaks to news reporters before Thursday's annual breakfast of the Westchester County Association in Tarrytown.

Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino speaks to news reporters before Thursday's annual breakfast of the Westchester County Association in Tarrytown.

Photo Credit: Jon Craig

During his eighth annual speech to the Westchester County Association on Thursday morning at the Westchester Marriott, Astorino said, "Our first breakfast was way back in 2010; the good old days when hacking meant a bad cough, Hillary Clinton's server was a waiter with a tray, and a Russian leak was something you did after a few vodkas, on your way to catch a train." 

Astorino, a Republican who lost a challenge to Cuomo in 2014, blasted the governor on Tuesday, as reported here by Daily Voice, for "shameless" promises and a secret deal to close the Indian Point nuclear reactors by 2021 as reported here.

The county executive said there have been three major "fake news" announcements made by Cuomo this year:

  • Free college tuition. "We all know somebody has to pay, and it is us."
  • Cutting costs "by holding Soviet-style referendums in our local communities. . . . The Governor is demanding that I herd elected officials into a room, make them come up with a plan to reduce services, and then force residents to keep voting on the plan until they pass it."
  • Closing Indian Point "won't hurt the local surrounding communities, Westchester County and New York City. . . .Can we withstand the continuous assault by government on business?"

"We need to pull together as a county to work our way out of this mess," Astorino told hundreds of business leaders and elected officials at the Westchester Marriott in Tarrytown.

Astorino cited Wegmans' recent announcement that it will spend $30 million to build a new supermarket -- the first in Westchester, near I-287 as great news in 2017, while thanking Harrison Mayor Ron Belmont for helping attract the grocery giant.

Astorino also revealed he talked to President-elect Donald Trump before and after the election about the county's longstanding legal case over affordable housing with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. 

"I am very optimistic that local control of zoning will be preserved and that we have won this years-long battle," Astorino said. 

"He will be a friend to us,'' Astorino said of Trump. 

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