I Saw Andrew Cuomo Walk the Runway at NYFW—So Now You Have to, Too
On Wednesday, the former governor and current loser in New York City's mayoral race walked the runway at a fashion show called "Style Across The Aisle."
This week marks the start of New York Fashion Week. On Wednesday, Nicole Kidman’s daughter modeled an emerald green gown made by Zac Posen to celebrate Starbucks’ new protein beverages; Raising Canes showcased its “Cane’s Varsity Collection” and “Western Ballad” apparel lines with help from Olandria Carthen, Livvy Dunne, and Brooks Nader; and, just a few blocks from the halls of immigration courts crowded with innocents and the inane infantry who forced them there, over 20 local politicians (including former governor Andrew Cuomo) walked in a bipartisan fashion show at the Surrogate’s Courthouse.
Sponsored by Uber, Roc Nation, and Airbnb, “Style Across The Aisle” is about as close as you could get to D.C. in NYC—in that it convened a crowd of 400 people, including elected officials, their staffers, and anyone blind enough to believe bipartisanship isn’t extinct. In this parallel universe, it seems a right-wing activist wasn’t just fatally shot hours earlier, the president isn’t being investigated for his storied friendship with a prolific pedophile and sex-trafficker, and Cuomo isn’t liable for the deaths of thousands of elderly during the pandemic, nor the sexual harassment of his former staff.
The event’s architect is “political personality” Skye Ostreicher, who created the show in 2024. Its purpose? In part, to spotlight burgeoning designers across the five boroughs by putting their creations on the backs of the elected officials who represent them. Proceeds reportedly go to an equally worthy cause: WITNESS, a nonprofit that supports formerly incarcerated individuals through “reentry services, economic empowerment programs, and advocacy for prison reform.” Never mind that at least three of the models in the show (Cuomo, his mayoral race opponent, Curtis Sliwa, and former congresswoman Carolyn Maloney) tout “tough on crime” records that have no doubt contributed to mass incarceration in New York City…
Former governor David Paterson, Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, and former Congresswoman and City Council Members Julie Menin, Joann Ariola, Althea Stevens, Julie Won, and Gail Brewer also walked in the show. Or, in Brewer’s case, crossed her arms repeatedly in a show of protest before stepping right off the runway’s edge. While many wore elevated streetwear or tailored jackets—from council member’s Keith Powers’ cable knit coat by Tod + Tom to Executive Director of the NYC Office of Nightlife Jeffrey Garcia’s – cider puffer—most just opted for some variation of a modest dress or a suit with minor embellishment. On the lapel of “Mr. AI” Westchester County legislator Judah Holstein‘s suit, for example, was an electronic pin that read: “Across the aisle for justice.” If only!
As for the attendees (almost entirely over the age of 30, by the looks of it), almost everyone came in some attempt at business casual, but there were outliers: suits, from sequin to sad, and occasional pops of things that didn’t belong. In the crowd, a distinctly summer strapless gown better fit for a summer barbecue; an entirely see-through lace shirt, best fit for Hell’s Kitchen; and a series of jumpsuits that should only fit on an abandoned sales rack. Oh, and a literal ball gown, worn by a woman who quite literally jumped to her feet when Cuomo (wearing a pretty standard suit) closed the show. Bipartisanship may be all but dead, but Cuomosexuals are still alive and well!
As Cuomo was introduced (only as a former governor, not a mayoral candidate), Ostreicher, who MC’d the show, jested about his recent quip at a fundraiser, where he claimed he was “practicing his runway walk.” Did it show? Not at all. The Prince of Darkness simply smiled, opened his blazer repeatedly (not a novel practice for him, I’m sure), and winked at the press jockeying for a photo at the end of the runway. I know an alleged sexual predator showboating for a captive audience is part and parcel of American politics, but it was (and probably will always be) one of the most haunting scenes I’ve ever witnessed—so much so that a waiter approached me in the shadowed corner I called home for the evening to inform me that I “looked like I needed a drink.”
Meanwhile, the city’s contingent of “far-left politicians” (as the New York Post referred to them), like Cuomo’s opponent, Zohran Mamdani, were not present. Nor was the current mayor, Eric Adams. According to reports from the Post and Page Six, both were asked to participate in the show but declined. Mamdani, according to recent polling, was likely too busy winning the race. As for Adams, well, he’s definitely not negotiating a federal ambassadorship.
