Memo to Gov. Cuomo: call former Mayor David Dinkins.
In a startling move, Dinkins — New York City’s first black mayor — will not say whether he’s supporting his fellow Democrat’s re-election bid.
“I haven’t taken a position one way or the other. I’m not in politics anymore. I’m a statesman. We’ll see as time passes,” Dinkins told The Post at at The Black Institute fund-raiser Thursday night.
“I have not yet had an opportunity to speak to the governor. I am confident we will get to talk.”
The fact that Dinkins would not automatically embrace Cuomo’s re-election bid is sure to raise eyebrows in political circles.
Cuomo, though riding high in the polls, is navigating tensions within his left-liberal base base, particularly over whether he will get the nod of the Working Families Party.
Cuomo gets plaudits from the left for passing New York’s gay marriage law and other social issues But some progressive activists complain he has tilted too far to the right on fiscal issues, such as tax cuts for the wealthy.
Dinkins said he’s fond of the labor union-backed Working Families Party, and was curious to see what they will do in the governor’s race.
Dinkins, 86, made history when he was elected mayor in 1989, narrowly defeating Rudy Giuliani. But Giuliani won the rematch in a 1993 amid concerns over crime.
Dinkins did say he respects Cuomo, and pointedly noted that the governor honored him during a Black and Puerto Rican Caucus ceremony last year.
At the Black Institute event, entertainer and civil rights icon Harry Belafonte brushed off questions about the governor’s race.
“The governor’s race? There’s an election?,” the “King of Calypso” said playfully.
Who are you supporting?
“Me,” Belafonte quipped.