For Immediate Release: May 28, 2025
Media Contact: Lisa Thomas, lisa@alignny.org, (347) 415-6431

ALIGN Statement on Cuomo Minimum Wage Plan:
A Campaign Promise for Poverty Wages

New York, NY – Today, former Governor and New York City mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo released a plan to raise the NYC minimum wage to $20 by 2027. The plan also commissions a study to be completed on January 1, 2027 to inform further increases. 

In response, ALIGN released the following statement: 

“Andrew Cuomo is finally realizing what New York workers have known for years: the minimum wage isn’t cutting it. Cuomo is right that the best way to address affordability is to raise wages, but it was his legislation that led to wages stagnating at $15 for years. This plan to raise the wage is more of the same — not high enough, not fast enough, and not indexed to inflation. New Yorkers deserve better than a campaign promise for poverty wages. With the MIT living wage at more than $30 in all five boroughs, we need real raises that increase with the cost of living to face this affordability crisis head on,” said Tal Frieden, ALIGN Campaign Manager for Raise Up NY.

About ALIGN
ALIGN (The Alliance for a Greater New York) brings together labor, climate, and community organizations for a more just, sustainable New York. Working at the intersection of economic and climate justice, ALIGN builds coalitions with those most impacted and uplifts worker and community voices to fight for dignity in the workplace and a just path to a renewable energy economy for all. Read more about ALIGN’s 2025 Agenda for a Green, Affordable NY

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