Cuomo was born in Queens, New York, to a family of Italian-American origin and is the eldest son of Mario Cuomo, and Matilda Raffa, daughter of Charlie Raffa. He is the older brother of ABC News journalist Chris Cuomo.
Cuomo graduated from Saint Gerard's School in 1971 and Archbishop Molloy High School in 1975. He graduated from Fordham University in 1979, and Albany Law School in 1982. A member of the Democratic Party, Cuomo was a top aide to his father during his 1982 campaign for Governor. He then joined the Governor's staff as one of his father's top policy advisors, earning $1 a year.
On July 23, 2007, Cuomo's office admonished the Spitzer administration for ordering the State Police to keep special records of then-Senate majority leader Joseph L. Bruno's whereabouts when he traveled with police escorts in New York City. At the direction of top officials of the Spitzer administration, the New York State Police created documents meant to cause political damage to Bruno. The governor's staff had stated that they were responding to a Freedom of Information request from the Albany Times-Union in late June. A scathing 57-page report issued by the Attorney General's office concluded that Spitzer's aides did not simply produce records, as the state Freedom of Information Law requires, but were instead engaged in planning and producing media coverage concerning Senator Bruno's travel on state aircraft before any FOIL request was made. The investigation looked into both Bruno's travel and the Senate leader's allegation that Spitzer used State Police to spy on him. A year-long investigation and a 57-page report was drawn up by AG Cuomo's office and leaked by Democratic State operatives (though not tied to AG Cuomo's office) to the Spitzer Group that has since been charged with numerous felonies involving illegal use of state positions and resources, to smear Senator Bruno, one of New York State's "three men in a room". It also suggests that the governor's staff lied when they tried to explain what they had done and forced the State Police to go far beyond their normal procedures in documenting Mr. Bruno's whereabouts.
In 2007, Cuomo has been active in a high-profile investigation into lending practices and anti-competitive relationships between student lenders and universities. Specifically, many universities steered student borrowers to a "preferred lender," which resulted in the borrowers incurring higher interest rates. This has led to changes in lending policy at many major American universities. Many universities have also rebated millions of dollars in fees back to affected borrowers.
On June 10, 2008, Cuomo announced that three major Internet service providers (Verizon Communications, Time Warner Cable, and Sprint) would "shut down major sources of online child pornography" by no longer hosting many Usenet groups. Time Warner Cable ceased offering Usenet altogether, Sprint no longer provides access to the alt.* hierarchy, and Verizon limiting its Usenet offerings to the Big 8. The moves came after Cuomo's office located 88 different newsgroups that contained child pornography.
Cuomo was lauded for his efforts to pass same-sex marriage legislation. One prominent same-sex marriage advocate stated that “for gay Americans, Mr. Cuomo was “the only national politician with hero status. In the fall of 2011, Governor Cuomo made a speech calling for all states to legalize same-sex marriage; Cuomo stated that “We need marriage equality in every state in this nation… Otherwise, no state really has marriage equality, and we will not rest until it is a reality. Following the passage of the Marriage Equality Act, Governor Cuomo was criticized for describing the viewpoints of same-sex marriage opponents as being “anti-American. On July 25, 2011, a lawsuit was filed in the New York Supreme Court seeking an injunction against the Marriage Equality Act, alleging corruption and violations of the law in the process of passing the bill. The trial court held that the plaintiffs' case could proceed, stating that “clear arm-twisting by the Executive on the Legislative permeated the entire process” by which the same-sex marriage law was passed.
On July 16, 2011, Cuomo finalized a five-year deal with the Public Employees Federation to end pay raises, implement furlough days, and require additional contributions to health insurance accounts.
Governor Cuomo received accolades for his 2011 restructuring of the New York State tax code. Cuomo also received criticism for including tax increases for high earners, and for allegedly requesting a unanimous Assembly vote in favor of the proposal and threatening to campaign against Assemblymembers who voted "no" -- a charge Cuomo denied. Cuomo also received criticism from voices on the left who felt that the Governor's tax reform was not far-reaching enough.
In an interview with The New York Times, Cuomo stated his top goal in 2012 is the reduction of public employee pensions.
Cuomo was married to Kerry Kennedy, the seventh child of Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Skakel Kennedy, for 13 years. They have three children: Cara, Michaela and Mariah. The two separated in 2003 and divorced in 2005. As of 2011, Cuomo resided with his girlfriend, Food Network host Sandra Lee.
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