Report: Cuomo's air travel costs NY taxpayers

ALBANY -- New York's ethics board said yesterday that state taxpayers must continue to pay when Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo uses state helicopters to commute to and from his Westchester County home.

The opinion by the Joint Commission on Public Integrity says, however, that Cuomo would have to reimburse the state if he uses aircraft to commute daily, or if he uses even part of the trip to attend a political fundraiser. Cuomo has said he doesn't use state aircraft to or from fundraisers and won't use aircraft for daily commuting.

The report released yesterday by the Joint Commission on Public Integrity states the cost of a state police drive to and from Westchester is about $50. The cost of a charter flight is more than $1,000 each way.

Cuomo had no immediate comment on the report.

The Associated Press reported in August 2011 that Cuomo started or finished more than a dozen trips to Albany, New York City and other cities statewide in his first months in office, along with some trips only between Albany and Westchester, according to records obtained through the state Freedom of Information Law. State records show that Cuomo continues to use state aircraft in trips to and from his house. State aircraft must then take a "dead head" flight from the Westchester airport to Albany, where it must be stored when not in flight.

Yesterday, the Cuomo administration said it has never reimbursed the state for dozens of commutes to and from his home. Cuomo doesn't live full time in the governor's mansion in Albany; he shares a Westchester home with his girlfriend, food TV star Sandra Lee, and Cuomo's daughters. He has offices in Albany and Manhattan.