A fundraiser event for New York City mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo was notable for the high amount of powerful women who attended.

Last Friday (March 7), former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo received a big boost for his mayoral campaign, thanks to a breakfast fundraising event that counted over 250 notable women in different fields in the audience. The fundraiser was held at 425 Park Avenue in Manhattan. Those who wished to attend were required to pay $250 for an individual ticket, with supporters chipping in $2,100 and chairpersons required to pay out $10,000. “Once a small group started talking about this event, it took off. We’re now having to turn people away,” a source close to the organizing group said.

Cuomo spoke to everyone in attendance, according to reports. There was even a surprise appearance by Brooklyn Assemblywoman Latrice Walker, who gave her endorsement of Cuomo for mayor. Her endorsement, along with that of former City Comptroller Carl H. McCall and Bronx Congressman Ritchie Torres represents striking early political support from some representing the city’s Black and Brown communities.

The attendees included Cuomo’s family – his mother, Matilda Raffa Cuomo, sister Maria Cuomo Cole, sister-in-law Cristina Greeven Cuomo as well as his daughters Cara, Mariah, and Michaela. Other attendees included Tribeca Enterprises co-founder Jane Rosenthal, Renee Rockefeller, Margie Loeb, Tanya Zuckerbrot, Jen Bayer, Simone Levinson, Judith Hope, Fern Mallis, Jennifer Gilbert, Harriet Schleifer, and former Nassau County Executive Laura Curran. Activist Patricia Duff, Serena Roosevelt, Melissa DeRosa, and Second Shift co-founder Jenny Galluzzo rounded out the notable personas in the audience.

Cuomo’s fundraiser marks a significant increase in his public appearances since he declared that he would run in the Democratic primary for mayor last week, reminding people of his achievements as governor. His opponents in the primary, including state Assembly member Zohran Mamdani and New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, have attacked him on his having to step down as governor due to numerous allegations of sexual harassment in 2021. A recently released poll from Gotham Polling & Analytics favors a Cuomo win in ranked-choice voting, with him beating out Lander and Mamdani at 51% to 31% and 18%, respectively.