Andrew Cuomo walks New York Fashion Week runway just HOURS after Charlie Kirk’s death

On Wednesday, September 10, the night before New York Fashion Week officially kicked off, an unexpected model was spotted inside the historic New York City’s Surrogate’s Court downtown, right near City Hall. 

Former Governor Andrew Cuomo strutted down the runway at Style Across the Aisle, a bipartisan event that saw more than 30 New York City government officials try modeling.

In fact, some models couldn’t make it to their runway slot because they were in the midst of voting across the street. 

While Cuomo showed off his suit, his New York mayoral race opponents Mayor Eric Adams and State Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani were noticeably missing after both RSVP’d no. 

Cuomo wasn’t the only former governor who walked the runway while music blasted and the packed audience paid $300 per ticket to see politicians from their borough wear designers from their districts. 

The mayoral hopeful was joined by David Patterson, who served as the 55th governor of New York after succeeding Eliot Spitzer following his sex scandal. 

‘The Political Personality’ Skye Ostreicher organized the buzzy event, which was meant to show unity during a time of deep polarization and couldn’t come at a more opportune time, as divisive right wing influencer Charlie Kirk was fatally shot earlier in the day.

Ostreicher said after she heard the news right before the event, which is why she told the crowd, ‘We’re in a time where there’s a ton of political hatred and political violence.’ 

‘I like to think of this as one of the only bipartisan events, and it’s so great to unite over something like fashion, but my hope is that people can recognize the beauty in doing this and that it’s more of a movement, as opposed to just a once a year event,’ Ostreicher told Daily Mail following the sold out fashion show attended by Sex and the City writer Candace Bushnell and Roc Nation execs. 

In the future, she’s ‘open to having more conversations about how to turn this into even bigger of a movement’ and is looking for ‘more opportunities to humanize’ both sides.

‘What I like doing is putting people together in a room, it doesn’t matter if they’re Republican or Democrat, and just identifying what they might have in common,’ Ostreicher said. 

‘Once you can do that, then if you have a more challenging discussion, at least you laid the groundwork in friendship and relationship building before you get to the tougher topics.’

The fashion show was a benefit for the government grant founded program Witness to Mass Incarceration, a nonprofit that helps provide support to formerly incarcerated people, including housing and employment.  

The Witness art of tailoring program trains young adults in fashion, tailoring, merchandising, and business, over a two-year period. 

Two designers from the program dressed models as part of the presentation, including Assemblyman Eddie Gibbs, who’s New York’s first formerly incarcerated state legislator, as well as Councilwoman Julie Won, who wore a traditional Korean look while her designer looked emotional at the end of the runway. 

Curtis Sliwa, Cuomo’s competitor in the upcoming election, was in the audience in his signature red beret, although he did not model.  

Ostreicher’s rule for the show is that ‘you have to either be currently or formerly elected or publicly appointed,’ which is why famed vigilante Sliwa was on the invite list but didn’t take the catwalk by storm. 

While the fashion show was meant to bring people together, there was still political shade thrown.  

Adams hosted last year’s inaugural event at Gracie Mansion but after not attending his rep told The New York Post, ‘There is no one who more defines the word fashion in government — from his walk to his talk — than the Mayor.

They continued: ‘There are some elected officials who still wear suits from the 1970s. As Cuomo walks the catwalk at this event, Mayor Adams will be hosting town hall meetings in the five boroughs.’