While there was plenty of fun to be had at Gov. Andrew Cuomo's annual Adirondack whitewater rafting trip Thursday, there was at least one nagging political question that went unanswered. Statehouse Reporter Zack Fink explains.

It may be three men in a room who run Albany, but on Thursday it was just two of them floating down the Delaware River.

Cuomo led a bipartisan whitewater rafting trip and was joined by Republican Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan.

But a spokesman for Democratic Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said he couldn't make it.

In years past, Cuomo has made it a point to be joined by both leaders of the legislature as he rafts in the Adirondacks.

This year, Cuomo opted to highlight an area farther south: the Catskills.

"The past 20 or 30 years, it's basically been overlooked," Cuomo said. "And we want to reintroduce New Yorkers to the Catskills."

Also billed as a team-building exercise, Cuomo was joined by state lawmakers from across the state, and even two city council members who lotioned up ahead of hitting the water.

Tourism in New York State accounts for roughly $62 billion in economic activity each year. A billion of that is in the Catskills region.

While tourism was up by about 11 percent from last year, the governor's office feels it can do better.

"New York City, it's oriented east and west. People go out to the Hamptons, they will go to the Poconos, they will go to Pennsylvania," Cuomo said. "We want them to think north."

Earlier in the day, Cuomo was joined by actor Robert De Niro, who paid tribute to the old Borscht Belt Comedians who used to perform at Catskill resorts in a past era.

The actor paid tribute to the region's very old jokes.

"Do you know what it means to come home at night to a woman who'll give you a little love, a little affection, little tenderness? It means you are in the wrong house," De Niro said.

"A girl phoned me the other day and said, 'Come on over, there is nobody home.' I went over. Nobody was home."

Cuomo also toured the Woodstock Museum at nearby Bethel Woods, which exhibits the famous 1969 concert held there that came to define an era for the baby boomer generation.

Cuomo says the Catskills can become a destination once again.

"I remember as a kid, when my father was campaigning for mayor…in the 1970s, when the politicians in New York City would come up and campaign in Kutcher's and the Concord, etc. Because half of Brooklyn and half of Queens and The Bronx all went to these resorts," Cuomo said.