During his sorry/not sorry press conference last week, Gov. Cuomo made a sudden detour to throw mud at Mayor de Blasio. Answering a question about his ability to do his job, the governor veered off course to say the city is “teetering” because of rising crime and homelessness.
“We have to get New York City functional again and safe again and viable again — and we have to do that quickly,” Cuomo said.
To some, the attack was gratuitous and off topic. Cuomo is fighting for survival and stops to slap a sparring partner. Why bother?
The answer becomes more obvious each day. The heart of Cuomo’s defense against growing calls for his resignation is that New Yorkers should be careful what they wish for, lest the whole state end up in turmoil like the city’s.
It was his way of saying, Après moi, le déluge. After me, the flood.
For many New Yorkers, that argument has been a powerful one, and it is not incidental that those leading the charge for Cuomo to be impeached or resign are mostly Republicans or far-left Democrats.