Michael Goodwin: Cuomo greenlit progressive nonsense and royally fumbled COVID but still refuses to admit he helped destroy NYC
For months I’ve doubted the poll-driven story line that Andrew Cuomo is unbeatable in the Democrats’ mayoral primary.Despite his consistent lead of 20 or more points over a large field, I believed Cuomo’s enormous Albany baggage would be a burden and as more voters paid attention, he would be vulnerable to younger, fresher opponents. His weak performance Monday convinced me the day of reckoning is growing closer. It’s an understatement to say the former governor’s meeting with Post editors and reporters did not go well.
He appeared to sense as much about halfway through the two-hour slug-athon as his shoulders sagged and his customary combativeness grew perfunctory. The toughest questioning focused on his nearly 11-year run as governor and his repeated portrayal of himself as a lone, courageous moderate against the emerging socialist wing of his party. But his resistance, such as it was, only went so far.His signature is on a wide range of legislation destroying the city and state. From crime and disorder to radical climate policies, from rotten schools to congestion pricing, Cuomo gave the green light to a mountain of progressive nonsense. “A governor is not a dictator,” he said in a weak defense.
“I always made the best deal I could.” It’s part of his routine, that politics is a dirty game even as he spends a lifetime being the son of a politician and one himself. The problem in Albany, he insisted repeatedly, is that socialist Dems “intimidated” moderate lawmakers, which allowed the far left to set the agenda. Because Republicans are a toothless minority, and because Gov.Hochul has surrendered to the same radical madness, the entire state is suffering through a long losing streak. To be fair, Cuomo had real achievements.
He focused on infrastructure, and is proud of the new La Guardia Airport, the Moynihan Train Hall at Penn Station and the new Tappan Zee Bridge, which he named the Mario M.Cuomo Bridge after his father,...