The governor and mayor, both Democrats, have feuded for years, and their reluctance to work together closely has become a critical issue during the pandemic. Mr. de Blasio, who needed Mr. Cuomo’s approval to act, pushed out a plan without the state’s blessing, only to have the governor override that plan with one of his own — causing unnecessary confusion for thousands of business owners and school parents.

Restaurants and other businesses were left wondering if they were meant to be open or closed; parents wondered the same about their children’s schools. Tricolor maps set boundaries in the middle of city blocks and public parks. Some rules resembled past restrictions; others were completely new.

For observers of New York politics, the governor’s actions were no surprise. For the last seven years, Mr. Cuomo has overruled Mr. de Blasio again and again, seeing himself as both more capable and constitutionally correct: The city is, after all, a creation of the state, and, as Mr. Cuomo likes to remind people, the governor outranks the mayor.

But that penchant for control over city affairs may have spawned a new set of problems. Mr. Cuomo’s crackdown sparked angry protests, federal lawsuits, and accusations that the governor was castigating Orthodox Jews, whose leaders urged more sensitivity toward a community once cast by Nazis as purveyors of disease.

The protests in Brooklyn even became political fodder for President Trump, whose campaign signs were visible at some of the demonstrations. On Wednesday, the president used Twitter to suggest that the police response was emblematic of the “radical left.” Two days later, Mr. Cuomo accused the Trump campaign of instigating the protests.

Source: New York Times

Powered by NewsAPI.org