A Truly Sad ‘State of the State’

Entering the back half of his third term amid a pandemic he’s badly mishandled, Gov. Cuomo offered a truly sad State of the State Address on Monday, full of empty noise and short on serious new ideas.

“New York is suffering,” he whined, ignoring how much of that suffering is self-inflicted — years of profligate spending and an economy slammed by his lockdown diktats.

He admitted, “We simply cannot stay closed until the vaccine hits critical mass. . . . We must reopen the economy, but we must do it smartly and safely.” About time — start yesterday, please.

His policy proposals were neither grand nor detailed. Ideas for getting more people vaccinated are welcome, but why was New York less prepared to get jabs done fast than the likes of South Dakota and West Virginia?

Surprise: The gov wants to spend big on new infrastructure and transitioning to green energy. That can feed his political operation as donors pay to play, but how is it a wise use of the state’s sparse cash?

A new law to get personal protective equipment made in New York, not China? Better to face the factors that drove away so much manufacturing, such as the high energy costs that Cuomo is making higher still.

New York faces existential problems, starting with a permanent loss of office jobs. But the gov has no answers there, beyond the federal bailout that is his answer to just about everything, no matter the $13 billion for New York government in the latest relief bill.

Cuomo even slapped down calls to trim the state headcount and freeze publicworker wage hikes scheduled pre-pandemic.

Oh, for the Andrew Cuomo of 10 years ago, who upended sacred cows as he brought Albany business as usual to an end. But that end was only temporary; after a decade as governor, Cuomo is just a giant-sized cog in the permanent spending machine.