Cuomo’s mighty pen

Andrew Cuomo has been governor of New York for six years, one month and 13 days. Over that time, he has issued more than a thousand vetoes of bills passed by the Legislature. But the 213 legislators have never once, in all that time, mustered the two-thirds majorities in the Senate and Assembly needed to override him.

That record could change this week when a bill to delay a City Council law that compels retailers in the five boroughs to charge a customers a nickel for each plastic or paper bag arrives on his desk. Lawmakers promise to override a veto, and have the numbers to do it.

Cuomo should get out his pen, stare down the veto override threat and kill the bill anyway.

The Legislature’s galling bigfooting of the City Council demands a strong gubernatorial statement of principle.

Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan and his Republicans retain power thanks only to Brooklyn switch hitter Simcha Felder. And Felder doesn’t like the bag fee. So Flanagan is happy to assist Felder in breaching home rule and overruling the Council.

In the other chamber, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, safe with his fat Democratic majority, attends with care to the whims of his fellow Dems, most of whom hail from the city. Like Felder, a lot of them don’t like the bag fee.

Tough. If Albany pols don’t like local ordinances, they should run for City Council.

The bag-fee moratorium bill stinks. It only applies to the city, despite the fact that, of the 57 counties outside the five boroughs, the most populous, Suffolk, has passed an identical plastic and paper bag fee. Albany hasn’t said boo about that.

The hypocrisy is written right into the legislation, in the formal justification attached to the bill: “A more thorough examination of the current situation is needed in order to investigate all potential impacts and possible alternative approaches and to allow for public input.”

The Council went through two years of thorough examination and public input, which Albany undid in a few days.

Cuomo must not back down. He must veto the Legislature’s blatant overreach, then work like hell to sustain his veto — even as the Senate and Assembly embarrass themselves.