Pols infected with bickering
Gov & Blaz fight over who rules on virus
The endless bickering between Gov. Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio entered its latest round on Thursday, with Hizzoner dismissing the governor’s threat to cut funding for the city as “bluster” and the governor scoffing at de Blasio’s predictions of when restrictions in COVID hotspots will ease up.
“I’m very used to bluster from Washington and from Albany,” the mayor said at a press conference. “I understand bluster when I see it. But here we have a job to do.”
He said thousands of city workers spreading information and enforcing COVID rules “deserve respect.”
“I am deeply concerned that there is a threat here of a second wave. My job is to stop that second wave, not to play games,” de Blasio said.
“That’s what all levels of government should be talking about together — together,” he added. “Not using wordplay but actually supporting each other to get this work done.”
Taking a page from President Trump’s playbook,
Cuomo on Wednesday threatened to “impound” an unspecified amount of state funding from the city if it doesn’t get an alarming surge of cases under control. He voiced frustration over yeshivas that have remained open in spite of a shutdown order.
De Blasio said Thursday that the outbreak in parts of Brooklyn and Queens is “plateauing.” City workers have issued 288 summonses for breaking rules on mask wearing and holding large gatherings, 25 of them since Wednesday, he added.
Hizzoner said authorities should know by Sunday whether restrictions including the closure of schools and nonessential businesses along with limits on religious gatherings can be lifted. Speaking in Albany, Cuomo scoffed at the suggestion, saying, “It’s too early to tell.”
“We need to stop playing this game where local officials speak about things they have no authority over and then confuse people,” he said during a call with reporters. “It’s a total state decision.”
He also repeated criticism that local governments haven’t done enough to enforce COVID rules, though he didn’t mention the Big Apple or de Blasio by name.
“Some of them have not enforced the rules for months and that’s the shock to some of these communities and that I find inexplicable at this point,” Cuomo fumed.
Nevertheless, since the city and state reintroduced some lockdown measures in areas deemed “red zones” earlier this month, the COVID infection rate appears to have gone down.
The latest rate for Brooklyn areas so far this week is 5.47% and for Queens zones, 2.64%, according to Cuomo.