Some Are Starting To Notice What A Child Andrew Cuomo Is

Two pieces on how much Andrew Cuomo seems to be going out of his way to take it to Bill de Blasio on issue after after issue and acting like a schmuck on wheels in the process.

First, Anthony Weiner in the Daily News:

Anyone with political antennae can tell that Cuomo has, frankly, been a bit of a jerk — while de Blasio seems to have remained respectful and deferential in his dealings with the governor. 

There was the time when Cuomo skipped a pre-K funding event to make a surprise appearance at a pro-charter school rally, where he spoke alongside de Blasio foe Eva Moskowitz. 

And the time when he snarkily said, “The answer to a tale of two cities is not to create two states.” 

And the time when he challenged de Blasio’s wife, Chirlane McCray, without mentioning her by name. 

It all starts to smell like unnecessary alpha-male jockeying by the state’s chief executive. 

... 

As someone who has been at the receiving end of more than my share of insider strafing, I can tell you that a lot of energy is being expended within the mayor’s circle on the “How to Handle Andrew” question. 

When you’re the mayor, you can’t just ignore the governor. You have to work with him and his staff, on a daily if not hourly basis. 

The good news is, the cooler head — in this case, de Blasio’s — may prevail. By being calm, measured and disciplined, the mayor is beginning to look like the adult in the partnership. 

He needs to make sure he doesn’t feed the overblown notion, beloved by some in the media, that this is a proxy fight for the soul of the Democratic Party. 

If the governor is acting the way he is because he wants to be seen as the pragmatic wing of the party, the best thing for the mayor to do is to show that progressives know success is defined by getting things done. 

Like that parable of the scorpion who bites the frog as they cross the river together, drowning them both, perhaps this is just a part of the governor’s nature. Let de Blasio prove that it’s part of his to ignore the pain — and keep swimming.

And Michael Powell in the NY Times:

The governor has gone “Lord of the Flies” on the mayor as of late, nearly demanding subservience. Just this week, he administered a slap, suggesting the mayor’s request to excise a few regulatory phrases was akin to asking to alter the wording in Magna Carta. 

How, the governor asked, could the mayor’s people have asked for so much so late in the game? 

Put to the side that the mayor’s people talked with state officials about this for weeks. This is where Albany’s cognitive dissonance kicks in.  

... 

In this case, Mr. de Blasio’s deputy mayor talked about the voucher often with state officials, but may have neglected to do so in person. Or an aide texted when she should have called. Mr. de Blasio played it right. He just apologized for “miscommunication” and reinforced that he really wanted his good friend the governor to help him. 

Our governor understands that to be mercurial is a force multiplier. His aides let it slip Wednesday that Mr. Cuomo was an expert on homelessness, and that he would labor hard to help the mayor. 

So just maybe the governor will produce the language needed to allow the city to spend its own money on a voucher for its most desolate. In Albany, that passes for Merry Christmas.

Two pieces today, one by a prominent former pol who knows petulance and childishness when he sees it because he engaged in it so often himself, another by a prominent Times columnist, both pointing out what a fevered little ego Andrew Cuomo is.

More on this later.