18 July 2021: Editorial - Cuomo's Covid Victory Lap, Scandals Undermine Gun Violence Actions

Cuomo’s unending Covid victory lap undercuts his actions on gun violence

The Advance Media NY Editorial Board would like to support Andrew M. Cuomo's recent executive actions intended to affect gun violence. But even they recognize a problem in the context in which those actions have been made:

Is this gun violence effort just more Albany window-dressing? We’ll wait to see if these initiatives have any impact here and around the state. Let’s agree that the recent outburst of violent crime is more complicated than any of Cuomo’s detractors acknowledge, and that there is no easy fix.

Nevertheless, Cuomo’s never-ending victory lap on Covid leaves a sour taste.

More than 43,000 New Yorkers (and perhaps as many as 54,000) dead of Covid is hardly worth bragging about. Neither are the scandals emanating from the governor’s pandemic response, from the hidden toll of nursing home deaths, to preferential testing for family and friends, to a $5 million payday from a Covid leadership memoir.

With all that baggage, it’s hard to take Cuomo seriously — and hard not to be cynical — when he compares Covid to anything. That’s a cross the governor will have to bear for the rest of his time in office. Enough with words. Let’s see results.

Shouldn't accountability be among the editors' demands of Governor Cuomo?