19 June 2022: Opinion - Quitter Cuomo Won't Run, Time for New Yorkers to Let Go

Churchill: Letting go of Andrew Cuomo

Albany Times-Union columnist Chris Churchill reflects while delivering the resigned-in-disgrace Andrew M. Cuomo's political post-mortem:

Cuomo was a larger-than-life presence in this state, this town especially, for more than a decade. He was a tragic figure, ultimately, a man undone by serious faults and failings. He was also, I have to admit, fascinating — a never-ending source of outrage, amusement, gossip, intrigue, fear and awe.

And, then, just like that, he was gone.

Deservedly so, I'll add, given the cascading scandals that led to his resignation. But his absence has required some getting used to. Cuomo was a dark cloud over state government and many of us grew accustomed to the gloom. Sure, the sunshine is nice, but we're like Londoners in July, suspicious of the cheer and conditioned for something else.

That's probably why so many in Albany expected Cuomo to run for governor this year, even though the premise was absurd. Politicians do not resign from office one year and successfully run for the very same office the next year. The world moves on, and quitters get left behind.

Andrew M. Cuomo is a quitter. One who still hasn't been held accountable for the predictable disaster for New York nursing home residents that flowed out from his deadly 25 March 2020 directive. The final pages on his true legacy have yet to be written.