If anyone has been following New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's news conferences, particularly as they've begun again with the spike in Corona-19 virus cases, then you will probably soon see the latest outtake from a news conference today turned into yet another comedic gem by Maria DeCotis. My guess is she's dropped everything, like repainting her apartment, put the roller and brush down and headed for the video equipment in the bedroom. She's working on it, guys.
Maria DeCotis has been at least all over the New York news for her pitch-perfect lip syncing of the guv's news conferences. Merely lip synching is not enough. The joy is in her gestures and clothes as she imitates New York's very own Prince Andrew.
Maria has already been written about in these postings, and now I'm anticipating yet another 30-second rendition of the governor's mannerisms as she absorbs and relays the latest utterances from Albany.
In the space of perhaps 24 hours, Governor Cuomo has reestablished restrictions of movement and gatherings in New York State for bars, restaurants and gyms. Ten P.M. has been set as the hour at which the virus has to recognize the curfew on its potency and send everyone to bed safe and sound to rise yet another day and possibly transmit. This is the only virus that comes with its own Eveready batteries that can set the alarm clock to go into snooze mode.
In addition to the resuscitated pronouncements from the Mount, is the guv's mandate that Thanksgiving dinners should be limited to 10 people. Enforceable? What's your point?
In today's NYT there is a large two-column story, reported by Michael Gold that surveys the various law enforcement agencies in the state as to how they intend to enforce the governor's edict when it's dinnertime on the fourth Thursday in November.
As quaint as it sounds, once you get outside NYC you encounter law enforcement agencies run by the State Police and by a Sheriff's office. The article gets the responses from many sheriff jurisdictions about how they might be going to enforce the governor's latest health warning about the size of gatherings.
They're not.
The sheriff of Renesslaer County (alongside Albany County; think the city of Troy) thinks the governor's executive order is unconstitutional. A sheriff in the Southern Tier of the state (think Binghamton) said that entering residents' homes "to see how many Turkey or Tofu eaters are present is not a priority."
New York's guv is gruff and is not someone you would want to ever have a fender bender with. The potential for road rage coming from the man is not to be taken lightly. There is an outtake from a news conference that was held just a few hours ago that no doubt will serve to reveal all aspects of his personality. He can be difficult.
An announcement was made this afternoon that the New York City schools would close since a Covid metric has hit 3%, the line in the sand that has been defined as the one that if crossed will mean a cascading number of hospital admissions are now in the disease's pipeline, coming to overwhelm a hospital near you very soon. Plan ahead.
The governor was recently asked as part of his Zoom interview with Stephen Colbert about his book, "American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the Covid-19 Pandemic." With a title like that you might expect someone else to have compiled a list of worthy examples.
The guv obviously is confident that he alone is capable of describing what those "Leadership Lessons" are and that they are all about him. Usually a politician produces their own puff piece prior to announcing a run for higher office, but the guv is planning ahead. Way ahead.
Toward the end of the Colbert interview, so riotiously captured by Ms. DeCotis, the guv is asked about the "boyfriend" who was living with them in the governor's Albany mansion.
Quick back story, one of the guv's three daughters. Cara, was seeing a state trooper who was assigned to the governor's security detail. By all accounts she still is, but the boyfriend has been reassigned to another barracks.
Colbert asked the governor if "the boyfriend was still living with you?" Prince Andrew (or King Cuomo) paused, and replied that, "let's just say, the boyfriend is no longer with us—here."
This piece of news touches off an animated response from Colbert who suggests "dragging the lake." The guv is beside himself with his laughter, inasmuch as "no longer with us—here," really means Trooper Dane Pfeiffer is now wearing thermal underwear, having been assigned to the state's northernmost eastern corner, Plattsburgh, hard by the Canadian border. They may have already had snow up there.
The boyfriend Dane might well have been banished from the Albany Eden in anticipation of the 10 person rule set out for Thanksgiving dinner. The Governor, as mentioned, as three daughters, and three daughters, three dates and perhaps other friends might have put the Albany groaning board over 10. Cara might abstain and head upstate. The herd must be thinned.
Reporters and politicians can understandably get on each other's nerves. All questions are not great ones, and all responses do not show patience in answering. This afternoon's exchange between a reporter and the guv over what the reporter characterized as "confused parents" over school closings was rebuffed vigorously by the governor as something that the reporter doesn't understand, "no, you're confused."
The 30-second reply by the governor is straight out of an audition for James Gandolfini to play Tony Soprano. Of course "The Sopranos" is over as a series, and Gandolfini has passed away, but not the character Tony. My oldest daughter refers to our guv as Mussolini.
If you ever wanted to know what dialog in an Italian social club would look like in sign language, all you have to do is stare over at the fellow doing the sign language in the box to the right.
I'm not confused. I understand every word. Like the guv, I grew up in Queens too.
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