New York’s Drama Ends in a Whimper   

The year 5781 began with the story of New York state centered firmly on one man — ditto for the year before, and the year before that, and so on, going back to 2010. It was exactly as Andrew Cuomo liked it.

A year ago, Cuomo was at the height of his popularity. His daily Covid conferences had dial-ins from around the world, he won an Emmy for his presentation of pandemic information, and he even snagged a $5.1 million book deal on his “leadership” fighting the pandemic.

But the governor used his powers last Succos for browbeating, declaring the “ultra-Orthodox Jewish community” as a whole “never listened to the rules” and was collectively responsible for the increase in Covid that was eventually recognized as the second wave.

His downfall was as precipitous as his ascent. The first scratch came when Agudath Israel and the Catholics sued him for limiting shul and school attendance, and won in the Supreme Court. Then, a damning report issued by Attorney General Letitia James found that Cuomo’s nursing home policies led to hundreds of death and faulted him for actively covering it up. Then the book deal was in her crosshairs. Then a steady drip of stories out of Cuomo World revealed a hostile environment where work meant pleasing the boss, not the taxpayers.