Source: Politics<\/p>\n
The bolts are giving way for New York governor Andrew Cuomo \u2014 literally. \u201cLarge numbers of bolts\u201d pinning together the girders of the Mario Cuomo Bridge across the Hudson River \u2014 the longest bridge in New York State \u2014 have \u201cbeen breaking due to either improper installation techniques, manufacturing defects, or both,\u201d according to a recent investigation by the Albany Times Union<\/i><\/a>, which <\/i>revealed potential fraud by contractors, abetted by less-than-vigorous state investigations.<\/p>\n The bridge, which was just completed in 2017 at a cost of almost $4 billion, was supposed to be the crown jewel of an infrastructure record the governor extols at every opportunity. It was Cuomo who named it after his late father, and even drove the ceremonial first car across it \u2014 a 1932 Packard once used by Franklin D. Roosevelt. Now, every other bolt<\/i> could be in danger of snapping, which could make the whole span so unsafe that it needs to be rebuilt.<\/p>\n For mere mortals, the case of the bolting bolts could seriously threaten a political career \u2014 particularly coming, as it does, hard on the heels of accusations of sexual harassment made against Cuomo by multiple women, and charges that his administration covered up<\/a> thousands of Covid-19 nursing home deaths. Cuomo has denied wrongdoing, but nearly every major elected politician in New York \u2014 Democratic as well as Republican <\/a>\u2014 has called for him to resign.<\/p>\n And yet, it is far from clear that any of this will bring down Unaccountable Andy. Recent<\/a> polls<\/a> show that Cuomo\u2019s constituents largely still have his back: Half of New York\u2019s voters want him to stay in office, while smaller shares say it\u2019s time for him to go. Democrats are even more supportive, with roughly two-thirds saying he shouldn\u2019t resign.<\/p>\n This is all the more confounding when you consider how consistently Cuomo has governed New York against the expressed wishes of his own party, particularly its ascendant progressive wing and its most vocal advocates in New York City \u2014 from the billions in public subsidies he offered to Jeff Bezos in an effort to lure an Amazon headquarters to Queens, to his resistance to raising taxes on the state\u2019s wealthiest residents. Some of the governor\u2019s advisers in Albany have close family ties<\/a> to powerful state lobbyists, or close political ties to the Republican Party<\/a>. For years, his closest supporters in the state legislature were a caucus of conservative, ethically challenged Democrats. And for all that he revels in playing the man in charge, when faced with a collapsing subway system<\/a> in New York City and damaged rail tunnels<\/a> under the Hudson River, Cuomo has claimed, dubiously, to have little or no authority.<\/p>\n So, what is it that nonetheless keeps Cuomo the Lesser popular among his constituents? The answer seems to be partly his unflagging control of the political narrative, as well as a Praetorian Guard of powerful special interests he has cultivated over the years. But there is something deeper too: the inclination of voters here to value toughness \u2014 or more accurately, rampant, ceaseless aggression \u2014 over everything, despite a history that shows you don\u2019t need to be a jerk to be a good governor of New York.<\/p>\n Andrew Cuomo has always displayed a bulldog-like tenacity in shaping the story he wants to tell. In campaign season and out, New Yorkers are bombarded with television ads telling us what great things Cuomo is doing. It is this relentless messaging that reportedly accounts for some of the \u201ctoxic<\/a>\u201d and \u201chostile<\/a>\u201d work environment in his office \u2014 the frenzied pace, the aides hauled back<\/a> from vacations and children\u2019s birthday parties even to transcribe television interviews, wearing themselves out not in the service of the people but in burnishing the image of Dear Leader.<\/p>\n When things go bad, there is always some sleight of hand to distract us. By no possible measure has New York\u2019s response to the pandemic been a good one. The state has suffered the second highest rate of Covid deaths<\/a> in the country. Yet Cuomo\u2019s daily press briefings on the virus last year resulted in nationwide accolades, along with a book contract<\/a> and an Emmy Award<\/a>. (\u201cThe first Emmy ever for controlling the narrative,\u201d as longtime Cuomo critic John Kaehny, the executive director of the public watchdog group Reinvent Albany, put it to me.) \u201cWhy We Are Crushing on Andrew Cuomo Right Now,\u201d read a headline in Vogue<\/i><\/a> last March. \u201cHelp, I Think I\u2019m In Love With Andrew Cuomo???\u201d a Jezebel writer confessed<\/a>.<\/p>\n Another reason Cuomo has managed to hold on is his sheer power. Undoubtedly, the most risible thing that Cuomo \u2014 a man who has been at or near the center of state and national politics since he was a teenager \u2014 has said in this, his season of discontent, was, \u201cI am not part of the political club.\u201d The fact is that Andrew Cuomo is <\/i>the political club \u2014 at this point, pretty much the only <\/i>political club still operating in state politics. He sits at the center of a cozy network of corporate donors, state authorities, public-sector unions, business associations, Black churches and pretty much every other major political player in New York. The result is a state government that continually yields big plans and poor results, with little consequence. Hospitals and nursing homes went along with the Cuomo administration\u2019s botched plan to transfer dying Covid patients from one to the other \u2014 after <\/b>the governor pushed through a bill immunizing the nursing homes<\/a> from potential malpractice.<\/p>\n