Pandemic guidelines are set to ease in the coming days in New York as the state moves toward a broad reopening of the economy. The COVID positivity rate and hospitalizations are declining as more people are being vaccinated.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo, facing multiple controversies and investigations back in Albany, was at the Javits Center on Tuesday in Manhattan to tout the facility's new expansion and tie it back to that reopening. Cuomo in recent weeks has sought to focus on a good news stretch of guidelines that will allow more people to attend sporting events and extended restaurant and bar hours, as well as the expansion of vaccine access.
And on Monday, Cuomo announced the launch of a series of public service announcements narrated by the governor's celebrity allies like Robert DeNiro and Billy Joel, as well as Whoopi Goldberg set to "Back in the New York Groove." The message? New York's economy is staged for a comeback. The ads pointed to major infrastructure and facility upgrades, Cuomo priorities all.
Cuomo pointed to the past challenges New York has faced, including the fiscal crisis of the 1970s, crime in the 1980s, the Sept. 11 attacks and the deluge of Hurricane Sandy.
"Where do you get that courage? Where do you get that moxie?" Cuomo said. "We’re New York."
As he's done before, Cuomo could have easily been referring to himself as he hopes for a corner to turn in what has otherwise been a difficult year for the third-term governor.
He has been accused by multiple women of sexual harassment or misconduct, is facing federal scrutiny for his administration's reporting of nursing home resident fatalities during the pandemic and has taken heat for a reported $4 million book deal about the pandemic that government workers helped him write.
He has denied all wrongdoing. Attorney General Letitia James's office is conducting investigations into the harassment allegations, while Democrats in the state Assembly are pursuing an impeachment investigation. Republicans, in a statement on Tuesday released by Minority Leader Will Barclay, questioned whether the investigation was moving fast enough.
"Exactly two months ago, it was announced that the Assembly Committee on Judiciary would open an investigation into the actions of Gov. Cuomo to determine if impeachment proceedings would be forthcoming," he said. "After eight weeks, where are we? What progress has been made?"
There's no indication how much longer this in-between time for Cuomo can last, if he's merely treading water in the days before James's report becomes public.