Am I the only one who is getting sick and tired of the bickering between Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo? My frustration stems from the fact that no matter what the end result may be for the political lives of each of these powerful men, the real people who will suffer are the citizens of New York City. I have reached my patience level when it comes to their political jockeying. At some point, one of them needs to be the bigger person and come to the table to talk. Until then, they will continue to talk past one another, compete for media attention in the midst of a crisis and “throw shade” at one another whenever possible.
The political tensions between the mayor and governor have been playing out for well over a year now. Remember when Cuomo shut down the subway system because of an impending blizzard and didn’t tell the mayor? Or when he set up shop in the Bronx during the Legionnaires disease outbreak while the mayor had his own command center? And now it looks like the governor has decided to place the headquarters for the New York State Troopers next door to City Hall.
The mayor seems to make sure the press knows that he believes that many of the pitfalls he has experienced thus far in his mayoralty have the shadow of the governor behind them. The mayor has yet to prove that this sabotage is real, but to be fair, his accusations haven’t been fully disproven either. Each time the mayor insinuates that his shortcomings have something to do with the governor, and each time the governor meddles and overreaches in New York City affairs, the relationship between the two is further severed and the citizens of New York City are further away from receiving the full efforts and effectiveness of their elected leaders.
I am torn between whether these two are playing a political game of chicken or if both of their egos are so large they are willing to place the overall good of their citizenry in jeopardy. Either way, to quote my mother, “My patience is wearing thin.” Even former Senator Al D’mato offered to host a “pasta summit” almost a full year ago to bring the two leaders to the table to discuss the real issues at hand. Needless to say, the needle has not moved forward in their relationship, and in many ways, the relationship between the mayor and governor has only become more strained in 2016.
American democracy is built on compromise. Almost every law and moment of progress achieved in this young nation has been the product of compromise. I do hope these two leaders come to this realization sooner rather than later. Reelections for both men are swiftly approaching, and if they are unwilling to work together, maybe we will need to find some men or women who are willing to do so.
Christina Greer, Ph.D., is an associate professor at Fordham University and the author of “Black Ethnics: Race, Immigration, and the Pursuit of the American Dream.” You can find her on Twitter @Dr_CMGreer.
