EDITORIAL
MAYOR, GUV
MUST STOP THE
SQUABBLING
When he provided his daily coronavirus briefing
on Saturday morning, Governor Andrew
Cuomo spoke highly of the state’s efforts to keep
politics out of the response to the pandemic.
“Keep politics out of it,” he said just after noting his
efforts with the White House to secure relief for New
York state. “Focus on government and focus on policy
and keep politics out of it. It’s very hard, especially at
this time.”
Would that he could say the same for his dealing with
Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Moments later, during the very same press conference,
Cuomo threw cold water on de Blasio’s announcement,
earlier that morning, that New York City public
schools would remain closed through the end of the
school year, in June.
While de Blasio presented the decision Saturday
morning as a formality, Cuomo reduced it down to the
mayor’s “opinion.” Cuomo said the governor has the authority
— something the mayor disputes — and that he’d
rather see a coordinated reopening between the city and
its suburbs of schools and businesses alike. The stance
didn’t change on Sunday.
The animosity between Cuomo and de Blasio is wellknown
to any New Yorker. But does this rivalry need to
present itself in the midst of this unprecedented crisis?
Cuomo made clear there’s too much unknown when
it comes to the pandemic, and it’s unwise to set a date on
when to reopen society. There’s much truth in this.
Public officials have said reopening society automatically
would be unwise. Social distancing measures can
be eased a bit as the curve flattens downward, but it must
be done gradually so as to minimize (if not completely
avoid) a second massive wave of coronavirus cases.
Bringing students back en masse — along with parents
and school faculty — at a late point in the school year
during this crisis increases the odds of additional infections
and deaths. We can’t imagine a scenario in which
Cuomo overrules de Blasio and reopens the schools in
late May or June. So why not just admit that de Blasio
made the right call here? Why couldn’t the governor say
that he would work with suburban officials to coordinate
with the city on school openings?
Cuomo is correct: Politics must be kept out of this crisis.
We believe he should follow his own advice when it
comes to dealing with de Blasio.
HOW TO REACH US
MAIL: 38-15 Bell Boulevard, Bayside, NY 11361
PHONE: Display Advertising: (718) 260-4537
Editorial: (718) 260-4549
WEBSITE: Visit www.qns.com
E-MAIL: Editorial: timesledgernews@schnepsmedia.com
Display Advertising: brice@schnepsmedia.com
Classified: classified@schnepsmedia.com
TO SUBSCRIBE: Call (718) 260-2515
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.12 COM | APRIL 17-APRIL 23, 2020
Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio must figure out how to work together. Photo by Mark Hallum
Attention healthcare workers:
Tell us your coronavirus stories
As the coronavirus epidemic
rages on across New York City,
we want to hear from the health
care workers on the front lines
battling to save lives.
Our reporters want to speak
with health care workers about
what they’ve witnessed in emergency
rooms, medical centers,
nursing homes and other facilities
where lives hang in the balance
every day. We want to tell
their stories to show New York
City their courage but also the severity
of the conditions they work
in — and the situation they face.
We welcome submissions at
any time from active New York
City physicians, nurses, lab technicians
and other health care
workers who are helping to treat
patients.
Email Editor-in-Chief Zach
Gewelb at zgewelb@schnepsmedia.
com, and a reporter may contact
you soon. Your information
will be held confidentially; your
name will be used only with your
express permission, or withheld
upon request.
By submitting, you understand
that the content must not be false,
defamatory, misleading or hateful,
or infringe any copyright or
any other third party rights or otherwise
be unlawful.
We will use the contact details
that you provide to verify your
identity and answers to the questionnaire,
as well as to contact
you for further information on this
story. If we publish your content,
we may include your name and
location.
PROUD MEMBER OF NEW YORK PRESS ASSOCIATION
PUBLISHER
Brian Rice
EDITOR
Zach Gewelb
V.P. OF ADVERTISING
Ralph D’onofrio
CIRCULATION
Robert Palacios
CLASSIFIED
Classified Director:
Celeste Alamin
Classified Sales
Manager:
Eugena Pechenaya
EDITORIAL STAFF
Reporters: Bill Parry, Angelica
Acevedo, Carlotta Mohamed,
Jenna Bagcal, Jacob Kaye
Copy Editor: Katrina Medoff
Contributing Writers/Columnists:
Tammy Scileppi
ART & PRODUCTION
Production Manager:
Deborah Cusick
Art Director: Nirmal Singh
Layout: Zach Gewelb
ADVERTISING
Senior Account Executive:
Kathy Wenk
Account Executives:
David Strauss
Sherri Rossi
Copyright©2019 Queens CNG LLC.
link
link
link
link
link
/www.qns.com
link
/www.qns.com
link
link
link
