By Dr. Leon Koziol

Parenting Rights Institute

As New York’s Governor Andrew Cuomo continues to exploit a human epidemic for personal gain, the victims pile up. For weeks now, he has played politics and one upmanship with New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio, Senator Chuck Schumer, President Trump and other governors. In the process, he became a major cause behind the mass expansion of cornavirus infections.

Andy Cuomo opposed the president’s closure of borders with China in January and opposed a quarantine of metro New York two months later. Shockingly, after a grandstanding news conference focused on playground basketball in New York City, he waited until the first week of April to close them.

In a similar grandstand, he called national attention to a cluster of spring breakers in Florida. Who could disagree with his complaint? But then what example did he set with the clustering of dignitaries at his news conferences for self-importance, or announcements at the time of young people immune from this virus?

Now with a state overwhelmed by its own epicenter, why is New York’s governor meddling in the affairs of a state 1,000 miles away? Could it be because that state’s governor was a Republican? Or could it be that a sleezy politician knows that college kids don’t vote? They were “unintelligent” but his news conferences were smart?

Do not be moved by Cuomo’s theatrics. As a lifelong resident, whistle blower attorney and Democrat office holder in New York, I have never been fooled by his oratory. If Andy truly cared about spring breakers, given his former status as New York’s top law enforcement officer (attorney general), he would have quietly contacted Florida’s governor or its municipal authorities to enforce the closures of those beaches.

Andrew Cuomo simply cannot get enough of himself. To give another example, in upstate Rome, New York, we have Griffiss International Airport. It was named after the first fighter pilot killed in World War II (former Griffiss Air Force Base). Despite his rhetoric, Andy gave no similar respect for those service providers who died in the current “invisible” world war. He named his “social distancing” law after Matilda, his 88 year old mother. To our knowledge, Matilda was not on any front line of this crisis, so why the family fixation?

In yesterday’s grandstand, Cuomo announced that he would employ the National Guard to seize ventilators while remaining the only state with a governor’s ban on prescriptions of hydroxychloroquine outside of an already overburdened hospital system. Does that ban apply to his brother, Chris Cuomo, recently stricken by the virus? And when a reporter asked where Andy got his recent haircut given his salon and barber closures, he could give no answer.

So who is Andrew Cuomo truly serving? Wealthy people in the epicenter are fleeing the metro area despite any “advisory” travel ban. They are filling up summer lodging at prices beyond anything locals can afford. And without a 14-day self-quarantine law like other states have applied to metro New Yorkers, a latent viral curve is beginning among upstate communities. And criminal activity is growing due to released prisoners who “follow the herd.”

When President Trump’s threatened a quarantine of metro New York last week, Governor Cuomo replied that he did know what that meant and that it was unenforceable anyway (a gross contradiction). A one time top law enforcement officer, Andy knew exactly what was meant. But he wanted to protect his own.

As for enforcement, it was too simple: employ the toll booth troopers used for vehicle inspection revenue on either side of “The Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge” at Tarrytown, New York. This would turn away all of Cuomo’s campaign contributors on the pipelines heading north from the epicenter (Thruway I-87 and the Taconic Parkway). Elsewhere, Andy’s new military could conduct sobriety checkpoints using protocols already in place. After, all isn’t this all about public safety?

IMPORTANT: Please sign and promote Petition to enforce a legal travel ban and moratorium on fees and regulations of upstate businesses due to the coronavirus pandemic at Parenting Rights Institute:

Petition Link:  http://chng.it/wLdrdxrwTY