Gov. Cuomo is suffering from a newly discovered syndrome that is wearing thin his already strained relationship with leaders on both sides of the aisle, Republicans and Democrats alike are saying.
Calling it “PSSD,” or “Post-Silver Stress Disorder,” Democratic insiders say the governor’s obsession over Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara’s ongoing investigation into Albany corruption was apparent last week in his worsening relations with Mayor de Blasio, state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner, Staten Island Republicans and other state lawmakers.
“Cuomo appears to be engaged in a sort of overcorrection because of the beating he’s taking from Preet,’’ a prominent Big Apple Democrat said of the governor’s multiple battles.
“Cuomo’s a typical control freak. Once things start to go awry and he loses control, he panics, overreacts and makes mistakes,’’ the Democrat continued.
Cuomo, described by associates last month as “obsessed with fear’’ in the wake of Bharara’s charges against then-Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan), “seems to be going out of his way more than usual to pick fights with people, and it was really weird,’’ Assemblyman Steve McLaughlin (R-Rensselaer) told The Post.
“The sense is that Cuomo’s actions are related to strain from Bharara’s investigation,’’ McLaughlin continued.
Several Democrats also said they believed that Cuomo, already known for a confrontational style, was suffering from “PSSD” but they refused to allow their names to be used for fear of retaliation.
Cuomo’s new round of battles came during a week when the once-powerful Silver resigned in disgrace as speaker and former Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith (D-Queens), also a Bharara target, was convicted on five federal corruption charges.
Bharara, who has said to “stay tuned’’ for more charges, has been investigating Cuomo’s decision last year to shut down his anti-corruption Moreland Commission panel, as well as possible witness tampering by Cuomo and/or his senior aides.
Making matters worse for Cuomo was Bharara’s sarcastic denunciation of Albany’s “three men in a room’’ system, in which the governor and the two legislative leaders — including Silver — have long made major decisions in secret.
Cuomo’s attack on de Blasio — as he quickly rejected the mayor’s State of the City “game changer’’ proposal to build more than 11,000 units of affordable housing at the state-controlled Sunnyside Rail Yard in Queens — seemed especially insulting, as it was delivered by an aide, not by Cuomo himself.
Cuomo’s attack on DiNapoli, another fellow Democrat, was more direct.
After DiNapoli issued a report that confirmed what has long been recognized — that Cuomo’s Empire State Development Corp. offers few details to the public to justify its billions of dollars in grants — the governor mocked the comptroller as anti-development and suggested he “thinks we should go back to the old way that saw New York losing jobs.’’
Cuomo, meanwhile, appeared to mock a call by Syracuse Mayor Miner, a former state Democratic Party co-chair, for state aid to help rebuild her city’s infrastructure. He proclaimed, “You are going bankrupt. You are unsustainable. You need jobs, an economy, business” to pay the costs.
Cuomo’s ongoing refusal to call a special election to replace disgraced ex-Rep. Michael Grimm prompted Staten Island Republicans to file a federal lawsuit that accused Cuomo of illegally denying the borough’s residents the right to representation.
And Cuomo’s threat to delay passage of an on-time budget and even shut down state government unless the Legislature passes a package of ethics reforms was resented as bullying by many lawmakers.