Allahpundit recently recounted the threat made by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to fine any doctors who give someone a vaccine ahead of schedule up to one million dollars. It turns out that AP wasn’t the only one to find the comments a bit offputting. The Mayor of the Big Apple, Bill de Blasio wasn’t pleased either. He told reporters that the Governor was being both arrogant and unreasonable. He also wasn’t too wild about the way that the Governor was sluffing off the blame for the state’s chaotic and tardy vaccination rollout plans on everyone but himself, including Mayor de Blasio. That led to a back and forth blame game that’s quickly becoming typical in Empire State politics. (NY Post)

Mayor Bill de Blasio on Monday slammed Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s plan to fine hospitals as a means of speeding up the state’s highly criticized slow vaccine rollout.

“That’s just arrogance,” de Blasio said in an interview with NY1’s Errol Louis of Cuomo’s claims that the monetary penalties could speed up the process.

Hizzoner went on to defend the city’s health care workers and told Cuomo to lay off the threats.

“Does he think that our health care professionals are uninterested in vaccinating people? How about trusting the people who have been our heroes?” de Blasio said.

Earlier in the day, when asked by the local press about the state’s sluggish and tepid vaccination rollout, he deflected the blame. He said most of the details were being handled at the local level, so they should go and ask local officials… including de Blasio. That didn’t go over well at all.

“We need rules that maximize the pace, that help us speed up and reach the people who are available, who are a priority and who are ready, willing and able, it’s common sense,” the mayor said.

“So, the state can help us here. Stop threatening people.”

I’m sure there’s plenty of blame to go around, but the reality is that New York has only used up 46 percent of the coronavirus vaccines they have received so far. Cuomo has now threatened to fine any providers who don’t use up all the vaccine doses they have received by Friday $100,000. Wait a minute, here. First Cuomo wants to fine doctors a million dollars for vaccinating someone early, and now he want’s to fine them $100,000 if they don’t use all of the vaccines they’ve received? Is anyone else starting to sense a pattern here? Or, in the words of Admiral Ackbar… a trap?

For his part, Cuomo seems shocked by the pushback. It’s hard to be sure, but I think he’s gotten so used to the media singing his praises as the “shadow president” and being lauded with Emmy Awards and book deals that he could be sincerely confused when someone from his own party actually displays the temerity to publicly criticize him. He’s been the golden boy for so long that he’s not sure how to respond when someone tries to push some of the blame back up the chain of command.

As for Bill de Blasio, this is just business as usual. He has no problem blaming others, particularly when some of his cronies and donors wind up going on trial over corruption charges. The day you start hearing him taking responsibility for the disastrous state of Gotham will be the day we’ll have flying pigs signing up to join the Space Force. In other words, it’s another day in the Big Apple. Break out the popcorn and put up your feet. At least for one brief moment, they’ve found an excuse to not blame Trump and the Republicans for everything under the sun.