Governor Cuomo tells people to stay off the roads, heads to New York

Do what he says, not what he does.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency following the blizzard, urging people not to travel – then hopped in his car during the throes of the blizzard on Monday and drove to the Grosse Apple from Albany.

“I want New Yorkers to hear me loud and clear – stay home and away from the roads,” the governor said in a statement regarding his declaration of emergency.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio also declared a state of emergency for the Big Apple – which banned non-essential travel.

But that didn’t stop the governor from hitting the road. He explained that he didn’t want to stay home while telling essential workers, including those clearing the streets, that they had to be at work.

The governor got behind the wheel in the thick snowstorm for about two and a half hours of driving from Albany, where he usually holds press briefings, to lead a press conference in his Manhattan office early Monday afterwards. -midday.

“I’m telling you, I’m on the road right now – it’s horrible,” Cuomo admitted on a morning WCBS radio call before reaching Manhattan.

“I personally drive in New York,” he said, adding that he was alone in the car as an added safety measure due to COVID-19.

WCBS reporter Juliet Papa asked the governor if he thought ‘it’s a great idea to drive’ – because predictions of up to 2 feet of snow had already canceled thousands of coronavirus vaccinations in cities and states, closed public school buildings and wreaked havoc on public transit.

“Life is options,” Cuomo replied.

“Airports are closing as we speak, and for me it’s walking or driving, and I’m going to drive,” he said.

“I want to be there,” the governor said. “We have a lot of rescuers doing a great job today, and my personal predilection is that I hate calling rescuers and saying to emergency snow plow operators, ‘You have to be away. … But then I have to stay home.

“If I call them, I am not calling anyone in a situation that I would not go in myself.

“As long as I’m governor I’ll be there, that’s how I see work,” Cuomo said.