New York Governor Andrew Cuomo leads the way

While the disease causes a massacre in his state, the governor of New York becomes the standard bearer of the resistance.

What is striking in New York these days is the silence. No more fire trucks rushing down the arteries, screaming sirens. In the city, one of the noisiest in the world, you can now talk to each other without having to raise your voice. Luxury boutiques on Fifth Avenue have closed. The yellow taxis have almost disappeared. On Wall Street, the floor of the Stock Exchange is empty – a first – but prices have gone crazy. On Broadway, many theaters have turned off their neon lights. On Times Square, giant advertising screens look like useless vestiges of a bygone era: the square is deserted.

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The city that never sleeps froze. New Yorkers thought they were invincible ever since they got up on 9/11. But today, without unemployment insurance, they are wondering how they will pay their rent. They line up in front of grocery stores, the only stores open, which limit the number of customers. They hide in their homes and get bored. The only daily meeting that lifts their morale: Andrew Cuomo’s press briefing. The Governor of New York State has become a hero.

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And yet, not so long ago, he was the unloved. In front of us, he smiles and insists: “No, I haven’t changed. He is indeed the one who had been nicknamed “the bulldozer” or “the hammer”, his adversaries being for him only “nails to drive”. He was criticized for being arrogant, cold, calculating, cynical and even… paternalistic! He heard it all. Perhaps these are the same flaws that today make it so popular. In Albany, the capital of New York State, where he lives, we can’t believe it. Every morning at 11:30 a.m., his responses to journalists attracted national and even foreign TV channels. In the paneled press room of the State Capitol, it is in front of a giant portrait of Winston Churchill that he addresses the country …

Find the rest of this report in Paris Match n ° 3701 on sale this Thursday, April 09

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