Spat over NYC protests reignites long running feud between Cuomo and de Blasio - CNN

On Tuesday, the Democratic governor said during a press conference that the instances of looting and property destruction that cam as peaceful protests took place one night earlier showed that "the NYPD and the mayor did not do their job last night."

Then, he took it a step further.

"My option is to displace the mayor of New York City and bring in the National Guard -- as the governor, in a state of emergency -- and basically take over the mayor's job," Cuomo said.

For longtime observers of the governor and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, a fellow Democrat, Cuomo's suggestion that he could usurp the mayoralty of his one-time friend and colleague was a stunning escalation of their years-long feud, one that had cooled in recent months, but was rooted in years of tension and dozens of episodes of conflict and bickering.

It began just a few months after de Blasio took office in 2014 amid the newly installed mayor's push to expand pre-kindergarten and after-school programs in New York City.

In March, a day after de Blasio told city residents to prepare for a "shelter in place" order, the governor said he wouldn't approve such a step, and while Cuomo ultimately instructed New Yorkers to stay home as much as possible, he refused to define the policy as "shelter in place."

In mid-April, de Blasio announced plans to keep the New York City public school system closed through the end of the academic year.

"I think they were just playing two different natural roles."

For the most part, say political insiders who have observed their relationship for years, that is because de Blasio has largely stepped out of the governor's way now that the mayor, whose term is up at the end of next year, is looking at his final stretch in City Hall.

"I think the feud has been, to be honest, it's far more muted and of almost negligible impact simply because when the feud was at its height, the feeling was de Blasio was leading this progressive surge to take on the governor, but what's happened is that de Blasio has turned lame duck," said Bruce Gyory, a Democratic political consultant who has closely followed their relationship, speaking before Cuomo's musing about the option to "displace" the mayor.

When de Blasio took office, he positioned himself as liberal leader fighting mainly against centrist Democrats like Cuomo.

De Blasio notched a number of significant progressive wins, but in the last two years he has suffered two significant political defeats: first, his longtime ally Cynthia Nixon tried and failed to unseat Cuomo in the Democratic primary during the 2018 gubernatorial election; and second, de Blasio himself performed miserably in his short-lived 2020 presidential bid.

"I think the governor has just moved past (the feud) simply because the mayor, in terms of his public prestige and his influence to move the City Council, he's just of no threat," Gyory said.