Earlier this morning, speaking at a breakfast event held by the developer group Association for a Better New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo outlined his vision for the future of the NYC transportation. Fondly reminiscing on the daring, adrenalized days of Robert Moses, he vowed to "regain that boldness and put away timidity." Then he left Midtown, hopped in a motorcade, and quickly got to work.
After coming across an overturned box truck on the not-entirely-collapsed Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, Cuomo sprung into action, helping to free a trucker from the wreckage. As the governor's staffers looked on (presumably) in awe, one of them managed to get a pretty solid video of the clutch save.
"The car was going to tip over," said Rich Azzopardi, a senior advisor to Cuomo who shared the videos with Gothamist. "The Governor cut the man trapped in the car out and helped him to safety."
Some questions jump to mind, like: Should the state's chief executive be extricating motorists from car wrecks this often? Does the governor always carry a knife? Is it one of the ones he spent years criminalizing? In the heady aftermath of the rescue, answers to those questions were not immediately available. [UPDATE: A spokesperson for Cuomo's office tells us that it was not a knife, but a seat belt cutter that was in the security detail's vehicle.]
What we do have is a well-angled video and photo showing the governor, surrounded by other helpers, gingerly guiding a man's left leg in the direction of cops and a first responder, who you gotta imagine were pretty confused about this whole scenario. The NYPD did not immediately have any info about the severity of the crash.
While most people would've been content to let the trained medical personnel assist the man, Andrew Cuomo is not most people. Getting photographed offering roadside assistance is kind of the governor's thing -- he's helped three separate stranded motorists in the span of four years. (There was also the time, earlier this year, that he personally enforced an upstate truck ban in the middle of winter.)
If this strains credulity, consider the evidence: In each instance, the governor's own staffers have managed to document the heroic moment, seamlessly capturing Cuomo's steely resolve as he zeroes in on the task at hand. It is clear from such photos that not only is he a Man Who Gets Things Done, but he is uninterested in receiving credit for his selfless acts of courage.
If we had one minor complaint, it would be that these epic rescues seem to only happen on highways, depriving so many carless NYC residents the chance to be pulled from a sticky situation by their three-term governor. It's been four years since Cuomo rode the subway (three motorist saves ago), so we'll just remind him that there's no shortage of stranded commuters down there too, all of whom would very appreciate his help.
