King Trump thinks he can scare us into submission — but New York has had the power all along

We're used to rest of the US ignoring our needs while crying 'Never Forget'. And the truth is America can't weather the economic storm caused by coronavirus without us

It is no secret to anyone that the President of the United States and New York’s governor, Andrew Cuomo do not agree on much. This morning, Governor Cuomo warned that, if the President attempted to reopen our state, as he has threatened to do, we would enter a “constitutional crisis.” It would be a crisis "like you haven't seen in decades," he added. Personally, I never thought I’d find myself on the states’ rights side of the democratic argument, but then again, I never thought a lot of things would be true in 2020.

It has become difficult to watch the President’s rambling, incoherent press conferences, especially as a journalist. (There’s no joy, after all, in watching a member of my own profession be cut down by the leader of the free world, which is what happens on a regular basis.) It is Trump’s belief that he is autonomous in his control of the country. “The President of the United States calls the shots,” he said, in a particularly unhinged briefing this week. “They can’t do anything without the approval of the President of the United States.”

But that’s not how democracy in the United States works. If it were, there would be no reason to have governors at all. And this morning, Cuomo reminded Trump that New York — like every single state in this union — makes its own decisions, whether or not the President agrees. He is not a king. Not yet.

New York has seen tough times before — tough times that have been ignored by other leaders, again and again and again. While other Americans co-opted the pain and devastation of the tragedy of the September 11, 2001 attacks, it took a comedian and activist, Jon Stewart, to show up at Congress to get funds delivered to the dying first-responders.

For almost two decades, legislators did nothing to serve the New Yorkers who put their lives on the line for the nearly 3,000 men and women who perished on 9/11. For almost two decades, Americans across the country posted about how they would “Never Forget,” while never remembering that people were dying of mesothelioma from heading into burning buildings, where asbestos from towers built in the 1970s was slowly chipping away at their lungs. For almost two decades, Americans spent 364 days a year thinking of everything except the destruction of New York City and the rising phoenix that came back from that ash.

The men and women who faced the tragedy in New York on that day were ignored by the federal government when they developed life-ending medical crises following their brave acts. They were ignored, and many of them died, and no one was there to help them. In short, it took a New Yorker to save New York, not a president, and that’s because we look out for our own.

Does New York, again in peril, need President Trump, who fancies himself a king? President Trump didn’t save us when we needed more ventilators; our governor did. President Trump has not been our beacon in times of need. That role has fallen to Andrew Cuomo. New York, it turns out, does not need a king. We never did. The only thing New Yorkers have ever needed to survive has been one another, a truism we have relied on throughout history as tragedy has felled us but not obliterated us.

If Trump wants a monarchy, he can do it without the help of New York. Push us too far and we may decide we don’t need this nation at all. After all, we have survived without the help of those who consider us hedonists and elitists (except for when they wish to use our pain for political gain). We are the coastal blue to them, except for when it comes to what we contribute – jobs, wealth, product. Without us, there is no righted economic ship.

And what will Trump do when he realizes how much he needs us? What will he do when he realizes that it is New York who holds the power? New York has been on our own forever, and we can take care of ourselves, well into the wide, blue expanse of the future. But if we choose to go, the United States cannot survive without us. And that will be a cold, hard lesson for Trump to learn once we are gone.