Cuomo is miffed about Florida imposing restrictions on visiting New Yorkers this spring and summer, but since New York has been the global hotspot for the virus, fears about importing it were well-founded. Cuomo is now in vengeance mode, ordering that visitors from Florida and several other states where there has been a surge in coronavirus cases self-quarantine for 14 days. How will Cuomo enforce this? Spot checks, he says. Cuomo can’t seriously believe that everyone coming to New York will huddle in an apartment or hotel room for 14 days. The average domestic visitor to New York City stays just 1.9 days. Even foreign visitors only stay nine days on average. Nobody is coming to New York to volunteer for a 14-day self-imprisonment. This latest Cuomo edict is pure theater, fan service for fellow liberals who fancy themselves giving red states a wedgie.

Other states did exactly what Cuomo did: They stayed in lockdown for as long as they thought they could stand it, then began to ease up when it looked like the virus was diminishing. In some cases, the virus has flared up. Does Cuomo think this can’t happen in his state? Humility might be in order for the man whose state proved to be a virus Vesuvius, especially since New York City, the source of the vast majority of the infections in New York State, has just begun to open up and we don’t yet know whether the just-relaxed restrictions will give the virus a boost. Cuomo’s much-touted track-and-trace program, a key part of his strategy, is barely functional, but on the other hand, maybe the virus is just burning itself out, like a wildfire.