Like most people, I always thought the dog days of summer in New York City had something to do with mangy dogs and the stultifying heat that melted not only the asphalt but minds as well. Evidently not; according to National Geographic: “… the dog days refer to the dog star, Sirius, and its position in the heavens. To the Greeks and Romans, the “dog days” occurred around the day when Sirius appeared to rise just before the sun, in late July. They referred to these days as the hottest time of the year, a period that could bring fever, or even catastrophe.”

Another sense of the term, for journalists at least, is a slow news period, or (before air conditioning) when it was too hot to think and write at the same time. I know for a fact that it was also a time when newspaper interns got a chance to write while those with their own bylines were away on vacation. In any case, I haven’t commented on New York, and nearby, Italian American political superstars in a while and thought it was a good time to literally catch up with the poop. Lucky for me, my top three landsmen (paesani) -- Chris Christie, Andrew Cuomo, and Bill DeBlasio have been in the news. Unfortunately for them, the coverage has been less than complimentary. A few years ago all of them, along with Rudy Giuliani, were written about as potential presidential material. This year, like Giuliani’s braggadocio about how he crafted Trump’s Muslim ban, well it’s been another story.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has probably had the worst of all summers. Following George Washington Bridgegate and other similar follies he has set the record for the lowest approval rating (15%) for any governor since I don’t know whom or when. The most recent bad news for Himself was the result of a battle with the less-right leaning New Jersey Legislature over the state budget that resulted in him ordering the closing of all public beaches for lack of funds; except of course for the stretch of public sand he shared with his family for what he thought would be a private weekend holiday. Evidently an intrepid reporter flew over the Governors’ taxpayer-funded estate and took photos of him doing what he had prohibited other Jerseyians from doing --- lying on the beach. My first thought when I glanced at the photo was that the caption should have been “Beached Whale Sighted on Jersey Shore” instead of the New York Daily News’ “Son of a beach.” After Beachgate, a Monmouth University poll asked “What one word best describes your impression of Christopher Christie?”  The number one response was “bully” (prepotente).

Without trying very hard, New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio came in first in a story in the usually anti-liberal anyhow Observer about America’s 3 worst mayors by Arick Wierson. In the rag (owned by Trump’s Russophiliac son-in-law Jared Kushner) Wierson compared him unfavorably with Mike Bloomberg whom he misoverestimated as “arguably one of New York City’s greatest mayors." In contrast he characterized De Blasio’s 3-year reign as “… marked by a series of broken promises, missteps, and a maelstrom of corruption allegations.” The most damaging, and perhaps most accurate, assessment was that The Mayor has spent too much of his constituents’ time and money righteously jousting with windmills from coast to coast and abroad. Despite all the complaints, it appears that Bill will have an easier than deserved time running for re-election. First of all because, a slew of his fellow Democrats were waiting for him to be indicted before they removed their hats to toss into the ring. Secondly, so far his potential Republican opponents, like Bay Ridge Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis and someone with the rock ‘n roll sounding name of Bo Dietl, are hardly threatening. Even so, De Blasio as other, more vulnerable, Democratic Party mayors have decided to run against Donald Trump whose unpopularity in large cities with significant nonwhite and immigrant voters more than makes up for his missteps.

The segue from Bill De Blasio to Andrew Cuomo is seamless, as both quasi-sibling rivals have been fighting over everything from extending Mayoral control of New York’s vast public education system, to whom is more to blame for the crumbling, often immobile, mass transit system. As for the terrible subway, bus, and train service, not to mention crashes and derailments,  the only thing they seem to agree on is the lack of adequate Federal funding. The biggest problem for Andrew Cuomo as to potential runs for even higher offices revolves around unmet heightened expectations given his loud campaign pledges to “clean up” (mani pulute?) corruption in New York State which remains as rife as ever. Most recently, Sarah Maslin Nir wrote “Cuomo’s Office Ordered to Release Records Sought by Times in Graft Inquiry” The documents, requested under the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) concern an investigation of former state officials and upstate contractors that Cuomo has fought to keep secret. State Supreme Court Justice Patrick J. McGrath ruled “The chamber has failed to establish how disclosure would interfere with law enforcement investigations or judicial proceedings,” and denied the claims that they “might adversely affect the reputations of people named in the records.”  I am sure these guys can’t wait for autumn leaves to fall.