It’s almost as if the power-hungry King of Albany, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is trying to finish off New York City restaurants. As reported by The New York Times, indoor dining in the Big Apple will once again be barred, courtesy of Fredo’s big brother.

Gov. Cuomo shuts down indoor dining in NYC amid COVID-19 surge https://t.co/WVBqp11u0B pic.twitter.com/QKqd1VW5ei

— New York Post (@nypost) December 11, 2020

Cuomo’s latest indoor-dining shutdown, which will begin on Monday, is maddening to the restaurant owners of NYC, as the NYT reported — particularly because of Cuomo’s own data.

The decision, which Mr. Cuomo earlier this week suggested was all but certain, is a crushing blow to the city’s restaurant industry, a vital economic pillar that has been struggling all year in the face of pandemic restrictions and a national recession.

Mr. Cuomo acknowledged the hardship his decision was likely to cause and once more called on federal lawmakers to provide relief to the hospitality industry. Congressional leaders have so far failed to reach an agreement on a new economic stimulus package.

Even as he announced the new restriction, the governor provided data that showed restaurants and bars were likely not the primary driver of new cases in the state, lagging far behind private gatherings.

Early in the week, Cuomo said if COVID hospitalizations in the area did not stabilize after five days, he would again shut down or reduce indoor dining. On Friday, he pulled the trigger.

“The hospitalizations have continued to increase in New York City. We said that we would watch it if the stabilization, if the hospital rate didn’t stabilize we would close indoor dining. It is now. We’re gonna’ close indoor dining in the city on Monday.”

“The federal government must provide relief to these bars and restaurants in this next [COVID relief package,” Cuomo demanded. Nonetheless, he said “restaurants and bars are one of the few areas that we think we can actually make a difference.”

As Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that indoor dining will be shut down in New York City, he called on federal lawmakers to “provide relief to these bars and restaurants” in a new pandemic aid package. https://t.co/LUw1sN6H8F pic.twitter.com/I4NBD9EUlB

— The New York Times (@nytimes) December 11, 2020

In a New York Post op-ed titled Gov. Cuomo blithely destroys restaurants — and people’s jobs — for no reason, contributor Steve Cuozzo suggested that Cuomo is attempting to “starve” the restaurant industry.

“Morire di fame.”

“That’s “starve” in English — the message Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who often touts his Italian American family’s at-home spaghetti-and-sausage feasts, sent to the city’s barely alive restaurant industry. And to the nation’s greatest concentration of culinary talent and 350,000 hard-working employees.

“Only some unknown childhood trauma could account for Cuomo’s inexplicable shutdown of indoor dining in the Big Apple. Was he once food-poisoned at Mamma Leone’s?”

“The ban is supposed to arrest rising hospitalizations,” Cuozzo noted, asking: But what connection is there? The state’s own data at Friday’s press conference revealed that indoor dining accounted for a scant 1.4 percent of infection spread — which might be less risky than crossing the street.”

Moreover, Cuozzo wrote, [Cuomo’s] “data offered no proof whatsoever that anyone who supposedly caught the virus inside a restaurant ended up in a hospital.”

“Yet buses and stores are full of face-to-face contact,” he added, and “many cops still go without masks despite the rules requiring they be worn.”

Then the hammer: “Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio, usually at odds, wink in lockstep at truly dangerous indoor parties and religious gatherings they’re chicken to crack down on, beyond promises to ‘investigate.'”

Someone else who brought the hammer down on Cuomo after learning of the latest indoor-dining shutdown was Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy.

In a viral NSFW rant, Portnoy decried the “insanity” of the indoor-dining shutdown.

This is insanity. Let small businesses control their fate, not the government. So many decades of blood, sweat, and tears destroyed without even giving people a chance to fight. Scary that basic freedoms we took for granted can just be taken away by a few politicians.”

This is insanity. Let small businesses control their fate not the government. So many decades of blood, sweat and tears destroyed without even giving people a chance to fight. Scary that basic freedoms we took for granted can just be taken away by a few politicians. https://t.co/lag5D7AbMb

— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) December 11, 2020

“Politicians are stealing the basic right to earn a living!”, Portnoy declared.

“Okay I gotta do this rant. I’ve done it a bunch. I can’t believe that I have to do it again, but New York City just closed indoor dining. My hair is f**king big. New York City just closed indoor dining!

“What do they think is gonna happen?! What do they think is gonna happen to thousands of restaurants? They’re done! The bar and restaurant industry and small businesses have been squeezed and squeezed and squeezed.”

“And they’ve tried everything,” Portnoy said, visibly emotional.

“They’ve been creative as they could be to save their livelihood — to save what they’ve spent decades of blood, sweat, and tears building — they’ve scratched and clawed. And now a few politicians in New York City — meh, you’re done.”

“How do expect these people to survive?”, he pleaded.

Politicians Are Stealing the Basic Right To Earn A Living pic.twitter.com/9Yx9Vf1iP1

— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) December 11, 2020

In the end, Portnoy hit the nail on the head.

“How do you expect these people to survive? What? Are people going to go out to dinner now in ice cold temperatures? It’s insanity. And this isn’t about corona or how dangerous, and the hospitals, and rising. It’s not.

“Listen, the vaccine is right around the corner. If you’re health impaired, you’re afraid of it, you’re old — don’t go out. Stay inside for three months. The vaccine is coming, but let people decide.”

Obviously, Dave, Andrew Cuomo knows better.

Then again, maybe he’s trying to atone for his unconscionable decision to force New York nursing homes to accept COVID patients, causing the deaths of at least 6,000 people. You know — that thing he wrote a book on “leadership” about.