#Andrew Cuomo’s in deep denial on his Supreme Court slapdown

Gov. Cuomo calls his slapdown by the Supreme Court “moot” and “irrelevant.” Bull.

Since the ruling only blocked enforcement of his tough restrictions on houses of worship in orange and red zones, and the parties who sued are no longer in such zones, the gov argues that it doesn’t count. In fact, it sets a serious precedent against his insistence on treating religious institutions more harshly than secular ones.

The court ruled 5-4 in favor of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn and a group of Orthodox Jewish synagogues who argued that Cuomo’s rules unfairly targeted them, violating the Constitution’s guarantee of religious freedom.

The gov had barred attendance of more than 10 people at religious services in a red zone and 25 in an orange zone — no matter how big the church, mosque or temple. Now he insists the ruling is “more illustrative of the Supreme Court than anything else” because Justice Amy Coney Barrett replaced the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

But Cuomo’s limits far exceeded those the court had allowed back in May and July. California limited attendance to 25 percent of building capacity or 100 attendees, whichever was lower. And Nevada set a 50-person limit.

Justice Neil Gorsuch scorched Cuomo’s double standards: “It is time — past time — to make plain that, while the pandemic poses many grave challenges, there is no world in which the Constitution tolerates color-coded executive edicts that reopen liquor stores and bike shops but shutter churches, synagogues and mosques,” he wrote.

And the gov’s burden hit deep. Remote services are no real substitute for in-person ones: You can’t receive communion via Zoom.

Rep-elect Nicole Malliotakis (R-SI/Brooklyn) noted the perfect timing of the court’s ruling: “It is fitting that the Court’s decision was made on the eve of Thanksgiving, a holiday founded by Pilgrims who settled in North America in search of religious freedom.” Bingo.