It’s getting less neighborly between two political heavyweights: Gov. Cuomo and his New Jersey counterpart, Chris Christie.
The two outsized personalities have had a good relationship during Cuomo’s first three years in office, working together on a push for federal aid following Hurricane Sandy, controlling the bistate Port Authority and even occasionally having dinner together.
But that has been tested in recent weeks — even as those close to the two are playing down any tension.
“We now have the bistate presidential skirmish, and this is the first round,” said veteran Democratic consultant Hank Sheinkopf.
The first incident that may have frayed cordial ties between the two govs occurred after Christie, head of the Republican governors association, met with Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, who is considering a challenge against Cuomo, a Democrat, next year.
Cuomo publicly said that Christie had called him to rebut a report that he told Astorino he was prepared to go all out to help him beat the Democratic governor next year.
Cuomo’s comments put Christie in an awkward situation with the national Republican Party, already wary of him because of his embrace of President Obama post-Hurricane Sandy.
More recently, Cuomo was virtually silent over a Port Authority controversy in which a Christie appointee ordered two of three lanes on the George Washington Bridge shut down for several days in September, leading to traffic delays of up to four hours that spilled into Fort Lee, N.J. Some insiders said he was letting Christie twist in the wind.
Port Authority Deputy Executive Director Bill Baroni said the lanes were ordered closed to conduct a traffic study — a statement contradicted by PA Executive Director Pat Foye, a Cuomo appointee.
New Jersey Democrats said the move was retaliation against the Democratic Fort Lee mayor for not endorsing Christie’s reelection this year.
Cuomo referred to the incident last week as a New Jersey issue. Baroni and another Christie appointee have since resigned from the Port Authority.
Cuomo spokesman Matt Wing did back up Christie Friday after the New Jersey governor denied a report that he called Cuomo Thursday to complain that Foye was pushing too hard for information about the lane closures. Wing confirmed that Christie called Cuomo not to discuss Foye but to talk about the origin of the report.
Those close to Cuomo and Christie denied any major tensions between the two governors, saying they actually like each other.
“I can’t think of a past New Jersey and New York governor who have had a better personal and professional relationship,” Wing said Sunday.
Even some Cuomo critics say they believe the recent flareups were more a result of circumstance than a break in the relationship.
Representatives for Christie could not be reached Sunday. But a source close to the Republican governor blamed the Astorino issue on New York GOP Chairman Ed Cox and agreed with Cuomo that the bridge incident is a Jersey issue.
“It seems some New Jersey guys at the Port Authority did something stupid, so what’s the governor of New York going to do?” the Christie source said.
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