ALBANY, N.Y. — Gov. Andrew Cuomo spent most of last year ruling New York with decisiveness, declaring that “the buck stops on my desk” as he imposed business closures and barred local leaders from overruling his dictates.

A year later, Cuomo is choosing to not choose. With the Delta variant spreading across the state, he is “strongly” urging local leaders and private businesses to implement mask and vaccine mandates. And he is putting the onus for any statewide action squarely on Albany lawmakers.

His more-relaxed stance contrasts with new mandates imposed across the country and globe, as he faces a multitude of scandals and is mostly stripped of the statewide power he wielded just a year ago.

The embattled governor, who is under investigation by the state attorney general for sexual harassment and is facing an impeachment probe in the state Assembly, seems content with allowing local officials to make their own decisions on vaccinations, testing and mask-wearing.

Cuomo, speaking during an appearance in Manhattan on Monday, asserted that he no longer has legal authority to require such practices. In his precarious political position, the governor has shied from issuing any statewide policies in response to the Delta variant-related surge. Mandating vaccines or masks, he argued, would now “require a law passed by the Legislature” and therefore would depend on “what the Legislature’s appetite is to wade into that situation.”

“We had authority under the previous law that was passed — extensive authority — to make regulations and rules that overrode local governments,” he said. “That law has lapsed ... we are just recommending.”

Further complicating things, he said, is the lack of full federal authorization for the vaccines, which could make it difficult to issue a broad mandate, and the “political heat” surrounding the issue.

“The best I can do is say, ‘I strongly recommend that they do that,’” he said, flanked by top aides and other administration officials. Cuomo also somewhat jokingly asked that other officials refrain from telling people "the governor made me do it.”

Some Albany observers have questioned Cuomo's premise, arguing that the state Department of Health could issue more explicit guidelines. But it’s unclear how such policies would be enforced if enacted, given previous compliance issues under the now-defunct statewide mask wearing and social distancing mandates.

Jill Montag, a spokesperson for the health department, said that the state's Public Health and Health Planning Council "has broad powers to make regulations, but a mask mandate on individuals, enacted outside a declared state of emergency and without a regulatory nexus to the setting, would invite litigation.“

“That is why we need legislation to ensure that the focus is on the public health content of these regulations and not the procedure, and why we will continue to encourage local governments, which have local authority to act, to do so,” Montag said.

State Health Commissioner Howard Zucker, who might authorize a more explicit direction, was not present during Cuomo’s Monday briefing, as he is on vacation. “But he was on the phone, you know, all day yesterday," Cuomo noted.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on Monday recommended that vaccinated New Yorkers resume mask wearing indoors, especially in high-risk settings and in communities with low vaccination rates, and mandated that all new city employees show proof of Covid-19 vaccination. He previously ordered all city workers to get vaccinated or submit to weekly testing. (Cuomo has also issued a vaccination or testing policy for state workers. Public-facing employees at state-run hospitals are subject to a vaccine mandate.)

On Tuesday, de Blasio announced a new requirement to show proof of Covid-19 vaccination to dine inside restaurants, work out at gyms, attend plays or go out dancing, a city official said. The mandate is among the most sweeping in the nation.

For most of the Empire State’s local authorities, what's next remains unclear.

New York State County Executives Association President Marc Molinaro, a Republican who unsuccessfully challenged Cuomo for governor in 2018, argued that “the state has that authority now” under powers granted to the state health commissioner during a public health emergency.

“It is more than punting — he's basically saying, ‘I've given you what you wanted so now go fail, so that I can prove that I was right.’ That's not science, that’s not medicine and it's not a good idea,” said Molinaro, the Dutchess County executive.

“We all run into the same basic obstacles, which are who enforces? Law enforcement's not going to enforce and the governor acknowledged this, with his orders. Secondly, you can't mandate the use of a mask for individuals that may have a medical condition that precludes them from doing it — in which case, that becomes a tool that individuals can use rightfully and wrongfully. And then you end up putting compliance on a private business or someone else, in which case it just doesn’t get enforced.”

Molinaro said county executives plan to speak Tuesday to discuss Cuomo’s recommendations and new CDC guidance. The New York State Association of Counties declined to comment on the governor’s Monday remarks.

The end of the state’s Covid-19 emergency declaration in late June also largely ended many of New York’s pandemic-era policies. The declaration, which had been in place since March 7, 2020, let Cuomo impose hundreds of executive orders with the force of law. His orders also prohibited local governments from making their own rules.

Even before the state’s emergency ended, Albany lawmakers in March limited the expanded powers they had given to Cuomo to impose such laws, as the governor faced new scrutiny for his handling of Covid-19 in nursing homes.

The Legislature, which formally ended its session in June, has not indicated any new plans to return to Albany. Spokespersons for Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said Monday that they’ll “continue to monitor” the situation.

“[E]veryone that can, should get vaccinated as quickly as possible,” Senate Democratic spokesperson Mike Murphy said in an email. “Local governments should follow state and federal guidelines. As always with this pandemic we will allow science to dictate our actions.”

“The Speaker is very concerned about the surge in positive cases particularly as it relates to the Delta variant,” Assembly spokesperson Mike Whyland said.

Bill Mahoney contributed to this report.