But states were designed to adjucate social issues.
Just so long as they have a democratic form of government, they are empowered to do whatever they want.
Since Rudy was the mayor of a city, not president of the country, he had authority over a different set of issues. He instructed the police to arrest disorderly vagrants, because that is what the voters wanted. The voters had the full authority to elect a city government that gave disorderly vagrants free money from the public treasury, but they had already tried that and found it unsatisfactory.
Allowance is given for that. Nonetheless, he has shown little indication he would go hands-off with social issues; even when he does try to indicate a hands-off approach (say, gun control) the wording he uses indicates a presumption of far more gov't involvement than conservatives can tolerate (say, presumes that all guns will be licensed). We just don't see anything resembling conservatism in Rudy.