The worst viral outbreak in more than a century has exposed critical weaknesses in New York's public health defenses. Learning the lessons of this crisis – and fortifying the state against the next infectious disease – should be a top priority fo Read More
The death toll in New York's long-term care facilities jumped by another 1,516 this weekend as the Cuomo administration adjusted its reporting on adult-care facilities to include residents who died after being transferred to hospitals. Read More
The state Health Department has revealed additional detail about coronavirus deaths in New York nursing homes, showing for the first time how many residents of each home died of COVID-19 outside of the facility, typically in a hospital. Read More
Numbers belatedly released by the Cuomo administration last week pushed New York's COVID-19 mortality rate in nursing homes from 35th to 13th highest in the U.S., an Empire Center analysis shows. Read More
In a victory for open government, the Empire Center today won a court ruling requiring the prompt release of full coronavirus death tolls in New York nursing homes. Read More
In a letter to governors two days after President Biden's inauguration, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said that the pandemic-related federal public health emergency "will likely remain in place for the entirety of 2021." Read More
Governor Cuomo’s Executive Budget for fiscal year 2022 authorizes an enormous increase in state-supported debt, all in the form of non-voter-approved backdoor borrowing—and all of it pointedly excluded from the state's statutory debt cap. Read More
After a report from New York Attorney General Letitia James confirmed suspicions of under-reporting the official record of COVID-19 nursing home deaths, counsel for the Empire Center submitted a letter to the Albany County Supreme Court renewing its urgent Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request. Read More