Governor Cuomo is a master of distraction and political sleight of hand. But don’t let his celebratory poster and premature victory lap over coronavirus distract you from an awful truth: at least 6,300 seniors living in nursing homes died in the aftermath of his decision to allow COVID-positive patients back into their facilities.
I say “at least” because a non-partisan study by the EmpireCenter puts the number of seniors who died at closer to 10,000. Last week, the governor’s office issued its internal report on his nursing home disaster and instead of accepting any responsibility, shifted the entirety of blame to the caregivers and families of the deceased.
That’s just cruel and unacceptable. For months, I’ve been urging the state Legislature to conduct an independent investigation into the deaths of seniors in nursing homes. We need to know why the decision was made to allow patients with coronavirus to return to places where the illness could spread like wildfire among a vulnerable population. And we need to know exactly what went wrong so we can ensure similar tragedies never happen again.
I’m glad that the state Senate is finally taking action and conducting a hearing, and I urge them to use all available investigative options to pursue the truth. That means using its powers of subpoena to hear directly from Governor Cuomo, Commissioner of Health Dr. Zucker, and any other state officials involved in this ill-fated decision.
The families of the deceased deserve answers. They deserve to hear the truth. That can only be achieved if the Senate uses its ability to subpoena and holds those in power accountable for their actions. Taking it one step further, understanding the truth in what went wrong will provide the information needed to ultimately protect our vulnerable population.
“The biggest problem for the state is the enormous, recurring structural budget gap starting next year and into the future,” said E.J. McMahon of the conservative-leaning Empire Center. “Cuomo clearly hopes that starting in 2021, (Democratic presidential candidate Joseph) Biden and a Democratic Congress will provide states and local government a couple of year’s worth of added stimulus. Read More
Ed McKinley
ALBANY — When the New York Constitution was reorganized nearly 100 years ago to give the governor more power over the budget process, noted there was a risk of making “the governor a czar."
M Read More
Michael Gormley
ALBANY — A new study by a conservative think tank says President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax law gave most New Yorkers a tax cut, even as Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo insists on repealing the measure because he says it will cost New Yo Read More
Johan Sheridan
ALBANY, N.Y. () — The Empire Center filed a against the state Department of Health on Friday.
“This case isn’t about assigning blame or embarrassing political leaders,” said Bill Hammond, the Empire Center’s Read More
The Empire Center first reported Tuesday that grants — 226 of them, totaling $46 million, to recipients selected by the governor and individual state lawmakers — seemed to still be going ahead. Read More
With lingering questions about how the novel coronavirus killed thousands of New Yorkers who lived in nursing homes, a group of state lawmakers is pushing to create an independent commission to get answers from the state Department of Health. Read More
“The importance of discussing this and getting the true facts out is to understand what did and didn’t happen so we can learn from it in case this happens again,” Hammond said. Read More
No doubt, the Health Department and the governor would like this report to be the final word on the subject.
But if it’s all the same with them, we’d still like a truly independent review. Read More