One of the most urgent imperatives confronting soon-to-be Gov. Kathy Hochul will be getting real about the state’s pandemic response.

In a bid to make himself the hero of a “New York Tough” success story, Gov. Cuomo spent the past year-and-a-half skewing statistics and hiding data, especially when it came to the number of nursing home residents who have died. In truth, he and his administration were fatefully slow and unsteady in their early reactions last spring — which is part of why New Yorkers suffered one of the deadliest COVID-19 outbreaks seen anywhere in the world.

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About the Author

Bill Hammond

As the Empire Center’s senior fellow for health policy, Bill Hammond tracks fast-moving developments in New York’s massive health care industry, with a focus on how decisions made in Albany and Washington affect the well-being of patients, providers, taxpayers and the state’s economy.

Read more by Bill Hammond

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