NYC Mayor Calls on Cuomo to ‘Answer’ for COVID Nursing Home Scandal

Former New York Governor and New York City mayor Eric Adams said Monday that Andrew Cuomo must “answer for the way he handled nursing homes during the pandemic and his treatment of casualties.

Adams’ comment came when he was asked by a journalist if “undercounting of COVID-related nursing homes deaths disqualified Cuomo from running for mayor.”

“I’ve met with some of the nursing home family members and advocates. There’s some things that we want to do with them. But he has to answer that question on the trail,” Adams responded. “Should that be an automatic disqualification? No, I think it needs to be answered on the trail, exactly what happened. And I think some of those family members are going to be looking forward to that.” 

The New York State Comptroller released a report in March 2022 that found Cuomo’s Health Department “was not transparent” in reporting COVID-19 death rates in nursing homes and “understated” the numbers of deaths by up to 50% at some times during the pandemic.

Last year, Republican legislators questioned the former governor about a controversial order his administration had issued in March of 2020, which initially prohibited nursing homes from refusing patients with COVID-19 positive tests.

The directive was later reversed due to speculations that the move had led to an increase in outbreaks.

Cuomo was succeeded by Gov. Kathy Hochul, who commissioned a state report. Kathy Hochul found that while policies regarding how nursing homes were to handle COVID-19 at the time were “rushed and incoordinated”, they were still based on the best science understandings.

Cuomo’s representatives have denied that he was negligent in his handling of nursing homes when the pandemic hit.

Cuomo resigned in 2021 after sexual harassment accusations, which he denied.

Cuomo’s New York City mayoral bid was announced over the weekend. In a video, he said, “The City just feels out of control, in crisis, and threatening.”

Adams responded that Cuomo “must also answer this on the campaign trails” when asked about sexual harassment accusations against him.

“I believe the women [who] made the allegations, respect what they stated. I believe what they said based on the investigation, and he has to answer that on the trail,” Adams said.