By Tracey Alvino
Disgraced former Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) is poised for a political comeback. How is this possible?
NYC Mayor Eric Adams (D) is weak and ineffectual and like a shark in chum-filled waters, Andrew Cuomo smells blood. Make no mistake, the office of NYC Mayor would not be the last stop for Andrew Cuomo. He’s eyeballing that office as a springboard back into the Governor’s mansion and beyond. It’s up to us grieving families to make sure the voters of New York never forget how his gross negligence cost lives. It was our loved ones this time; it could be your loved ones next time.
On March 25, 2020, Andrew Cuomo signed an executive order that mandated over 9,000 COVID-positive patients into nursing homes. With the stroke of his pen, he sentenced over 15,000 innocent people to death and sentenced thousands of families to a lifetime of anguish and heartbreak. My father, Daniel Alvino (picture top right), was one of Andrew Cuomo’s victims. He caught COVID in a nursing home rehabilitation while recovering from neck surgery. He died in an agonizing fashion after languishing on a ventilator for almost two weeks on
April 14, 2020.
My Dad died alone.
Since his death, I have become the director of a group of thousands of grieving families that lost their loved ones to COVID acquired in nursing facilities during the Pandemic. Voices For Seniors has spent nearly five years fighting for justice for the over 15,000 nursing home victims who lost their lives due to Cuomo’s fatally flawed Pandemic mandate. Every family’s story is tragic, and every story deserves to be told. These people were not just grim statistics; they were mothers, fathers, spouses, and friends who died preventable deaths at the hands of a tyrannical Governor.
Andrew Cuomo has blamed these deaths on God, Mother Nature, the media, the nursing home staff, and even the nursing home patients themselves. His latest spin on the truth paints us grieving families as “MAGA” conspiracy theorists. Being forced to testify in Congress about his fatal decisions has only strengthened his resolve to be obstinate and take no accountability for his actions. There is no MAGA conspiracy when it comes to Cuomo’s lethal policies and the mass death of seniors.
While probes into Andrew Cuomo by the Democrat-led New York State Legislature largely flopped, grieving families were able to get the House Oversight Committee to investigate Cuomo’s many criminally negligent actions during the Pandemic. Both Republicans and Democrats agreed that Cuomo committed “medical malpractice” and slammed his COVID response in nursing homes.
The House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus found Cuomo attempted to influence the testimony of his top aide Jim Malatras. They also found Cuomo lied to Congress by claiming he had nothing to do with the March 25 directive when evidence proves otherwise. The report also found that he engaged in a deliberate coverup of nursing home deaths by falsifying health data which was used to make decisions for our entire State. Let’s also not forget how he wrote a book with taxpayer resources applauding himself for his Pandemic “leadership.” Cuomo has since been referred to the Department of Justice for criminal indictment. It’s shocking that even with the damning evidence stacked against him, Andrew Cuomo believes he can claw his way back into power.
As if 15,000 innocent lives weren’t enough of a reason to keep Andrew Cuomo out of public office, the Congressional findings provide a striking reminder of how his pre-pandemic “leadership” failed New York long before COVID.
Cuomo’s criminal justice “reforms” such as “cashless bail” and “Raise the Age” have turned New York into a safe haven for criminals and caused the spikes in lawlessness we live with today. His declaration of New York as a “Sanctuary” also contributed to the migrant crisis which cost taxpayers over $4.3 billion. He also prohibited law enforcement from working with ICE and border patrol in an effort to thwart deportations of criminal migrants. Cuomo’s energy policies while in office have led to the unaffordable electric bills we struggle with today.
He even cut the number of psychiatric hospital beds which placed unrelenting pressure on our police, homeless services, transit systems, and jails. It’s also been reported that Cuomo has used $28 million dollars of taxpayer money for his legal bills defending himself against numerous sexual harassment claims.
Andrew Cuomo’s time as Governor has proven him unfit to hold office. It’s up to us to end his narcissistic lust for power and control as an elected official. His corruption and incompetence caused death, chaos and destruction. He’s counting on the passage of time to erase our memories, where bullying and tyranny were the tenets of his rule. We can’t be at the mercy of a scandal-plagued cad who prioritizes his self-interest above the best interests of New Yorkers.
New York deserves better than Andrew Cuomo.
Tracey Alvino is a teacher and the Director of Voices for Seniors.
