Family members of New York nursing home residents who say their relatives contracted coronavirus and died after Governor Andrew Cuomo’s directive on March 25 held a memorial on Sunday with participants, including Fox News’s Janice Dean.
Dean, who attributes his in-laws’ coronavirus deaths to Cuomo’s guideline, said she and the other participants in the rally had become like family.
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“I am here today as a bereaved family member, not someone with a political motivation, as our governor likes to call me,” she said. “We are united because we want answers and we are not going to stop.”
Dean’s in-laws, Mickey and Dee Newman, died in the spring of 2020.
Protesters against the way Governor Andrew Cuomo deals with the deaths of COVID-19 in nursing homes gather in front of the Cobble Hill Health Center nursing home on Sunday, March 21, 2021 in New York. (AP Photo / David Crary)
“We had no idea [Mickey Newman] had died of Covid until we saw the death certificate, “said Dean.” We had no idea that there was a March 25 request for positive patients to Covid for asylums. My husband had to break the news to his mother that his father was dead, and she was heartbroken. Two weeks later, she got to Covid. “
Family members built a “We Care Memorial Wall” with pictures of their loved ones.
New York City Councilor Brad Lander and New York State Representative Ron Kim also attended the rally organized by Peter and Daniel Arbeeny, two brothers who blame Cuomo for the death of his father in 2020.
“There are 100,000 people like me and those around me who have lost those they loved the most,” said Daniel Arbeeny.
Peter Arbeeny thanked the nursing home staff and said he did not blame the nursing homes themselves or the workers.
“As orphans at Covid, we need answers, an apology and a fair investigation,” he said.
New York lawmakers are preparing an impeachment investigation for Governor Andrew Cuomo. Kim was an early supporter of impeachment.
“When I got that call from Cuomo threatening my career and my livelihood to lie for him … I was afraid he would escape responsibility,” Kim told the crowd, adding that he had lost his uncle due to the coronavirus in a nursing home.
“Your reign of abusive power will end soon because there are too many decent people in New York City to let this guy go out of control. … Let’s find out the truth,” said Kim.
Participants held up signs with slogans including “Cuomo made our parents ‘uncomfortable’ #SeniorsToo” and “Apologize, Andrew!”
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Cuomo has faced criticism from Republicans and Democrats for his government’s March 25 directive banning nursing homes and other long-term care facilities from banning thousands of elderly people infected with the coronavirus.
Despite Cuomo’s efforts to attribute the controversy to party politics, as questions about how to deal with the pandemic continue, his government was forced to admit that deaths in nursing homes reached 15,000 – almost 10,000 more than which was originally reported by the state in late January.