25 September 2020: Massachusetts Veterans Home Administrators Criminally Charged for 'Deadly Decision'

Two Officials Charged for 'Deadly Decision' at Holyoke Soldier's Home

The "two official charged" are former Superintendent Bennett Walsh and former Medical Director David Clinton of the Holyoke Soldiers' Home in Massachusetts. Under their direction, the 247-bed Massachusetts government-run facility for poor, sick veterans deliberately mixed coronavirus-infected and non-infected patients in close proximity, ensuring COVID-19 would spread among the vulnerable, non-infected patients and staff like "fire through dry grass", ultimately leading to 76 patient deaths.

Their decision has been described by Massachusetts' prosecutors as reckless. In practice, it is virtually indistinguishable from what occurred in New York's nursing homes under the Cuomo administration's 25 March 2020 directive to force nursing homes in their jurisdiction to blindly admit coronavirus-infected patients without any testing to verify whether they were still infectious, which contributed to New York's worst-in-the-nation COVID-19 death toll.

The criminal charges filed in Massachusetts illustrate the kind of legal liability risk that Governor Andrew Cuomo and members of his administration may face in New York, which contributes to their motives to stonewall the release of public records documenting what happened in New York's nursing homes while their 25 March 2020 directive was in effect and to either prevent or obstruct independent investigations of it.

25 September 2020: Team Cuomo Knew Nursing Homes Were Hotbeds for Spreading Viral Infections

Inspections Found Nursing Home Lapses as COVID-19 Raged in NY

This report blows the lid off any claims the Cuomo administration did not know that nursing homes were failing prevent patients and staff from spreading coronavirus infections during the period Governor Cuomo's deadly 25 March 2020 directive forcing nursing homes to admit coronavirus patients was in effect.

24 September 2020: NY State Senate Wants Cuomo Administration's Data

State Senate seeks full accounting of COVID-19 nursing home deaths under Cuomo

This article reports on "separate pieces of legislation from both sides of the aisle" that seek to get a true accounting of the coronavirus death toll in New York's nursing homes, overturning the "loophole" Governor Cuomo's administration is using to minimize the tally.

23 September 2020: Team Cuomo Stalling Release of Public Data on NY COVID Nursing Home Deaths

50 Days later: Still waiting on number of nursing home patient deaths in NY

On 3 August 2020, New York State Department of Health Commissioner Howard Zucker testified he would release public records related to the number of patients at New York nursing homes who were transferred to hospitals and subsequently died. This editorial notes that the Cuomo administration official has taken no action since to provide any of it to the public.

18 September 2020: Governor Cuomo and the Hospital Lobbyists

The Hospital Lobbyists Behind Cuomo's Nursing Home Scandal

The report explores Governor Cuomo's relationship with a nursing home lobbyist group.

16 September 2020: Growing Bipartisan Calls for Cuomo Administration to Come Clean

Sen. James Tedisco pressures Cuomo to disclose COVID-19 nursing home deaths

This article describes the growing bipartisan calls for the Cuomo administration to stop stonewalling the release public records related to the governor's nursing home scandal as several state politicians have teamed up to launch a petition drive for an independent probe of the Cuomo administration's actions.

15 September 2020: Cuomo Administration Yields to Pressure by Families to Visit Nursing Homes

Cuomo relaxes COVID-19 nursing home restrictions amid protests

This article reports on the lifting of some of Governor Cuomo's more odious restrictions his administration imposed that have prevented family members from visiting their relatives in New York's nursing homes since March.

14 September 2020: Cuomo Administration Using Legal Loopholes to Stonewall Nursing Home Probes

Foiling transparency: The Cuomo administration leans on an old excuse to withhold information on COVID deaths

This editorial describes how the Cuomo administration uses loopholes in the state's Freedom of Information Laws to stonewall requests for public records.

13 September 2020: NY Families Want Accountability, To Visit Relatives in Nursing Homes

Protesters call on Andrew Cuomo to take responsibility for nursing home deaths and demand families be able to visit patients

This report covers a protest by a "couple dozen" protestors outside Governor Cuomo's Manhattan office.

11 September 2020: Governor Cuomo's Coronavirus Pandemic Leadership Under Fire

In Worst-Hit Covid State, New York’s Cuomo Called All the Shots

This report dives into how the decisions for which Governor Cuomo has full responsibility contributed to making New York the worst-hit state for the coronavirus pandemic.

10 September 2020: Opinion - Governor Cuomo's COVID Nursing Home Death Scandal Is Very Real

Nursing Home Scandal Undercuts Cuomo's Covid Boasts

This op-ed recounts how COVID-19 became a runaway killer in New York's nursing homes under the policies of Governor Cuomo's administration and notes the bipartisan criticism of his actions to cover their results.

9 September 2020: Editorial - Cuomo "Going Off the Rails" in Evasion Campaign

Andrew Cuomo going off the rails under the stress of NY’s pandemic woes

Governor Cuomo has recently ramped up his campaign of evasion of responsibility to now blame President Trump for the coronavirus arriving in the U.S. This editorial takes Governor Cuomo to task for that claim and other poorly considered actions.

9 September 2020: Cuomo Administration Responds to U.S. DOJ Request for Nursing Home Death Data

Nursing home mortality remains focus of FBI's Cuomo probe

This timeline entry is based on information that was reported on 6 June 2021, indicating the time, but not the content of the Cuomo administration's response to the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division's request for New York's public COVID nursing home death data:

The Cuomo administration has declined to release its correspondence with the Justice Department. It is, however, known that those exchanges included a Sept. 9 letter that was signed by a state Department of Health attorney in response to the federal agency's Aug. 26 demand letter.

That secrecy has also prompted tumultuous exchanges between Cuomo's office and the Legislature, which had requested similar records since last August.

Related entries from the timeline:

• 26 August 2020: DOJ Seeks Nursing Home Death Data from COVID Patient Dumping States

6 September 2020: Frustrated New Yorker Flies 'The Gov Killed Nana' Banner

‘The gov killed Nana’ banner flies over NYC, LI beaches to troll Gov. Andrew Cuomo

We didn't expect there would be much new information on this story over Labor Day weekend, but this one surprised us. Someone hired a small plane to tow a banner over New York City and the beaches of Long Island with the statement "THE GOV KILLED NANA" written on it. Follow the link to the story to see the mobile phone video of the plane in flight.

Here's an excerpt from the report describing how the trolling flight was received:

One Rockaway beachgoer told The Post the plane flew by around 4 p.m. as observers stopped to take pictures and applauded the message.

“The people were going crazy," the beachgoer said. “[Cuomo] is nothing but a liar, condescending and miserable person. His carelessness caused the death of a lot of people unnecessarily."

2 September 2020: Editorial - Team Cuomo’s "Ridiculous Nursing-Home-Death Dodge"

Team Cuomo’s latest ridiculous nursing-home-death dodge

This editorial takes on the Cuomo administration's claim that it cannot locate the records related to nursing home COVID-19 infections and deaths until two days after the state's upcoming elections. It also confirms that New York's Health Insurance Commissioner testified before state legislators that he had all the information back on 3 August 2020.

1 September 2020: Cuomo Administration Accused of Stonewalling True Count of Nursing Home Deaths

Cuomo admin accused of stonewalling over COVID-19 nursing home death tally

This report covers the Empire Center for Public Policy's effort to obtain data from the Cuomo administration that quantifies the full death tally of nursing home residents from the coronavirus. The government watchdog group reveals the state is sitting on far more data related to COVID-19 nursing-home related infections and deaths and rejects its claims that it cannot make the records available until November 5, 2020, two days after upcoming statewide elections:

“The state Health Department is offering a new explanation for why it won’t provide the full death toll of coronavirus in nursing homes: it can’t find the records," said Bill Hammond, a health analyst for the Empire Center who submitted the legal request for the data in early August.

In a response letter sent to Hammond on Monday, the department said it could not yet fulfill the request “because a diligent search for relevant documents is still being conducted."

“We estimate that this Office will complete its process by November 5, 2020. The Department will notify you in writing when/if the responsive materials are available for release or if the time needed to complete your request extends beyond the above date," said the department’s record access officer, Rosemary Hewig.

The independent, nonpartisan, and non-profit organization indicates the state's Health Department's claim is disingenuous and describes how out-of-the-ordinary it is:

The delayed compliance in releasing information in response to legal requests has been a common practice of government agencies, with officials often saying they are still conducting a “diligent search" for records.

“In this case, however, a search of any kind should not be necessary," Hammond said in a blog post.

He said the department’s Health Emergency Response Data System (or HERDS) has required nursing homes to file daily reports throughout the pandemic — including counts of all residents who die from coronavirus, both within the facilities or hospitals or elsewhere.

“Those numbers are the basis for the partial count that the department does make public – which stood at 6,639 as of Aug. 29, but omits potentially thousands of residents who died in hospitals," Hammond said.

Hammond said the “unusual methodology" is used by few if any other states and gives the public a “distorted picture of the pandemic."

We think that given these circumstances, the failure of Governor Cuomo's administration to respond in a timely manner to the group's request for the public information under the state's Freedom Of Information Law, can legitimately be claimed to be stonewalling.