Cuomo bails on NYC senior center visit where protesters hoped to confront ex-gov over nursing home death scandal
Mayoral hopeful Andrew Cuomo bailed on a planned visit Friday to a Queens senior center as dozens of raging protesters were expected to confront the ex-gov over his botched handling of the nursing homes during the pandemic.
About 25 protesters marched in front of Peter Cardella Senior Citizens Center in Ridgewood for over an hour as they eagerly waited to face Cuomo over his administration's controversial directive to send infected COVID-19 patients into nursing homes — which resulted in thousands of deaths.
'I'm still trying to process and come to terms with how to prevent that [a pandemic] from happening again, but I'm pretty dismayed that Andrew Cuomo has the gall to run for mayor,' said Dr. Damien Archbold, an anesthesiologist at Elmhurst Hospital, told The Post.
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6 About 25 protesters swarmed the Peter Cardella Senior Citizen Center in Ridgewood in hopes of confronting Andrew Cuomo.
Paul Martinka
'I have this moral indignation that Cuomo's running for mayor of New York City after he sold out the city.'
Cuomo was initially scheduled to hit the senior citizens center on the campaign trail — prompting the group to rush to the building.
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'I like what you guys are doing, where can I get a sign?' one woman asked before joining their ranks.
6 Cuomo's decision to place sick patients in nursing homes during the height of the pandemic contributed to 15,000 deaths across the state.
Paul Martinka
Across the street, a neighbor yelled: 'Hold up your signs so I can take a picture. F–k that guy!'
The campaign claims the former governor, who resigned amid a series of scandals, had no plans to show up with the event being cancelled days ago.
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However, two workers in the senior center told The Post the campaign pulled the plug Friday morning.
The center is not a nursing home — seniors visit the building to socialize, but do not live or sleep in the building.
6 Daniel Arbeeny lost four family members in a single week during the pandemic.
Paul Martinka
Protesters, however, viewed Cuomo's visit to an elderly facility as disingenuous after his fatal COVID-19 policies allowed the virus to tear through nursing homes at the height of the pandemic — a responsibility he has continuously declined to acknowledge.
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Daniel Arbeeny, who attended the rally with We Care Memorial Wall, a group dedicated to 'exposing Cuomo's nursing home death cover-up,' said he was protesting in memory of the loved ones he lost during the pandemic.
The Arbeeny family lost four members in a single week, including his beloved father.
In a tweet, another activist group, VoicesForSeniors, simply said: 'Coward can't face us!'
6 'We want the people to know what happened, and we want answers,' Daniel Arbeeny said.
Paul Martinka
6 Cuomo did not answer questions about why he canceled his visit.
Michael Nagle
'We want the truth. We want the people to know what happened, and we want answers,' Arbeeny said.
Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa's team also showed up upon hearing of the demonstration, with his campaign advisor Sharon Liao telling The Post: 'Cuomo made a very wrong decision during the pandemic to send the patients of COVID-19 to the nursing homes. 15,000 people died because of his mistake, and we just don't think he's worthy of being the mayor.'
'I don't care about the sexual harassment, this is real life. This is a more serious matter, we care about life,' she continued.
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When asked what she would say to Cuomo if he were here today, Liao said: 'Please stop ruining our city. If he ruined New York State when he was the governor, imagine in New York City, which is much more complicated.'
6 'I like what you guys are doing, where can I get a sign?' one woman asked before joining their ranks.
Paul Martinka
Cuomo has skirted blame for the roughly 15,000 people who died in nursing homes across the state during the pandemic, which many have traced back to the then-Governor's decision to shuttle infected patients into the facilities.
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In March, Cuomo offered a half-baked apology when asked if he owned family members of those who died an apology, saying instead: 'I'm sorry for what they had to go through.'
Despite criticism of his nursing home decisions, Cuomo is currently leading the polls for the Democratic nomination for mayor in next month's primary vote over second place rival Zohran Mamdani.
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