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<\/p>\nandrew cuomo
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A defensive Gov. Andrew Cuomo went on a 15-minute rant Friday in which he vowed to counter what he claimed were \u201clies\u201d and \u201cmisinformation\u201d about his handling of nursing homes amid the COVID-19 pandemic \u2014 and accused his critics of “causing pain” to the relatives of residents killed by the disease.<\/p>\n
During a virtual news conference from Albany, Cuomo said, \u201cI\u2019m not going to let you hurt New Yorkers by lying about what happened. Surrounding the death of a loved one.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, I\u2019m going to take on the lies and the unscrupulous actors, especially when they cause pain and damage to New York,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI should have done it before. And I should have done it more aggressively.\u201d<\/p>\n
“This is different,” he said.<\/p>\n
“This is causing the pain to families who lost a loved one.”<\/p>\n
His remarks, which appeared to have been scripted and were accompanied by slides reinforcing his message, came a day after the New York Law Journal reported that the FBI and the Brooklyn US Attorney’s Office had launched a probe of his COVID-19 task force in the wake of The Post’s report.<\/p>\n
They also came amid an escalating feud with a growing bloc of state legislators, including Assemblyman Ron Kim (D-Queens).<\/p>\n
Kim \u2014 whose uncle died in a nursing home in April after suffering symptoms of COVID-19 \u2014 this week accused Cuomo of threatening him during a phone call prompted by critical remarks he made to The Post.<\/p>\n
Also during Friday’s news conference, Health Commissioner Howard Zucker defended his controversial March 25 directive for nursing homes to accept COVID-19 patients, which critics have blamed for spreading the deadly virus among vulnerable seniors.<\/p>\n
Zucker said the state was \u201crunning out of ICU space\u201d as hospitalizations were \u201cdoubling every three days.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the facts that we had at that moment in time, it was the correct decision at that moment in time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n