The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Hochul adds 12k to NY tally
Benjamin set to be named Lt. Gov.
ALBANY, N.Y. — Delivering another blow to what’s left of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s legacy, New York’s new governor acknowledged on her first day in office that the state has had nearly 12,000 more deaths from COVID-19 than Cuomo told the public.
“The public deserves a clear, honest picture of what’s happen- ing. And that’s whether it’s good or bad, they need to know the truth. And that’s how we restore confidence,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said on NPR.
In its first daily update on the outbreak Tuesday evening, Hochul’s office reported that nearly
55,400 people have died of the coronavirus in New York based on death certificate data submit- ted to the Centers for Disease Con- trol and Prevention.
That’s up from about 43,400 that Cuomo reported to the public as of Monday, his last day in office. The Dem
ocrat who was once widely acclaimed for his leadership during the COVID-19 outbreak resigned in the face of an impeachment drive after being accused of sexually harassing at least 11 women, allegations he disputed.
The higher number is not entirely new. Federal health officials and some academic institutions tracking COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. have been using the higher tally for many months because of known gaps in the data Cuomo had been choosing to publicize.
But Hochul, who was lieutenant governor before being propelled to the state’s highest office, said it is vital to be fully transparent about the numbers.
“There’s a lot of things that weren’t happening, and I’m going to make them happen,” she said Wednesday on MSNBC. “Transparency will be the hallmark of my administration.”
Cuomo’s lawyer Rita Glavin and his campaign staff did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Associated Press first reported in July on the large discrepancy between the figures publicized by the Cuomo administration and numbers the state was reporting to the CDC.
The count used by Cuomo in his news media briefings and on the s tate’s COVID-19 fatality tracker included only laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 deaths reported through a state system that collects data from hospitals, nursing homes and adult care facilities.
That meant the tally excluded people who died at home, in hospice, in prisons or at state-run homes for people with disabilities. It also excluded people who probably died of COVID-19 but never got a positive test to confirm the diagnosis.
“There are presumed and confirmed deaths. People should know both,” Hochul said.
By Wednesday, the state’s website included the higher tally.
During the spring of 2020, when New York was the deadliest hot spot in the U.S., Cuomo emerged in the eyes of many Americans as a hero of the pandemic for his daily Powerpoint briefings and stern but reassuring language. He won an international Emmy and wrote a book on leadership in a crisis.
But Cuomo’s critics long charged that he was manipulating coronavirus statics to burnish his image. Months later, it turned out that his administration had minimized the death toll among nursing home residents by excluding several thousand who had succumbed after being transferred to hospitals.
Cuomo used those lower numbers last year to erroneously claim that New York was seeing a much smaller percentage of nursing home residents dying of COVID-19 than other states.
Federal prosecutors have been investigating his administration’s handling of the data. The state Assembly Judiciary committee has also been investigating the matter.
This week, in the wake of the sexual harassment scandal, Cuomo’s Emmy was revoked. And the publisher of his book has said it will no longer print hardcover copies and will not come out with a paperback edition.
Hochul has selected Brian Benjamin, a state senator from New York City, as her choice for lieutenant governor, according to a person familiar with the administration’s internal discussions.
The person spoke with The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because Hochul had yet to announce her decision publicly. She is expected to do so this week.
If he accepts the job, the 44-year-old Benjamin would become the state’s second Black lieutenant governor. The Democrat, whose district includes most of central Harlem, has focused his legislative career on criminal justice reform and affordable housing.
The role of lieutenant governor in New York has long been largely ceremonial, with the officeholders traveling to ribbon-cutting ceremonies and town halls across the state. But two recent lieutenant governors have become governor following the resignations of their predecessors.
Hochul, a Democrat, became governor Tuesday when Andrew Cuomo resigned after facing numerous allegations of sexual harassment, which he denied. David Paterson, the state’s first Black lieutenant governor, became its first Black governor when Eliot Spitzer resigned after revelations that he had patronized a prostitute.
Hochul’s and Benjamin’s offices didn’t immediately return messages seeking comment.
Benjamin is the son of Caribbean immigrants. He was born in Harlem Hospital and raised in the neighborhood, later earning a bachelor’s degree in public policy from Brown University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He later worked as a developer of affordable housing. He is now senior assistant majority leader in the Senate and chair of the budget and revenue committee.
Benjamin initially ran on promises to close Rikers Island, New York City’s giant and troubled jail complex, and sponsored a bill to do so. He also introduced legislation to divest New York’s public pension fund from private prisons. State Comptroller Tom Dinapoli later ended the fund’s holdings in those companies.
In the national uproar after the killing of George Floyd by a police officer in Minnesota in 2020, Benjamin helped push through a law to criminalize the use of police chokeholds that result in injury or death.
Benjamin has also tweeted support for defunding the police.
This year, Benjamin sponsored a bill making it harder to incarcerate people for minor parole violations. The legislation passed the Senate and Assembly but hasn’t been delivered to the governor, according to the Senate’s website.
Benjamin unsuccessfully ran for New York City comptroller this year.