Cuomo family’s special access

Reports: Governor’s kin got scarce testing for virus

Relatives of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and others with connections to him received special access to coronavirus tests a year ago when testing was scarce, according to published reports in newspapers.

Members of Cuomo’s family including his brother, CNN journalist Chris Cuomo, his mother and at least one of his sisters were tested by top health department officials, some of them several times, according to the Times Union of Albany.

The testing of people closely tied to the Democratic governor was carried out by high-ranking state health officials, The New York Times reported. It mostly happened in the early days of the pandemic in March 2020.

The newspapers cited multiple people with direct knowledge of the testing but did not identify them.

Rich Azzopardi, a spokesperson for Cuomo, did not explicitly deny that the administration had extended special treatment to people close to the governor but sought to dispute the notion.

“In the early days of this pandemic, when there was a heavy emphasis on contact tracing, we were absolutely going above and beyond to get people testing,” Azzopardi said in a statement to the newspapers, adding that the effort included “in some instances going to people’s homes — and door-to door-in places like New Rochelle — to take samples from those believed to have been exposed to Covid in order to identify cases” and to prevent others from developing the disease.

Chris Cuomo was diagnosed with COVID-19 in late March of 2020. The CNN anchor was swabbed by a top state health department doctor who visited his Hamptons home to collect samples from him and his family, people with knowledge of the matter told The Washington Post, which did not identify them.

In a statement late Wednesday, CNN spokesperson Matt Dornic said: “We generally do not get involved in the medical decisions of our employees. However, it is not surprising that in the earliest days of a once-in-a-century global pandemic, when Chris was showing symptoms and was concerned about possible spread, he turned to anyone he could for advice and assistance, as any human being would.”

The same doctor who tested Chris Cuomo, Eleanor Adams, now a top adviser to the state health commissioner, also was enlisted to test other Cuomo family members, two people familiar with the program told The Washington Post.

The coronavirus test specimens were then rushed to the Wadsworth Center, a state public health lab in Albany, where they were processed immediately, the people said.

News of the priority testing program comes as the third-term governor battles controversies on multiple fronts, including an investigation by the state attorney general into allegations of sexual harassment, which Cuomo has denied, and a federal inquiry into the state’s reporting of COVID-19 in nursing homes.

Lawmaker: Deal ‘imminently close’ on pot legalization

New York lawmakers are finalizing an agreement to legalize recreational marijuana sales to adults over the age of 21, a state legislative leader said Wednesday.

Assembly Majority Leader Crystal PeoplesStokes, the second-highest ranking Democrat in the chamber, said the bill is being drafted and will likely be brought up for a vote next week.

“An agreement is imminently close, we hope to resolve any final bill language issues over the next few days as we await the final print version of the bill to vote on next week,” Peoples-Stokes told The Associated Press in a statement.

New York has come close to passing marijuana legalization several times in recent years, but has been unable to finalize a deal. At least 14 states have legalized recreational marijuana.

Past sticking points for legalization in New York have included lack of support from suburban Democrats and concerns over how to address drivers suspected of driving high. It was unclear Wednesday evening how any agreement would address impaired driving.

Lawmakers and Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who supports legalization, have also been at odds over how to handle marijuana sales tax revenue and how much of a projected windfall should go to communities of color impacted by the decades-long drug war.

Cuomo’s office has estimated that, once a legal marijuana industry is fully mature, it could bring the state about $350 million annually.

The Democrat said he hoped an agreement was close and that legalization was a priority for him this year.