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

[rangerrebew]

In Worst-Hit Covid State, New York’s Cuomo Called All the Shots
Governor overrode mayor on shutdown timing, faced criticism for nursing home moves; ‘It’s not your call’
 
Sept. 11, 2020 11:14 am ET
 

New York City was locking down. Gov. Andrew Cuomo wanted to say when and how it would happen.

After Mayor Bill de Blasio told residents in a March 17 news conference to prepare to “shelter in place,” Mr. Cuomo dismissed the mayor’s plan in a television interview while his aides blitzed City Hall with calls.

“The phones were ringing off the hook,” recalled Freddi Goldstein, the mayor’s press secretary at the time. “They said, ‘[The mayor] sounds crazy. He’s scaring people. You have to walk it back. It’s not up to you. It’s not your call.’ ”

https://www.wsj.com/articles/cuomo-covid-new-york-coronavirus-de-blasio-shutdown-timing-11599836994

[IsailedawayfromFR]

'Shots' is a good description.

He may as well have lined up the poor victims against a wall and used a firing squad to eliminate them after forcing infected patients into otherwise clean nursing homes where the virus swept through and decimated hundreds of the most vulnerable in our society.

[mountaineer]

NY Health Department responsible for $700M in ‘improper’ Medicaid spending: audit
By Bruce Golding and Bernadette Hogan
September 21, 2020 | 12:52pm

Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Health Department is responsible for $700 million in “improper” and “questionable” Medicaid spending during fiscal 2019, state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli announced Monday.

The payments, uncovered by state auditors, include nearly $12 million on behalf of people who weren’t eligible for the taxpayer-funded program — and nearly $5 million spent on health care for dead people, DiNapoli said.

The bulk of the money — $605 million — went to overpayments for prescription drugs dispensed through managed-care companies under contract to the state Department of Health, he said. ... Full story at NY Post