Why New Yorkers may still vote for Andrew Cuomo despite blaming him for thousands of nursing home deaths: 'He can fail us again'

When New York’s former governor Andrew Cuomo ordered nursing homes to accept Covid-positive patients in 2020, more than 15,000 elderly residents died. The policy, intended to ease pressure on hospitals, became one of the darkest chapters of the state’s pandemic response — and a wound that has not healed for many New Yorkers. Vivian Zayas, whose 78-year-old mother, Ana Celia Martinez, died in a Long Island care home, said Cuomo’s return to politics feels like an insult. “We’ve always been surprised he’d have the gall to run again,” was quoted as saying to The Times. “Then he came back as an independent — like the vampire that just doesn’t die. It shows his ego.” Zayas co-founded Voices for Seniors, an advocacy group that represents thousands of families affected by the policy.