Three Key Takeaways:
- Former Governor Andrew Cuomo’s nursing home directive during the COVID-19 pandemic led to the deaths of thousands of seniors, with families like that of Sean Newman losing both parents under heartbreaking circumstances.
- Cuomo’s callous response to the deaths, dismissing where they occurred, and his deliberate undercounting of nursing home fatalities angered grieving families who were also denied the chance to say proper goodbyes due to strict lockdown policies.
- Despite the devastation caused by his policies, Cuomo is attempting a political comeback by running for Mayor of New York City, while many believe he should be held accountable for his actions during the pandemic.
Andrew Cuomo wants New Yorkers to forgive and forget.
But families who lost loved ones because of his decisions can’t move on.
And Andrew Cuomo made this shocking admission about his deadly nursing home decision that left families devastated.
Cuomo’s nursing home directive led to thousands of deaths
Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is back in the political spotlight as he eyes a run for New York City Mayor.
But one FDNY battalion chief refuses to let voters forget how Cuomo’s pandemic policies resulted in the deaths of thousands of vulnerable seniors – including both of his parents.
In a heartbreaking account, Sean Newman detailed how his parents, Mickey and Dee Newman, died within weeks of each other in spring 2020 after Cuomo’s March 25 directive forced nursing homes to accept COVID-positive patients.
‘Cuomo’s nursing-home directive wilfully brought disease to the group least prepared to defend themselves.’
Sean Newman ✍️ https://t.co/GfmnGfkPf8
— UnHerd (@unherd) April 2, 2025
Newman lost his father first, with a shocking phone call that came just hours after being told he had a low-grade fever.
“Three hours later, the same doctor called to tell me that my father had died,” Newman recounted. “The call was professional and brief.”
But the nightmare was only beginning. Newman had to break the devastating news to his mother, who had been married to his father for 60 years.
“One of the hardest things I ever had to do was to call my mother and tell her that her husband of 60 years had passed,” Newman wrote.
Cuomo’s callous response shocked grieving families
When questioned about the thousands of nursing home deaths his policies caused, Cuomo’s response was shockingly dismissive.
“Who cares [if they] died in the hospital, died in a nursing home? They died,” Cuomo infamously stated.
That callous statement came as New Yorkers discovered Cuomo had been deliberately undercounting nursing home deaths. Newman’s mother was counted as a hospital death despite contracting COVID in her senior care facility – one of many cases that allowed Cuomo to hide the true impact of his disastrous policy.
Newman believes facilities were forced to move residents to make room for COVID patients coming in under Cuomo’s mandate.
“I do remember a call I received near the end of March letting me know they were moving my father to a different floor,” Newman recalled. “But looking back on it now, I believe it was to make room for the COVID-positive patients, as mandated by Cuomo’s orders.”
Families denied proper goodbyes
The cruelty of Cuomo’s lockdown policies extended beyond just exposing vulnerable seniors to the virus. Families were robbed of the chance to say goodbye or properly mourn their loved ones.
Newman described a heartbreaking final visit with his father: “I sat at his side for about 15 to 20 minutes, then tidied up his area the best I could, got a quick update from the desk nurse and left.”
He had no idea it would be the last time he would see his father alive, carrying that guilt to this day.
After his mother also fell ill with COVID, their final conversation was a brief phone call where she asked him to make sure his sons received Easter presents on her behalf. The next day, she was gone.
Instead of a proper funeral, the family had a small graveside service with masks and social distancing.
“We retreated to our respective cars, still wearing our masks, and returned to our homes,” Newman wrote. “It was the best goodbye we could have hoped for, given the circumstance.”
Cuomo seeks political comeback while families still grieve
Five years after these tragic events, Cuomo is attempting to resurrect his political career with a run for Mayor of New York City.
But Newman and countless other New Yorkers won’t let voters forget what happened under Cuomo’s leadership.
“Then-Gov. Cuomo’s 25 March nursing-home directive wilfully brought disease to the group least prepared to defend themselves against the novel coronavirus,” Newman explained. “Their only chance was isolation.”
Instead of protecting the most vulnerable, Cuomo’s order “helped [COVID] through the front door by a decree from the man who now wants to lead Gotham.”
This wasn’t a case of hindsight being 20/20. Newman, who tracked COVID since December 2019 as part of his FDNY job, noted that by March 2020, it was obvious this wasn’t an ordinary virus. Everyone knew the elderly were particularly vulnerable – everyone except the Governor making life-and-death decisions.
Cuomo received national praise for his daily press briefings and even won an Emmy Award for his COVID “leadership.” Meanwhile, families like Newman’s were burying their loved ones, denied even the comfort of gathering to mourn.
“MickeyandDee” spent their entire lives together until Cuomo’s policies separated them in their final months. Though Newman was able to place his father’s ashes in his mother’s casket, thousands of other New York families never got any closure.
