Dozens of grieving New York families who lost elderly loved ones during the pandemic joined eight of Andrew Cuomo’s mayoral race foes Sunday to somberly mark the five years since the former governor’s controversial order to house COVID patients in nursing homes.
The family members and candidates were united in sorrow and outrage , excoriating Cuomo for his fateful decision , which by many estimates resulted in the premature deaths of about 15,000 nursing-home residents , all while he touted his leadership of the Empire State and signed a multimillion-dollar book deal.
“My mother’s name is Anna Martinez. She was a strong, kind woman who dedicated her life to her family,” said Alexa Rivera, who founded Voices for Seniors along with her sister, Vivian Zayas, after their mother died following Cuomo’s March 25, 2020, order.
“She deserved dignity and protection and a government that valued her life,” Rivera said at the gathering. “But instead she was abandoned by the very system that was supposed to protect her when the pandemic struck…