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Coronavirus Updates: Cuomo Says Frontline Workers Killed By Virus Will Receive Full Death Benefits

Jen Chung

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Christopher Robbins

Published May 25, 2020

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Governor Andrew Cuomo holds a press briefing about the COVID-19 response on the flight deck of the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum.

Erik Pendzich/Shutterstock

Jen Chung

and

Christopher Robbins

Published May 25, 2020

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This is our daily update of breaking COVID-19 news for Sunday, May 25th, 2020. Previous daily updates can be found here, and up-to-date statistics are here.

Read our guide to understanding New York on PAUSE, NY's stay-at-home order, as well as what the upstate reopening means; a look at preparing for the spread of coronavirus is here, and if you have lingering questions about the virus, here is our regularly updated coronavirus FAQ. Here are some local and state hotlines for more information: NYC: 311; NY State Hotline: 888-364-3065; NJ State Hotline: 800-222-1222.

Here's what you need to know:

Update 12:57 p.m. Governor Andrew Cuomo said that New York will ensure that full line-of-duty death benefits will be paid to the families of first responders who have died from COVID-19.

"I also believe the federal government should be doing the same, honoring the frontline workers," Cuomo said during his daily briefing, which he held on board the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum after he held a Memorial Day wreath ceremony.

The governor said that "any public employee who works in the state of New York, city, county, state employee," would be eligible, and that their "local pension fund" would pay out the benefits.

"They showed up because I asked them to show up, because I required them to show up," Cuomo said. "I have such respect and esteem for what they did. I want to make sure that we repay that. Not just say, 'thank you' and run nice TV commercials."

The governor's message, aboard the decommissioned aircraft carrier, quoting Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy, seemed designed to contrast the one coming from President Donald Trump, who spent the weekend golfing and tweeting profanities.

Asked about New York City's chances at reopening soon, the governor said that would depend only upon the criteria set by the state, not the additional bars created by Mayor Bill de Blasio, who has speculated that the city may be able to enter "Phase 1" of reopening in early-to-mid June.

"There's only one set of numbers, this is not pick your numbers here," Cuomo said, refusing to predict when New York City would meet those thresholds. "I'm out of that business because we all failed at that business."

Some on Staten Island have called for the least-populated borough to reopen sooner than the rest of the city, because it may meet the requirements sooner. Cuomo shot that idea down.

"I get that sometimes every borough would like to secede...Sometimes I'd like to take the state of New York and secede and not have to deal with the federal government," the governor mused. "Staten Island just practically is part of New York City."

The Cuomo administration has been repeatedly criticized for failing to do more to stem the tide of COVID-19 deaths inside state nursing homes. Earlier this month, the governor's health department essentially reversed an earlier order that all but forced nursing homes to admit coronavirus patients, and requires nursing home operators to test staff twice a week.

Why not require nursing homes to test their patients? The governor stalled on this question, and eventually punted with a vague answer.

"We're also testing the patients, the residents, I wouldn't call it a requirement, but...we are testing all the people in nursing homes."

Cuomo also dodged a question on congestion pricing, which was supposed to raise billions in dollars of revenue for the MTA starting in January of 2021. The governor blamed the federal government for not giving their required approval, and said his administration has had "multiple conversations" with the Trump administration about getting it, but didn't say when those conversations occurred. He also said nothing about any progress on the state's Traffic Mobility Review Board. That board, which will be appointed by the MTA, must come up with all of the pertinent details of any congestion pricing plan. Governor Cuomo controls the MTA.

On the subject of raising revenue, Cuomo claimed that New York has a $13 billion deficit, and to climb out of it, the state will need help from the federal government. He did not mention raising taxes.

"Otherwise we don't have money. Any additional money we spend increases cuts to schools, hospitals, local governments."

The Democratically-controlled state legislature is supposed to meet this week.

"Legislatures tend to spend money, that's basically the power of the purse. The problem in this situation is, we don't have any money," Cuomo said.

Vietnam veteran Max Vega installs a series of flags on the pier at Coney Island during the current coronavirus outbreak on May 24, 2020

Kathy Willens/AP/Shutterstock

Long Island Poised To Reopen On Wednesday

As New York City's coronavirus hospitalization numbers continue to decline (and hospital bed availability increases), the city is still not ready to reopen, according to the seven parameters set by Governor Andrew Cuomo and three additional ones from Mayor Bill de Blasio. However, the Mid-Hudson region and Long Island will open this week.

Last week, Cuomo announced that Mid-Hudson would be able to move into "Phase 1" on Tuesday, and Long Island on Wednesday, if they met contact tracing goals and their deaths continued to decline. Which means that by the end of this week, all of the state's regions except New York City, would be in Phase 1, which allows non-essential construction, agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting, and retail (if they have curbside pickup) to resume.

"We're preparing for Long Island to open. We're getting the transportation system ready," the governor said at Jones Beach on Sunday. "The Long Island Rail Road is run by the MTA. They're going to be cleaning and disinfecting all trains and buses every day, first time ever. We never disinfected buses and trains before, we never thought we had to. But we get it now, and they're doing it every day."

The MTA will also be increasing the number of train cars "so people can space out and socially distance when Long Island opens," Cuomo explained. According to the NY Times, about 105 train cars will be added to the LIRR's current capacity, an increase of roughly 15 percent.

"I want people to remember that the mask is mandatory on public transportation," Cuomo said.

This reminder came after a videos circulated of people not wearing masks or social distancing at the Dublin Deck Tiki Bar and Grill in East Patchogue, Long Island on Friday night. Newsday described a video as "depict[ing] a crowd standing shoulder to shoulder and music playing. Staffers do not appear to separate the dozens of guests, and the video's unnamed narrator shouts 'everybody's so thirsty, let's go.'"

While Suffolk County police responded to complaints about the restaurant, no summons were issued because most people had already left.

The restaurant reportedly apologized in a Facebook post, but later deleted their entire profile; co-owner Frank Mills told Newsday, "Everybody decided to run inside out of the rain and they overwhelmed us. It was that simple. It has never happened before and it will never happen again."

Patch notes, "Despite the bar's assertions that the people inside were to-go customers waiting for food, videos from the bar show people milling around inside and carrying open cans of beer. There are multiple bartenders at the bar and music playing in the background."

When asked about the incident on Sunday, secretary to the governor Melissa DeRosa said, "From what I understand, the photos show people were in this space and they weren’t wearing masks. That’s stupid. Stupid for you, it’s stupid for your surrounding patrons, it’s stupid for the bar."

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone said the establishment would be monitored.

"Everybody hunkered down. We did what we were supposed to do," Mills insisted to Newsday. "You can call it what you want but they're chomping at the bit to go do something."

Tagged

COVID-19

coronavirus

long island

covid-19 updates

Jen Chung

Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.

Christopher Robbins

Twitter

Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.

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