In this image from video, defendant and former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, right, listens as Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill presides over pretrial motions before jury selection Tuesday, March 9, 2021 at the Hennepin County Courthouse in Minneapolis. Chauvin is charged in the May 25, 2020 death of George Floyd. (Court TV, via AP, Pool
(AP) — The long process of jury selection for a former Minneapolis police officer charged in George Floyd’s death began Tuesday with three jurors picked and six others in the pool dismissed, including some who said they would not be able to set aside their views on what happened.
One woman who was dismissed said: “I definitely have strong opinions about the case. I think I can try to be impartial — I don’t know that I can promise impartiality.”
The three jurors who were selected — two men and one woman — all said they had heard some details about the case against Derek Chauvin but would be able to put aside what they heard or opinions they had formed and make a decision based on evidence in court. One of the selected jurors said he hadn’t seen the widely-viewed bystander video of Floyd’s arrest at all, while the others described seeing it minimally.
One woman who saw the video said she doesn’t understand why Chauvin didn’t get up when Floyd said he couldn’t breathe.
“That’s not fair because we are humans, you know?” she said. She too was dismissed.
The exchanges between potential jurors, attorneys and the judge illustrate the challenges in seating a jury in such a well-known case. In addition to asking questions about their ability to keep an open mind, attorneys asked about how they resolve conflicts, their views on the criminal justice system, and whether they felt safe serving on the jury. One potential juror expressed anxiety over the divisiveness of the case, while another feared his family could be targeted; both were dismissed.
Cahill set aside at least three weeks for jury selection. Opening statements are scheduled no sooner than March 29.
Floyd was declared dead on May 25 after Chauvin, who is white, pressed his knee against the Black man’s neck for about nine minutes. Floyd’s death sparked violent protests in Minneapolis and beyond, leading to a nationwide reckoning on race.
The first man who was selected to serve on the jury, a chemist who says he works to find facts and thinks analytically, said he has never watched the video of Floyd’s arrest but that he has seen a still image from it. When asked if he could decide the case based on the evidence, he said, “I’d rely on what I hear in court.”
The man, whom prosecutors said identifies as white, said he supports the Black Lives Matter movement but views the organization itself unfavorably. He also has an unfavorable view of the Blue Lives Matter movement. He said everyone should matter the same.
“The whole point of that is that all lives should matter equally, and that should include police,” he said.
The races of the second and third jurors selected were not made clear in court.
A woman who was selected described herself as a “go-with-the-flow” person who could talk with anyone about anything. The woman, who is related to a police officer in greater Minnesota, said she initially had a negative perception of Chauvin because of what she saw in the bystander video, but said she doesn’t know him and could be proven wrong.
“That video just makes you sad,” said the woman. “Nobody wants to see somebody die, whether it was his fault or not.”
She said there could be many reasons why Chauvin would pin Floyd to the ground, and that while she has heard Floyd had drugs in his system when he died, she understands that may not have been a factor in his death.
The third juror selected, an auditor, also told the court he would be open-minded. When asked how he resolves conflicts on teams at work, he said: “We use more facts over emotions in those cases.”
Chauvin’s attorney, Eric Nelson, exercised two of his 15 peremptory challenges on potential jurors who identify as Hispanic, which led prosecutors to object that the jurors were being rejected because of their race. Cahill disagreed, noting that the second Hispanic juror to be dismissed had martial arts experience and referred to Chauvin’s restraint as an “illegal” move. The judge also said that man made it clear he would stick to his opinions until someone told him otherwise, improperly shifting the burden of proof to the defense.
Cahill ruled on several pretrial motions Tuesday, setting parameters for trial testimony. Among them, Cahill said jurors will hear when Chauvin stopped working for the police department, but not that he was fired or that the city made a “substantial offer” to settle a lawsuit from Floyd’s family. Those details won’t be allowed because they could imply guilt, Cahill said.
Minneapolis City Attorney Jim Rowader said the city made an offer to the Floyd family last summer that was rejected. He didn’t provide details. A message left with an attorney for the Floyd family hasn’t been returned.
Cahill also ruled that a firefighter, who can be heard in the bystander video urging the officers to check Floyd’s pulse, will be allowed to testify about what she saw and whether she thought medical intervention was needed. But she won’t be allowed to speculate that she could have saved Floyd if she had intervened. Testimony about what training Chauvin received will be allowed.
In this April 18, 2020 photo provided by the Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, Gov. Cuomo provides a coronavirus update during a press conference in the Red Room at the State Capitol in Albany. (Mike Groll/Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo via AP)
After a sixth woman accused New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo of sexual harassment, many media outlets chose to avoid mentioning the new developments in their on-air news coverage Tuesday night, Fox Newsnotes.
The Albany Times Union broke the news of the sixth accusation Tuesday afternoon. The woman, an unnamed member of Cuomo’s staff, alleged that the Democrat governor touched her inappropriately last year at the Executive Mansion. The woman did not file a formal complaint with the governor’s office, but other Executive Chamber employees reported her allegations to the governor’s counsel.
Cuomo claimed to be unaware of the new accusation during his daily news briefing Tuesday, which took place an hour after the report was published.
“As I said last week, this is very simple, I never touched anyone inappropriately,” he said. “I never made any inappropriate advances … no one ever told me at the time that I made them feel uncomfortable. Obviously, there are people who said after the fact they felt uncomfortable.”
Fox News covered the new allegation later Tuesday, but anchors on CNN, including Jake Tapper and Wolf Blitzer, and MSNBC, such as Rachel Maddow, failed to mention the development as controversies over sexual harassment and nursing home deaths continue to expand. Maddow, Grabien transcripts show, has not mentioned Cuomo over the past 10 weeks despite the growing scandals, Fox News notes.
ABC, CBS, and NBC also failed to mention the new sexual misconduct accusation hours after the claims were brought to light.
CNN, in particular, has faced scrutiny over its past coverage of Cuomo by his younger brother, Chris Cuomo, a CNN anchor who hosts “Cuomo Prime Time.” As the governor withheld the true number of COVID-19 deaths at nursing homes in New York, critics say his brother treated him with kid gloves and avoided the controversy, instead choosing to focus on trivial topics and joke around.
The five other women who have made accusations against Cuomo are Lindsey Boylan, Charlotte Bennett, Anna Ruch, Karen Hinton, and Ana Liss.
Boylan, 36, a former aide to the governor, accused him of “sexual harassment and bullying” during the time she worked for him, and Bennett, 25, another former aide, said Cuomo asked her questions about her sex life and whether she had sex with older men.
Ruch, 33, accused Cuomo of putting his hands on her lower back and asking to kiss her at a wedding in 2019, and Hinton, who was formerly a press aide for the governor, said he asked her to his hotel room after a work event in 2000. And Liss, a former police and operations aide, alleged that Cuomo once asked if she had a boyfriend and touched her lower back at a reception.
The New York governor on Monday said he would not step down over recent allegations of sexual harassment, despite prominent Democrats, including state Senate Majority Leader Andrew Stewart-Cousins, calling for him to do so.
New York Attorney General Letitia James is currently leading investigations into the sexual harassment and nursing home death toll scandals, and Cuomo is calling for others to wait for the investigation to be completed before passing judgment. (NEWSMAX)
A poster supporting the initiative 'Yes to a ban on covering the face' is displayed at the village Buochs, Switzerland, Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2021. At a time when seemingly everyone in Europe is wearing masks to battle COVID-19, the Swiss go to the polls Sunday March 7, 2021, to vote on a long-laid proposal to ban face-coverings like niqabs and burqas worn by some Muslim women or by protesters in ski masks or bandannas. (UrsFlueeler/Keystone via AP)
(AP) – Swiss voters narrowly approved a proposal to ban face coverings, both the niqabs and burqas worn by a few Muslim women in the country and the ski masks and bandannas used by protesters.
The measure will outlaw covering one’s face in public places like restaurants, sports stadiums, public transport or simply walking in the street. It foresees exceptions at religious sites and for security or health reasons, such as face masks people are wearing now to protect against COVID-19, as well as for traditional Carnival celebrations. Authorities have two years to draw up detailed legislation.
Two Swiss cantons, or states, Ticino and St. Gallen, already have similar legislation that foresees fines for transgressions. National legislation will put Switzerland in line with countries such as Belgium and France that have already enacted similar measures.
The Swiss government had opposed the measure as excessive, arguing that full-face coverings are a “marginal phenomenon.” It argued that the ban could harm tourism – most Muslim women who wear such veils in Switzerland are visitors from well-heeled Persian Gulf states, who are often drawn to Swiss lakeside cities.
Experts estimate that at most a few dozen Muslim women wear full-face coverings in the country of 8.5 million people.
Supporters of the proposal, which came to a vote five years after it was launched, argued that the full-face coverings symbolize the repression of women and said the measure is needed to uphold a basic principle that faces should be shown in a free society like Switzerland’s.
In the end, 51.2 per cent of voters supported the plan. There were majorities against it in six of Switzerland’s 26 cantons – among them those that include the country’s three biggest cities, Zurich, Geneva, and Basel, and the capital, Bern. SRF public television reported that voters in several popular tourist destinations including Interlaken, Lucerne and Zermatt rejected it.
Backers included the nationalist Swiss People’s Party, which is the strongest in parliament. The committee that launched the proposal is led by a lawmaker from the party, Walter Wobmann, and also initiated a ban on the construction of new minarets that voters approved in 2009.
A coalition of left-leaning parties that opposes the proposal put up signs ahead of the referendum that read: “Absurd. Useless. Islamophobic.”
Wobmann told SRF that the initiative addressed both “a symbol of a completely different system of values … extremely radical Islam” and security against “hooligans.” He said that “this has nothing to do with symbolic politics.”
Voters had their say on two other issues Sunday. They clearly rejected a proposed voluntary “e-ID” to improve the security of online transactions – an idea that ran afoul of privacy advocates, as it would have been issued by private companies – and narrowly approved a free-trade deal with Indonesia.
Economist Thomas Sowell once said that the word ‘racism’ is like ketchup: it can be put on practically anything. Today, since Robin DiAngelo et al have decided that all white people are racist, it could be argued that the word has lost some of its power; if we’re all racist, then calling us just that isn’t particularly effective. And if we’re all unconsciously racist, perhaps we’re all victims, and thus should be the target of sympathy, not anger. Or not: Ms. DiAngelo’s and her anti-racist disciples’ claptrap has been brilliantly taken apart by the esteemed linguist and author John McWhorter.
But the term far-right hasn’t been watered down nearly as much as the ‘r’ word. And when most people hear far-right, they likely think of Nazi flags, white supremacists, ultranationalists, etc. So, if you are eager to wound an individual’s or a group’s reputation, the term is most certainly a useful one.
Indeed, like its close cousin – the neologism ‘alt right’ – far-right has become an effective tool for those in the media and politics, used to discredit and smear people who they consider a threat, or with whom they merely disagree. A recent example of this is the anti-lockdown protests that took place in Dublin, Ireland on February 27, 2021.
Dublin Drama
Reports have varied, but anywhere from 400 to 4,000 people took to the streets of Dublin to demonstrate against what have been considered the most draconian lockdowns in Europe. This third Irish lockdown has been enforced since late December and may last until June. When one reckless individual at the protest decided to point fireworks at the Irish police (An Garda Síochána, or ‘the Guards’), unfortunately, further violence broke out. Predictably, the ugly scenes that followed dominated the news headlines, rather than the core issue: people protesting against their de facto mass incarceration, and the collateral damage caused by continual lockdowns.
Papers pounced, using loaded language like “anti-lockdown protesters stormed Dublin city centre.” One elected Irish official referred to the protest as a ‘riot’. And the always-effective smear would soon be utilized, too. Extra.ie proclaimed “far right thugs attacked frontline Gardai policing an illegal protest.” The Irish Mirror declared “far right anti-lockdown protesters thronged the city flouting Covid-19 restrictions.”
How reporters managed to sit down with protesters and learn about their respective political leanings is not only incredibly admirable – it is journalism of the highest standard. Of course, these journalists did no such thing. Were some of those in attendance right wing? Yes. That a) doesn’t necessarily make them far right, and b) doesn’t warrant labelling the protest a ‘far-right demonstration’ like some Irish politicians have. A significant number of Irish citizens decided to stand up and speak out against what is widely considered a cruel lockdown. That doesn’t make all of them extremists. Quite the opposite: it is likely that many are desperate and feel that protesting is their only option.
Interestingly, in videos posted online, Irish Republican flags can also be seen among the crowds in attendance. Irish Republicans tend to lean left on the political compass, and often describe themselves as socialists, in keeping with the political leanings of the leaders of the Easter Rising. The likely reality is that the people protesting came from different political backgrounds, and many – if not most – were probably apolitical, like the majority of people tend to be. By using the term far-right to describe the march, reporters and politicians are smearing the ordinary, non-violent people who have genuine concerns about the latest level-5 lockdown: a 5km travel limit, no guests on private or rented property, no family gatherings in any setting, the forced long-term closure of “non-essential” businesses, and fines and/or jail time for some who break the rules.
“Far Right” as an Ad-Hominen
No matter how rational or cogent one’s arguments are, the term formerly reserved for fascists and neo-Nazis will always be on standby, ready to be used by the writer or politician taking aim. Canadian clinical psychologist Jordan Peterson – a man who has lectured on fascist and socialist totalitarianism – has been referred to by critics as “a far-right boogeyman riding the wave of a misogynistic backlash.”
YouTube has given a platform to progressive, socialist, communist, anarchist, conservative, classically liberal, libertarian, and centrist voices. But according to an academic paper released last year, most YouTubers are far right. The Southern Poverty Law Centre has painted Sam Harris – a self-described liberal – as “a gateway to the alt (far) right.” Conservative political commentator Ben Shapiro has recently been called a “far right gadfly” by the ‘youth culture’ magazine Uproxx. For those who don’t know, Mr. Shapiro is Jewish; Jews and neo-Nazis tend not to get on very well. But that doesn’t really matter, because according to Wikipedia – with its approximately 46 million articles accessed by 1.4 billion unique devices every month – far-right politics includes ideologies or organizations “that feature aspects of chauvinist, xenophobic, theocratic, racist, homophobic, transphobic, or reactionary views.” Good luck finding widespread agreement on what constitutes each of those terms. In any case, with such a wide net, it shouldn’t be difficult to lump people and groups under the undesirable umbrella.
Given how the term far right is beginning to be spread like ketchup, perhaps it will soon lose its effectiveness in smearing individuals and groups. But as the above example of the Dublin anti-lockdown protest shows, it is still a useful weapon used by the media and political establishment; tarnish aspects of a protest as far right, and you essentially tarnish the entire protest – one that was reasonably justifiable.
The sooner all of us smell the BS, the better; with such broad, divisive, and potentially damaging terms used so liberally against individuals and groups, rational dialogue between people who disagree may become even more of a rarity.
Governor Cuomo is questioned for finding the time to write a book during the height of a global health crisis at a rally for grieving families of nursing home COVID-19 victims outside the Cobble Hill Health Center in Brooklyn last October. (AP)
By Eric Mack(NEWSMAX)
Family members of New York seniors who died of COVID-19 are calling for Gov. Andrew Cuomo to donate the proceeds from the book he wrote touting his pandemic response.
“The best-case scenario is the profits go to a fund for the grieving families,” Daniel Arbeeny told Fox News. “There should be a fund set up.”
Arbeeny said his 89-year-old father died because the coronavirus was introduced into his nursing home. Cuomo mandated that long-term care facilities take in COVID-19 patients, despite early intelligence saying the elderly were the most vulnerable to severe cases.
“On Page 334, Cuomo writes that New York was No. 46 out of 50 in the nation when it comes to a percentage of deaths in nursing homes; that’s an absolute lie,” Peter Arbeeny, the brother, told Fox News. “He insulted my family, he insulted my intelligence, he insulted the entire city by coming out with a book. That was my call to action.”
The book deal was for a tidy seven-figure sum, according to Vanity Fair, which called it a “blockbuster” amount.
“Losing, in New York State, 15,000 of our most vulnerable and cherished residents, family members, we need a memorial, and that should go to fund the memorial,” Daniel Arbeeny told Fox News.
“A book publisher paid him seven figures and that was all based on a lie. So his pandemic response caused the deaths of thousands of nursing home patients that don’t have a voice.”
In the face of a federal investigation into Cuomo’s administration amid reports of a cover-up of death totals from long-term care facilities, Crown Publishing Group said it has “paused active support” for the book, according to Fox News.
“I think it would be nice if the money was donated for a fund for families that are dealing with hardship,” Grace Colucci told Fox News, “not necessarily just grieving families.”
Colucci’s father, 89, died of COVID-19 in a New York nursing home last spring.
“A lot of families in New York City have lost their livelihoods,” Colucci told Fox News. “I actually lost my job last week. They had to lay a number of people off because of the difficulties – they’re struggling with COVID.”
Colucci said Cuomo’s book “should be moved to the fiction section,” calling for an investigation into his administration’s culpability and negligence.
“Especially when the only thing that was known from the beginning was that COVID was more dangerous to the elderly and the immune-deficient,” she told Fox News. “Do I think he deserved a seven-figure book deal? Not on the basis of what the book’s about.”
Sales of Cuomo’s book have fallen since the reports of his administration’s alleged cover-up; the price was dropped from $30 to $18 on Amazon, according to the report.
In this April 18, 2020 photo provided by the Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, Gov. Cuomo provides a coronavirus update during a press conference in the Red Room at the State Capitol in Albany. (Mike Groll/Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo via AP)
Edited by: TJVNews.com
The two top Democrats in New York’s legislature withdrew their support for Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Sunday amid mounting allegations of sexual harassment and undercounting COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes.
Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie stopped short of demanding that Cuomo quit, but said in a statement that “it is time for the Governor to seriously consider whether he can effectively meet the needs of the people of New York.” Photo Credit: nyassembly.gov
Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins became the first senior Democrat in the state to say the three-term governor should resign. Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie stopped short of demanding that Cuomo quit, but said in a statement that “it is time for the Governor to seriously consider whether he can effectively meet the needs of the people of New York.”
Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins became the first senior Democrat in the state to say the three-term governor should resign. Photo Credit: nysenate.gov
On Saturday, two more women who worked for Cuomo publicly accused him of inappropriate behavior, on the heels of other allegations in recent weeks.
“Every day there is another account that is drawing away from the business of government,” Stewart-Cousins said in a statement. “New York is still in the midst of this pandemic and is still facing the societal, health and economic impacts of it. We need to govern without daily distraction. For the good of the state Governor Cuomo must resign.”
Her public push for his resignation came shortly after a Sunday press conference where Cuomo said it would be “anti-democratic” for him to step down.
“There is no way I resign,” Cuomo told reporters.
“They don’t override the people’s will, they don’t get to override elections,” he said. “I was elected by the people of New York state. I wasn’t elected by politicians.”
In a brief phone conversation Sunday prior to the press conference, Cuomo told Stewart-Cousins he wouldn’t quit and they would have to impeach him if they wanted him out of office, according to a person who was briefed by someone on the call. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the call was intended to be private.
Cuomo said the next six months will determine how successfully New York emerges from the coronavirus pandemic. “I’m not going to be distracted because there is too much to do for the people,” he said, noting that the state must pass a budget within three weeks and administer 15 million more COVID-19 vaccines.
Support for Cuomo has eroded with surprising speed as he’s faced twin scandals, one over his treatment of women in the workplace, and a second over his administration’s months-long refusal to release complete statistics on COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes.
Some lawmakers have been infuriated by revelations that Cuomo’s administration delayed releasing some data about deaths of nursing home patients in hospitals, at least partly because of concerns it could be used against them by President Donald Trump’s administration.
Several women have publicly told of feeling sexually harassed, or at least made to feel demeaned and uncomfortable. The state’s attorney general is investigating. Cuomo has urged people to wait for that investigation to conclude before they judge him.
Others who have called for Cuomo’s resignation include U.S. Rep. Kathleen Rice, a Long Island Democrat.
Others who have called for Cuomo’s resignation include U.S. Rep. Kathleen Rice, a Long Island Democrat. Photo Credit: kathleenrice.house.gov
Former adviser Lindsey Boylan, 36, said Cuomo made inappropriate comments on her appearance, joked about playing strip poker and once kissed her on the lips at the end of a meeting. Former aide, 25-year-old Charlotte Bennett, said Cuomo asked if she ever had sex with older men and made other comments she interpreted as gauging her interest in an affair.
Former aide, 25-year-old Charlotte Bennett, said Cuomo asked if she ever had sex with older men and made other comments she interpreted as gauging her interest in an affair. Photo Credit: Twitter
Another former aide, Ana Liss, told The Wall Street Journal in a story published Saturday that when she worked as a policy aide to the governor between 2013 and 2015, Cuomo called her “sweetheart,” kissed her hand and asked personal questions including whether she had a boyfriend.
Asked about Liss’ story at his news conference Sunday, Cuomo said such talk was “my way of doing friendly banter.”
Former adviser Lindsey Boylan, 36, said Cuomo made inappropriate comments on her appearance, joked about playing strip poker and once kissed her on the lips at the end of a meeting. Photo Credit: Twitter
Echoing comments he made in a news conference last week, Cuomo acknowledged he’d made jokes and asked personal questions in an attempt to be collegial and frequently greeted people with hugs and kisses.
“I never meant to make anyone feel any uncomfortable,” he said. Cuomo has denied touching anyone inappropriately.
While Cuomo has been apologetic in recent days over his behavior, at least tacitly acknowledging that some of the things women have said are true, he’s also singled out a few accusations as flatly false.
On Sunday he disputed a story told by about him by Karen Hinton, a former press aide to Cuomo when he served as the federal housing secretary under President Bill Clinton.
In a story published Saturday in The Washington Post, Hinton detailed an uncomfortable hotel room interaction she had with Cuomo when the two met in California years ago as they were trying to patch things up after an estrangement.
Hinton said that as she got up to leave, Cuomo gave her a hug that was “very long, too long, too tight, too intimate.”
She described the encounter not as sexual harassment but as a “power play” for “manipulation and control.” She was no longer an aide to Cuomo at the time.
Asked Sunday about Hinton’s account Cuomo said it was “not true” and noted that the two had been longtime political adversaries.
Celebrity chef, Food Channel regular and former gal pal to New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo, Sandra Lee reacted to the harassment accusations against her ex-paramour by former female aides with the shocked words: “Oh my God.”
Celebrity chef, Food Channel regular and former gal pal to New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo, Sandra Lee reacted to the harassment accusations against her ex-paramour by former female aides with the shocked words: “Oh my God.” Photo Credit: Wikipedia.com
The Post reported that Lee, 54, made the remark but declined to comment further when asked last week in the aftermath of accusations by these aides and other young women against Cuomo for harassment.
According to a report on the cheatsheet.com web site, Sandra Lee and Andrew Cuomo ended their decade long relationship in September 2019, just a few months before Cuomo was thrust into the national spotlight. As governor of New York State, Cuomo was tasked with steering the state through the Coronavirus crisis, and people across the world watched his daily news conferences. He even had the time to pen a book about his experiences navigating the coronavirus as a leader and even won a daytime Emmy award for his daily presentations to the voting public.
Cuomo and Lee started their relationship in 2005, according to the cheastsheet.com web site, shortly after Cuomo’s divorce from Kerry Kennedy was finalized. Betrothed to the seventh child of Robert Kennedy, Jr and his wife Ethel, Cuomo was married to Kennedy for 15 years and they share three daughters together. According to a report in the New York Times, Cuomo and Lee first met at a cocktail party in the Hamptons. They were introduced by a mutual friend, and Lee was, reportedly, taken with Cuomo immediately. Their relationship began shortly after that, but it took more than a year for Lee to meet Cuomo’s three daughters.
Turning to the subject of the nursing home scandal that has rocked the nation, according to a report by Andrew Kerr of the Daily Caller News Foundation, Cuomo and his top lieutenants cited a report altered by his top aides to paint a false narrative of his handling of the COVID-19 outbreak in nursing homes in comparison to other states.
The New York State Department of Health knew that nearly 10,000 nursing home residents had died of COVID-19 by early July, according to reports from The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. Despite this, top Cuomo aides convinced the health department to report just 6,432 nursing home deaths in a July 6 report that claimed the Cuomo administration’s infamous March 25 order did not lead to more fatalities.
The July 6 report used the reduced figure, which omitted nursing home residents who died of the virus at a hospital, to conclude that only 21% of New York COVID-19 deaths were in nursing homes. The figure was repeatedly cited by Cuomo all while he was claiming to be a servant only to the facts.
No other state that reports nursing homes COVID-19 deaths omits residents who died in hospitals from their reporting. But Cuomo and other New York officials still used the 21% figure to claim New York was handling the situation better than 45 other states.
“You look at the nursing home deaths in this state,” Cuomo told reporters in October. “Do you know what number we are by percentage before you made that statement? We’re No. 46 out of 50 states, and we had the worst problem, and we’re 46th in terms of percentage of deaths in nursing homes.”
New York State Department of Health Commissioner Howard Zucker also cited the 21% figure during a July 6 press conference announcing the findings of the report.
“We have had 21, 22 percent of our deaths are in the nursing homes, which is essentially the lowest in the nation,” Zucker said.
“New York state ranked 46 in the nation, meaning that 45 states had a greater percentage of fatalities,” Zucker said of the state’s nursing home deaths.
Zucker also accused some critics of Cuomo’s March 25 order, which required nursing homes to accept coronavirus-positive patients, of either lacking the ability to think critically or of operating with “malice.”
“Sometimes what happens is that a narrative gets perpetuated when it’s not based on facts,” he said. “And that narrative, that story, gets swept away as the truth simply by virtue of repetition whether because of lack of critical thinking or malice. Either way, it does not do us as a society any good.”
Sitting beside Zucker at the press conference was Northwell Health CEO Michael Dowling, a Cuomo donor and nursing home operator who reportedly lobbied Cuomo to sign legislation in April that shielded nursing home executives from coronavirus-related lawsuits.
“New York has done exceptionally well,” Dowling said during the press conference. “Percentage of deaths in nursing homes — percentage of total — in New York was 21%. Just look at other states.”
“Rhode Island it was 77%. Minnesota, 77%. Pennsylvania, 68%. Kentucky, 61%,” Dowling said. “So it’s interesting when you see all the narrative focusing on, oh, look what happened in New York … but when you look at it percentage-wise, New York was number 46 in the United States. That’s an important fact to keep in mind.”
A special counsel to Cuomo, Beth Garvey, issued a statement Friday saying that the decision to omit nursing home residents who died from COVID-19 in hospitals from the July 6 report “didn’t change the outcome” of the report and that Cuomo’s March 25 order requiring nursing homes to accept coronavirus-positive patients did not inflate the death toll.
But the oft-cited 21% figure cited by Cuomo and his top lieutenants jumps up to 33% when taking into account the over 4,000 previously unreported nursing home residents who died of COVID-19 in hospitals that Cuomo administration revealed in early February, according to the Empire Center.
“By this measure, the revised toll pushed New York from 21 percent to 33 percent, and its ranking among states from 48th to 33rd,” the Empire center reported.
Another false statistic cited by Cuomo that was derived from the undercounted nursing home death toll was his claim that New York’s COVID-19 morality rate in nursing homes ranked 35 among all states.
“Just on the top line, we are number 35 in the nation in percentage of deaths in nursing homes,” Cuomo said during a July 24 press conference. “Go talk to 34 other states first, go talk to the Republican states now. Florida, Texas, Arizona. Ask them what is happening in nursing homes. It’s all politics.”
There is a crowded list of contenders for the position of Cyrus Vance Jr., the current Manhattan DA who served since 2010 and who seems unlikely to pursue another term. Photo Credit: Wikipedia
By Hellen Zaboulani
The race for the next Manhattan District Attorney is on. One thing most of the candidates have in common is their position to ease prosecutions for low-level offenses. Even as crime has been on the rise of late, most of the candidates are boasting about how lax they will be, rather than how well they will prosecute.
There is a crowded list of contenders for the position of Cyrus Vance Jr., the current Manhattan DA who served since 2010 and who seems unlikely to pursue another term. As reported by Crain’s NY, the race is shaping up to be among the most progressive campaigns in America. Multiple candidates have vowed not to prosecute low-level crimes such as prostitution, fare-beating and possession of marijuana. Two candidates have said they would stop pursuing gang conspiracy cases. Additionally, at a recent virtual candidate forum, five of the contenders said they support defunding the NYPD. Notably, the next Manhattan DA will also likely have the job of handling the investigation which may prosecute against former President of the United States, Donald Trump.
The Manhattan DA campaign has thus far been most deeply dedicated to racial- and social-justice issues, which made headlines in the country following the deaths of a number of unarmed Black persons at the hands of the police. Manhattan may be poised to join the liberal tide which has already swept up cities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, Philadelphia and Brooklyn.
As NYC has been experiencing an increasingly blue wave, the June 22 Democratic primary is expected to elect someone who will promise bold reforms. Over the past close to 80 years, the position has only been held by three White men. No Republicans are currently running for the position, so the primary will decide the winner. Incidentally, a Republican has not won the office since Thomas Dewey in 1938.
The only impediment a progressive candidate may face, is the recent rise in crime in NYC. There has been a jump in violent crime in the five boroughs of NYC, with 468 homicides in 2020, the most in a decade. Shootings have doubled over the previous year, as per the NYPD. The first two months of 2021 have seen murders in NY drop marginally, to 47 from 49 compared to the same period last year, but shootings have jumped by an astounding 75 percent. Still, the candidates maintain that there is not a significant connection between rising crime and progressive reforms.
Former New York City Health Commissioner, Dr. Oxiris Barbot, spoke out in a new documentary, against Mayor Bill de Blasio’s handling of the novel Covid-19 pandemic. Photo Credit: Twitter
By Ellen Cans
Former New York City Health Commissioner, Dr. Oxiris Barbot, spoke out in a new documentary, against Mayor Bill de Blasio’s handling of the novel Covid-19 pandemic.
As reported by the NY Post, Dr. Barbot, who had resigned over the summer while expressing “deep disappointment” in de Blasio’s handling of the health crisis, spoke in a three-minute video for the BBC’s streaming service, BBC Select, which was presented on YouTube on Monday. “Behind the scenes, we had talked to the mayor and his team, [saying] that we could see tens of thousands of people die if we don’t act quickly,” Barbot recalled having said. Barbot, who served as Commissioner of Health of the City of New York from 2018 to 2020, said that she had felt “really strongly that we needed to prepare New Yorkers emotionally for what was coming,” she recalled. “We need New Yorkers to be ready for loved ones dying.” She says that her warnings were met with “panic in the room of like, ‘Oh my God, you can’t say that to the public because we’re gonna lose their trust.’”
To date, as of Monday afternoon, 29,866 New Yorkers have died from COVID-19, and roughly 755,261 New Yorkers have been diagnosed with the virus since last March, as per city data. Barbot said that in her position she had wanted to provide the residents of this city with a forthcoming warning. “I was trying to, in that early period, be deliberate about…” she said in the video, where tears well in her eyes, and she drifts into silence. “As the city’s doctor, taking my city through what I knew was coming.”
In Barbot’s August resignation letter, she had complained that the city’s DOH had not been given the leeway to work at its highest potential during the pandemic. Before her resignation she also had a dispute with the NYPD Chief, in which she reportedly blew off a request from the police department for 500,000 face masks. She ultimately apologized for the controversy.
On Monday, City Hall issued a response, strongly disputing Barbot’s description of the pandemic response. “The idea that Dr. Barbot was pounding on the table, warning City Hall behind closed doors that tens of thousands of people would die without more aggressive action is simply false,” a spokeswoman said. “All we wanted was a clear prognosis on when to shut down the city, and how far we had to go. She was unable to produce either.”
The odds are slim for Gov. Cuomo being impeached (AP)
By: Don Driggers
With a major scandal involving the alleged altering of nursing home death data, and as of press, 6 women coming out and alleging sexual harassment, Governor Cuomo is in hot water, and with his refusal to step down, impeachment in NY state is an option.
In New York’s history, only one governor, William Sulzer, has been impeached. Sulzer was impeached in 1913, after serving fewer than 10 months in office, for embezzling his own campaign funds for personal use, City and State pointed out.
The only other governor who has come close to being impeached in recent history is former Gov. Elliot Spitzer, who became entangled in a prostitution scandal in 2008. Spitzer resigned after serving 15 months in office, right as state lawmakers began drafting articles of impeachment., City and State reported.
City and State summarized the process in NY state for an impeachment:
The state’s impeachment process is much like that of impeaching a president, beginning with the introduction of articles of impeachment which must then be voted upon by the state Assembly. If impeachment is passed by a majority of Assembly members, then a court impeachment trial may commence with the lieutenant governor, members of the state Senate, and judges from the court of appeals who preside. A conviction requires two-thirds of the Senate to vote for impeachment, similar to the U.S. Senate.
Under Article XIII, Section 5 of the New York Constitution, any public officer is subject to removal for “misconduct or malversation in office,” with the latter term referring to corruption, extortion, and other punishable acts.
The constitution gives the 150-member state Assembly the power to impeach officials by the vote of a simple majority, or 76 lawmakers. The current Assembly is composed of 106 Democrats, 43 Republicans and one independent, NY Post pointed out.
After a successful passage by the assembly, the impeachment trial would be conducted by the 63-member state Senate and the Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court. In the case of the governor’s trial, neither the lieutenant governor nor the Senate majority leader can participate.
The Senate is composed of 43 Democrats and 20 Republicans, and every judge on the Court of Appeals was nominated by Cuomo, The Post pointed out.
The odds of a successful impeachment of the once revered EMMY winning governor are very slim as the Democrat Party holds large majorities in the state Assembly and Senate. “The increased focus by the media on the sexual harassment allegations are rapidly overshadowing the COVID nursing home scandal, and it looks like justice if far from happening to Cuomo”, political analyst Jared Evan told TJV News.
American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the Covid-19 Pandemic
By: Benyamin Davidsons
Governor Andrew Cuomo’s book, released in October 2020, has hit a bump.
“American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the Covid-19 Pandemic,” was the book written by Gov. Cuomo, in which he lauds his own charge in the fight against COVID-19, as New York became the epicenter of the pandemic. As reported by the NY Post, now, the books publisher has paused promotion of the book, amid the federal probe into the state’s handling of the coronavirus in nursing homes. Crown Publishing Group has also said that it has “no plans” of reprinting or reissuing the book. “Pending the ongoing investigation, we have paused active support of ‘American Crisis’ and have no plans to reprint or reissue in paperback,” the company’s publisher Gillian Blake told The New York Times. The moves by the publisher are a result of “the ongoing investigation into N.Y.S. reporting of Covid-related fatalities in nursing homes,” Blake said in a statement. Gov. Cuomo’s 320-page book had become a New York Times Bestseller.
Gov. Cuomo and his administration have faced allegations of purposefully withholding the toll of nursing home residents who died from the COVID-19 pandemic. At the end of January, NY Attorney General Letitia James released a report, which accused the administration of understating the death toll by close to 50 percent. Following a Supreme Judge court order and intense pressure, and close to eight months later, Cuomo’s team finally released the full data.
It revealed that the number of deaths including those who had to be transferred from nursing homes to hospitals stood at 12,743, almost 4,000 more residents than originally stated in its July report. Then came the bombshell admission from Cuomo top aide, Melissa DeRosa, to Democratic leaders, in which she said that the administration purposely withheld the true death toll out of fear that they would “be used against us” by federal prosecutors. Since then, the Eastern District of New York opened an investigation into the Cuomo’s administration’s handling of nursing homes amid the pandemic.
The governor is now also embroiled in another probe, in which several women have accused him of sexual misconduct, or unwanted advances. To top it off, some 20 people who worked with the governor since the 1990s allege that he fostered a “hostile” and “toxic” workplace, as per the Washington Post.
Gov. Cuomo did not immediately return the Times’ request for comment about the book.
East Village restaurant and bars, famed for their active night life, were the hardest hit of any Big Apple neighborhood. The East Village, sometimes called NYC’s version of “Bourbon Street”, is known for its young, late-night crowd which spends more money on drinks than food. Photo Credit: ny.eater.com
By Benyamin Davidsons
The COVID-19 pandemic has been difficult for the restaurant and bar industry—particularly in Manhattan’s East Village.
As reported by the NY Post, the East Village restaurant and bars, famed for their active night life, were the hardest hit of any Big Apple neighborhood. The East Village, sometimes called NYC’s version of “Bourbon Street”, is known for its young, late-night crowd which spends more money on drinks than food. The neighborhood was most negatively impacted by the pandemic led curfews put into place after the lockdowns were eased, and which now still stand at 11 p.m.
Since last March, when the pandemic first hit, some 55 restaurants have been permanently shuttered in the East Village. That is more than double the number of restaurant closed for business in other New York City neighborhoods, as per The Infatuation, a Web site tracking closures during the pandemic. As a comparison, in the West Village 21 restaurants have closed; 19 restaurants closed on the Lower East Side; 15 closed in Williamsburg and 15 in Staten Island; 14 closed on the Upper West Side; 13 closed in Midtown; and 11 closed in Chinatown, as per the Infatuation.
The exaggerated number of closures in the East Village makes sense in line with the active liquor business that had flourished there pre-pandemic, and the curfew placed restricting their businesses. “There are more liquor licenses per square block in the East Village than anywhere else in New York, and when you destroy the liquor business, you can’t survive,” said restaurateur Stratis Morfogen.
“The neighborhood is filled with college students and first-time apartment owners — people in their twenties who don’t sit down to eat until after midnight. Pizzerias stay open here until 7 a.m. In most neighborhoods, food is 75 percent and liquor is 25 percent. In the East Village, it’s the opposite. Liquor is a vital part of the East Village’s restaurant business and it has been crushed by the curfew,” Morfogen said. “They would have been one of the first neighborhoods to recover if it wasn’t for the curfew, since it is easier to serve drinks than food. Now it will be one of the last,” he added.
“How can a restaurant that has been closed, with no outdoor space, pay $35,000 a month in rent? PPP money only goes so far,” said Ismael Alba owner of Argentinian restaurant Buenos Aires, who says he stayed afloat because he owns the building, and he began selling imported Argentine meat out of his restaurant.
Despite the pandemic and lockdowns, New York City has risen in 2020 to become the city with the worst traffic congestion in the United States. Photo Credit: nyc.gov
By Hadassa Kalatizadeh
Despite the pandemic and lockdowns, New York City has risen in 2020 to become the city with the worst traffic congestion in the United States.
As per the NY Post, a new report reveals that NYC jumped to first place for congestion, having previously been in fourth place. According to transportation analytics firm INRIX, NYC drivers spent 100 hours of time in traffic congestion last year, though traffic was actually down 28 percent compared to 2019. Still, other cities across America, saw much greater declines in traffic over the year, bumping NYC’s ranking up. In Boston, which had been ranked 1st in 2019 but 4th in 2020, drivers spent 68 percent fewer hours in traffic in 2020. In San Francisco traffic fell 51 percent, compared to 2019.
Overall Traffic delays dropped close to 50 percent on average in major cities, saving drivers in the U.S. almost 75 hours of traffic in comparison to 2019, as per the 2020 Global Traffic Scorecard published on March 9 by Irix. “COVID-19 has completely transformed when, where and how people move. Government restrictions and the continued spread of the virus led to shifts in travel behavior seemingly overnight,” said Bob Pishue, transportation analyst at INRIX. “Morning commutes in cities across the world went without delay as people reduced auto and transit travel to offices, schools, shopping centers and other public spaces.”
The list ranked Philadelphia and Chicago in second and third place- the cities losing 94 and 86 hours respectively, due to traffic. The cities each experienced a decline in congestion between six and 12 percent more than NYC. “Downtown speeds [in New York] only went from 11 mph to 12 mph — not that big a jump, 9 percent or so. We saw in other cities jumps of 40 percent or more,” Pishue said, adding that NYC was hard to explain. “New York is its own thing. Everything in New York is unique. Trying to pin this on one factor is really difficult.”
Several roads in NYC were also given unwanted honors, with NYC claiming the second, third and fourth most congested roads in America, as per INRIX’s analysis. The Brooklyn Queens Expressway from I-145 to Tillary Street took second place, followed by the Cross Bronx Expressway west of the Bronx River Parkway, and the BQE between 38th Street and Downtown Brooklyn. The top road for lost time in the U.S. was in Chicago, IL, the Eisenhower Expy E from I 290/294 to the I90/94 Interchange.
Vials of the new Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine. (Associated Press)
By: Dean Foley
Mayor de Blasio announced in the Bronx’s Co-op city that New York City’s goal is to fully vaccinate 5 million New Yorkers by June, then announced his goals to inoculate all the Big Apple’s homebound senior citizens against COVID-19 using Johnson & Johnson’s newly approved single-dose shot over the next two months.
“We’ve been creating a plan to reach them, but what we really needed was the Johnson & Johnson vaccine,” de Blasio said during a City Hall press briefing.
“Think about someone who cannot get out of the house, think about their loved ones and the fear and anxiety that they have for them — and they just want them to be protected,” said Hizzoner. “Finally, we have a vaccine that can do that in one shot and a vaccine that’s actually flexible enough that we can use, even going door to door in a building.”
“This effort is going to continue across the five boroughs very rapidly,” de Blasio said as he explained that this week, homebound seniors will be vaccinated in the Bronx, Coney Island, the Lower East Side, East Harlem, Jamaica and the North Shore on Staten Island.
“Our goal is to reach all homebound seniors — all homebound seniors in this city who want to be vaccinated — between this month and next month,” de Blasio said. “Over the next seven weeks or so, we believe we can reach every single one.”
There are between 14,000 and 23,000 fully homebound residents in the Big Apple, the NY Post reported.
“Bronx is going to help lead the way, lead the way in the recovery of New York City,” the mayor said when he initially rolled out the vaccine goals.
When the Co-Op City site reaches full strength, de Blasio says 1,000 will be vaccinated every day in the community. “What a difference maker that will be,” he said.
According to the mayor, Co-Op City is one of the first places to do homebound senior vaccinations.
“Now that we have the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, we can reach our homebound seniors,” he said.
The number of New Yorkers vaccinated is now over 3 million, according to ABC 7.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine approved last Saturday; doses began to arrive in New York during the week. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is one-shot only, making it easier to get people rapidly vaccinated.
The NYPD released a searchable database of the entire force, in a response to the CCRB’s own database (AP image)
By: Ellen Cans
A New Jersey police chief allegedly assigned on-duty police officers to work as security at his private funeral home business. On Monday, charges were filed against Saddle Brook Police Chief Robert Kugler which could put him behind bars for decades, if found guilty.
As reported by the NY Post, NJ Attorney General Gurbir Grewa announced the charges against Kugler, alleging that he used police officers and department vehicles as escorts for his private business. Chief Kugler is facing charges of conspiracy, official misconduct and corruption of public resources in connection with an alleged abuse of power that benefited his Kugler Funeral Home, the state’s top prosecutor said. If convicted, the 59-year-old chief could face 25 years in state prison and be fined up to $315,000, Grewal said. The embattled chief has been stripped of his powers, and the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office is now in control of the community department’s daily operations, the AG added.
The state’s attorney alleges that Kruger ordered police officers under his control to escort funeral processions to cemeteries both in and outside of Saddle Brook during their regular shifts, from January 1, 2019 till August 14,2020, in violation of township ordinance. Police escorts are illegal in the town of Saddle Brook, unless they are for municipal government purposes or nonprofits. Kugler’s funeral home also did not pay the township for any of these services.
Kugler leads the department which at one time was had as many as 34 officers, and which currently has a roster of 31 active officers, as per the department’s website. This January, Kugler had announced that he would be seeking the Republican nomination for Bergen County Sheriff, as per the New Jersey Globe. “Bergen County finds itself at a time which calls for a Sheriff with more than just impeccable law enforcement credentials and experience,” Kugler had reportedly said at the time. Kugler, a lifelong resident of Saddle Brook, has been a law enforcement professional for over 35 years, and Chief of Police since 1995, making him the longest serving active police chief in Bergen County. He has also served as former President of the Bergen County Police Chiefs Association as well as the NJ State Association of Chiefs of Police.
Kugler was not immediately reached for comment by the Post. Saddle Brook Police redirected The Post to the AG’s office for comments regarding the case.
Saddle Brook Police Chief Robert J. Kugler. Photo Credit: Saddle Brook Police
By: Ellen Cans
A New Jersey police chief allegedly assigned on-duty police officers to work as security at his private funeral home business. On Monday, charges were filed against Saddle Brook Police Chief Robert Kugler which could put him behind bars for decades, if found guilty.
As reported by the NY Post, NJ Attorney General Gurbir Grewa announced the charges against Kugler, alleging that he used police officers and department vehicles as escorts for his private business. Chief Kugler is facing charges of conspiracy, official misconduct and corruption of public resources in connection with an alleged abuse of power that benefited his Kugler Funeral Home, the state’s top prosecutor said. If convicted, the 59-year-old chief could face 25 years in state prison and be fined up to $315,000, Grewal said. The embattled chief has been stripped of his powers, and the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office is now in control of the community department’s daily operations, the AG added.
The state’s attorney alleges that Kruger ordered police officers under his control to escort funeral processions to cemeteries both in and outside of Saddle Brook during their regular shifts, from January 1, 2019 till August 14,2020, in violation of township ordinance. Police escorts are illegal in the town of Saddle Brook, unless they are for municipal government purposes or nonprofits. Kugler’s funeral home also did not pay the township for any of these services.
Kugler leads the department which at one time was had as many as 34 officers, and which currently has a roster of 31 active officers, as per the department’s website. This January, Kugler had announced that he would be seeking the Republican nomination for Bergen County Sheriff, as per the New Jersey Globe. “Bergen County finds itself at a time which calls for a Sheriff with more than just impeccable law enforcement credentials and experience,” Kugler had reportedly said at the time. Kugler, a lifelong resident of Saddle Brook, has been a law enforcement professional for over 35 years, and Chief of Police since 1995, making him the longest serving active police chief in Bergen County. He has also served as former President of the Bergen County Police Chiefs Association as well as the NJ State Association of Chiefs of Police.
Kugler was not immediately reached for comment by the Post. Saddle Brook Police redirected The Post to the AG’s office for comments regarding the case.
Dozens of student leaders and elected officials united together on Tuesday to rally against tuition increases and present the Governor with a report card on his Executive Budget Proposal. Photo Credit: Marc Bassinich
Edited by: TJVNews.com
Dozens of student leaders and elected officials united together on Tuesday to rally against tuition increases and present the Governor with a report card on his Executive Budget Proposal. CUNY and SUNY Student Trustees Juvanie Piquant and Brad Hershenson presented the Governor with a “Higher Education Report Card” indicating the major investment needed in public higher education across the state.
Among the topics covered in the Report Card were Tuition Policy, TAP GAP, EOP Funding, Mental Health Services, and others. Many of the topics covered received grades of “F” and “I” for “fail” and “incomplete”. The students noted that the semester is not over yet and there is still time for the Governor to receive extra credit.
Student Assembly President and Student Trustee Brad Hershenson stated that, “We must remain true to the notions of affordability and accessibility in public higher education. Raising tuition during the middle of a pandemic is clearly not the right choice. Given the billions of dollars in federal aid coming to New York now is the time to lower tuition at both CUNY and SUNY. We can finally stop balancing the budgets on the backs of our own students.”
CUNY University Student Senate Chairperson and Student Trustee Juvanie Piquant stated that, “It is time to invest in CUNY, the time is now to do the right thing. There is time left to complete the semester, and time to do what’s right. We must put people over profits and invest in CUNY and SUNY so New York can thrive.”
Expressions of support were provided by legislators and their representatives including Senator Robert Jackson and Senator John Liu. Higher education advocate and CUNY Law Alumni Assembly Member Harvey Epstein stated that, “CUNY is a pathway to the future, we need to invest in CUNY and invest in SUNY now.”
Champion for students Assembly Member Jo Anne Simon stated that, “I am here to support the students, we need a new deal for CUNY and we need to properly invest in SUNY and CUNY”.
The Governor’s Executive Budget proposal notes language indicating tuition increases, as opposed to state investment, at SUNY and CUNY campuses for hundreds of dollars over the next four years. Increase based expenses such as the TAP GAP and collective bargaining contracts still remain unaddressed. The legislature and the Governor have until the end of the month to finalize the executive budget for adoption.
The Student Assembly of the State University of New York (SUNY SA) is the recognized student government organization representing the nearly 1.4 million students of the State University of New York. Comprising student leaders elected by their peers from across SUNY’s 64 campuses, SUNY SA is committed to empowering students throughout the state, and ensuring the representation of its members on the state and national level, as well as throughout the SUNY system.
