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John, I want to tell you about Norman Arbeeny.

Norman lived in the same house on Amity Street in Brooklyn nearly all his life. One of 12 siblings in a Syrian immigrant family, he built a family based on the values of generosity and standing up for what is right.

“They called him the Mayor,” muses his adult son Anthony. “He knew everyone in Costco and Home Depot.”

“The love he showed everybody. Didn’t matter who you are. There was no division,” says his son Daniel.

Norman tragically died at the age of 89 when then-Governor Andrew Cuomo disobeyed CDC guidelines and ordered Covid-positive patients back to Cobble Hill Nursing Home. He was one of thousands of elderly New Yorkers living in nursing homes who died due to Cuomo’s decision.

For years, the Arbeeny family has led a battle for justice and accountability – even staging a “mock funeral” direct action. In 2020, I joined them outside Cobble Hill Nursing Home to demand a simple apology from Andrew Cuomo for his disastrous decision.

“[My father] was a wonderful man and he was a strong man, and he suffered and we were insulted. And that’s what drove us to action,” Peter Arbeeny tells me in the video below at the cemetery in Brooklyn where his father is buried.

Watch here: [[link removed]][link removed] [[link removed]]

How did we get here? In March 2020, then-governor Cuomo issued an order mandating that New York nursing homes accept residents who are medically stable [[link removed]] , stating, "[n]o resident shall be denied re-admission or admission to the NH [nursing home] solely based on a confirmed or suspected diagnosis of COVID-19."

Cuomo said that his decision was based on CDC guidance, but that was a lie. In fact, guidelines issued by the CDC [[link removed]] specifically stipulated that COVID-19 patients could be discharged from a hospital to a nursing home "only if the nursing home can implement all recommended infection control procedures.” Following the implementation of this policy, thousands of New Yorkers died of COVID-19.

After this fateful error, Cuomo was found by the U.S. Attorney General to have understated the number [[link removed]] of COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes by as much as 50 percent [[link removed]] . He then was referred for criminal prosecution [[link removed]] after a House subcommittee found him to have given false statements about the state report undercounting the deaths, claiming he had not seen it before emails revealed he had not only seen it but edited it himself.

Five years later, Andrew Cuomo still hasn’t apologized for lying to Congress — and he still hasn’t apologized to the Arbeeny family or the thousands of other New Yorkers whose loved ones died in nursing homes during the dark days of the pandemic.

Andrew lied. People died. And grieving New Yorkers like Daniel and Anthony Arbeeny deserve a much better mayor than cowardly chaos agent Andrew Cuomo, who is running for his own redemption narrative.

John, please take a moment to watch the Arbeeny family’s story in the video above. And then — if you’re as outraged as I am — please add your name alongside mine in demanding that Andrew Cuomo apologize to the Arbeeny family and thousands of other grieving New Yorkers whose loved ones died in nursing homes. [[link removed]]

As mayor, I will lead with compassion, care, honesty and accountability.

Brad
Lander for Mayor
32 Court Street
Suite 1506
Brooklyn, NY 11201
United States
[email protected] [[email protected]]
Paid for by Lander 2025
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