Cuomo slips; Curran, Bellone support still strong

"Impeach Cuomo" sign posted on Montauk Highway in West Bay Shore

Gov. Andrew Cuomo's sky-high favorability rating of 77 percent in April -- after New Yorkers were locked down and watching the governor's daily coronavirus briefings -- dropped to 66 percent this month, according to a Sienna College Research Institute poll released yesterday.

Most media outlets headlined those statewide results, which came from polling 796 registered voters throughout New York from May 17 through May 21.

But Cuomo's popularity dropped much more drastically among downstate suburban voters, which inlcudes Long Island. In April, they gave him a 76 percent favorability rating. This month,  they gave him a 57 percent favorability score.

Downstate voter's opinions also dipped slightly on how well local government leaders were operating during the pandemic, but support remained strong.

Although Nassau County Executive Laura Curran and Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone were not cited by name, the poll found that 70 percent of downstate suburban voters approved of the job "your local government leader" was doing to address the pandemic. In April, 76 percent approved.

Curran and Bellone also do near daily briefings on the coronavirus for their respective counties.

The poll shows that Cuomo's popularity suffered because of his handling of nursing homes during the pandemic.

New York has the highest death toll attributed to the coronavirus in nursing and adult care homes of any other state. Though the numbers vary depending on who is telling them, New York has about 5,800 confirmed or presumed Covid-19 deaths in elder care facilities, the Buffalo News reported yesterday.


Critics blame a March 25 order from the Cuomo administration that directed nursing homes to accept coronavirus patients discharged from hospitals. After deaths soared, Cuomo rescinded the order May  10.

Asked how well Cuomo addressed the needs of New York's nursing homes, 48 percent of respondents across the state rated his job as fair or poor. Downstate suburban voters were more negative, with 58 percent rating his Cuomo's nursing home performance as fair or poor. Nine percent of downstate voters had no opinion.

Among those angry over Cuomo's nursing home directive are some residents of Suffolk's South Shore, including West Islip and neighboring West Bay Shore. (See road sign posted above).


  
On Tuesday, Republican Assemb. Mike LiPetri of Massapequa joined families who lost loved ones in nursing homes at a news conference in West Islip calling for an investigation into Cuomo's order.

Democrat Cuomo has since blamed the high death toll on nursing homes and Republican President Donald Trump's administration.

He said nursing homes could have rejected the patients if they could not handle them--though some news outlets report the state did not allow rejections during the height of the outbreak.


Cuomo also said that New York followed federal Center for Disease Control guidelines for nursing homes.

But all states were required to follow the CDC guidelines. The difference was in how each state  interpreted the guidelines to ensure safety for elderly patients.

Pennslyvania and New York have received the most criticism for their handling of nursing home patients during the pandemic.