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    9 Mayoral Candidates Unite to Attack Cuomo on Nursing Home Deaths

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    Nearly all the people running for New York City mayor appeared at a Covid memorial event with a shared message: Former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s pandemic response is a reason not to support him.Nearly all the men and women running to be New York City’s next mayor came together on Sunday to urge voters not to support the candidates’ shared opponent, former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo.The group — which ranged in ideology from Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, to Curtis Sliwa, a Republican — gathered to mark the fifth anniversary of a New York State Department of Health order, issued while Mr. Cuomo was governor, that directed nursing homes to readmit hospital patients who had tested positive for the coronavirus. The order, patients’ families and lawmakers have said, contributed to thousands of Covid-related deaths among nursing home residents in the state.For Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat who resigned in 2021 amid a sexual harassment scandal, continued scrutiny of his pandemic response and his administration’s efforts to conceal the true death toll in nursing homes was a political millstone even before he entered the mayor’s race. He has sharply defended his handling of the crisis and has called the criticism politically motivated.On Sunday, nine mayoral candidates stood on a street in Brooklyn’s Cobble Hill neighborhood in front of a memorial wall that displayed photos of nursing home residents who died during the Covid crisis. Each candidate said that they were not attending for political reasons, while taking the opportunity to criticize the former governor, who is leading in the polls. The event was organized by families who have long called for Mr. Cuomo to apologize and take responsibility for their relatives’ deaths.“This is not about partisan politics, but it is about accountability,” said Brad Lander, the city comptroller who is running in the Democratic primary in June. “It is not too much to ask Andrew Cuomo to meet with families.”Relatives of those who died have called on former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to meet with their families.Victor J. Blue for The New York TimesWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      3 Die Amid Outbreak of Legionnaires’ Disease at an Assisted Living Home

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      Twenty-five people connected to the home, in Albany, N.Y., have been hospitalized amid the outbreak, officials said.Three people who tested positive for Legionnaires’ disease have died amid an outbreak at an assisted living home in Albany, N.Y., that sickened at least seven others, officials said on Friday.The deaths came amid what Maribeth Miller, the interim Albany County health commissioner, described in an email as a “cluster” of Legionnaires’ cases at the Peregrine Senior Living at Shaker home that officials had learned of on Aug. 30.Water samples from the home showed the presence of Legionella bacteria, which causes the disease, Ms. Miller wrote. She said the county Health Department had placed certain restrictions on water use at the home, one of 11 that Peregrine operates in New York and Maryland, while more tests were conducted. Water filters have been installed on some showers and sinks so that residents can still use bathrooms, she added.“There is no threat to the community at large,” Ms. Miller wrote.Kristyn Ganim, the home’s executive director, said employees had been working with health officials to address the outbreak. In addition to installing filters across the water treatment system, she said, staff members were providing residents with bottled water.“I want to reassure all of our residents, staff and visitors that our community is completely safe,” she said in a statement.Legionella bacteria occurs naturally in water, and people typically contract Legionnaires’ disease by inhaling mists or water vapor containing the bacteria, according to the state Health Department. The bacteria can grow in poorly maintained industrial water systems; cooling towers; or heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning systems, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More