NYC Mayoral Candidate Andrew Cuomo Skips Planned Visit to Senior Center as Protesters Waited to Confront Him Over COVID Nursing Home Deaths |

Andrew Cuomo Bails on Senior Center Visit Amid Protests Over Nursing Home Policies

In a drama befitting a political soap opera, Andrew Cuomo, the former governor of New York and current mayoral hopeful, opted to skip a scheduled appearance at the Peter Cardella Senior Citizens Center in Ridgewood. Outside, a crowd of over two dozen protesters gathered, wielding signs that served as grim reminders of his controversial decisions during the pandemic.

protesters showed up to tell andrew #cuomo we didn’t forget how you sent our grandparents back to overcrowded nursing homes while the hospital ship and javits center was empty. #nomascuomopic.twitter.com/lLiZFfOMOv https://t.co/557EG5rDsE

— Flushing Tenants Alliance (@flushingtenant) May 17, 2025

This decision is not without its consequences; thousands of vulnerable seniors were infected and many lost their lives as a direct result of Cuomo’s directive to place COVID-19 patients in nursing homes—an action that has haunted families ever since.

Dr. Damien Archbold, an anesthesiologist at Elmhurst Hospital, expressed his incredulity at Cuomo’s political aspirations, stating, “I’m still trying to process and come to terms with how to prevent that [a pandemic] from happening again, but I’m pretty dismayed that Andrew Cuomo has the gall to run for mayor. I have this moral indignation that Cuomo’s running for mayor of New York City after he sold out the city.”

One protester held a sign that read, “Our Families’ Losses are Not Politically Motivated,” a poignant reminder that behind the statistics are real families grappling with profound grief.

In a twist of irony, the protest group rushed to the senior center upon hearing of Cuomo’s planned visit, only for him to cancel the event at the last moment.

We got word that Andrew Cuomo was staging a photo op at the Peter Cardella Senior Center.

When he found out grieving families and medical professionals were there to tell the attendees how Cuomo caused the deaths of thousands of seniors, he cancelled.

Coward can’t face us! pic.twitter.com/69yHQK04nP

— VoicesForSeniors (@Voices4Seniors) May 16, 2025

While Cuomo’s campaign insists that he had canceled the event “days ago,” two workers at the senior center countered that the cancellation occurred on Friday morning, casting doubt on the campaign’s narrative.

One protester, Daniel Arbeeny, voiced his anguish, having lost four family members in a single week due to the pandemic’s mismanagement. This personal tragedy highlights the human cost of political decisions that often seem distant from the lives they affect.

Despite the backlash, Cuomo remains a frontrunner for the Democratic nomination, a testament to the sometimes baffling nature of political resilience in New York City.