About 50 protestors gathered together on the cold afternoon of Oct. 18, to remember elderly loved ones who had succumbed to COVID-19 and demand a sincere apology from State Governor Andrew Cuomo. The protest occurred outside the Cobble Hill Health Center (CHHC), nearly a week after the governor’s book, “American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic,” was published.
During the rally, a silver casket from Cobble Hill Chapel was wheeled in front of the Cobble Hill facility. The casket was filled with 6,500 copies of Cuomo’s book cover, which symbolized the reported number of New Yorkers who died in nursing homes from COVID-19.
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Many at the rally blamed this number on Cuomo’s March 25 executive order that mandated nursing homes had to admit recovering COVID-19 patients. The order, which was reversed on May 10, intended to free up hospital beds, as hundreds of New Yorkers were dying each day at the height of the pandemic. However, the State’s Department of Health (DOH) has only recorded the number of seniors who passed away in nursing homes – not counting those who died outside of those facilities, like hospitals they were transported to.
“Unfortunately some of us who lost loved ones were not able to see our loved ones in a casket. I was one of them,” Peter Arbeeny said. “Anybody who has pictures of lost loved ones is more than welcome to come up and put them in the casket. This is everyone’s funeral.”
Peter’s brother Danny stood by the casket with a microphone and speaker.
“We’re here simply to want an apology,” he said. “Unfortunately, our governor has not given us an apology.”
In just one week in April, five of Danny Arbeeny’s family members died – four from COVID-19, three of whom were in nursing homes. At the same time, Danny explained, his in-laws were forced to shelter-in-place at his house after also contracting the virus – from which they later recovered.
Danny and Peter’s father Norman, a Korean War veteran who lived just a block and a half away from CHHC, died from COVID-19 at the age of 89. They said he passed away in his family’s century-old home, after being released from the Cobble Hill facility where he most likely contracted the virus.
“How hard is it not to get angry, to get really mad when that happens?” Danny rhetorically asked. “It’s almost impossible, but it is possible. My family and I got together and said, ‘We’re either going to scream at the darkness or we’re going to shine a light.’”
Prior to Norman’s passing, the Arbeeny family raised money and donated thousands of personal protection equipment to CHHC. The family made three donations during the pandemic.
On the day of the rally, the Arbeenys mentioned that they had a family member being taken care of in CHHC.
The statewide and local numbers
Fifty-five people reportedly died from COVID-19 at CHHC, according to New York officials in early April. At that time, at least 14 other New York nursing homes had also recorded more than 25 COVID-19-related deaths.
On April 17, CHHC released the following statement: “Although we’ve had an increase during the past few weeks, we have not been able to confirm that the deaths are specifically related to Covid-19, Any deaths we’ve reported have been based on the possibility of Covid-19 being a factor. Because Covid-19 testing in skilled nursing facilities has been extremely difficult to obtain, there is no uniform measure to determine conclusively whether Covid-19 was a contributing factor in a resident’s death.”
In a spreadsheet compiled by Long Term Care Community Coalition and based on data from DOH, there had been 6,692 reported COVID-19 deaths in long-term care facilities, as of Oct. 12. By that date, 855 deaths had been reported in Kings County – 841 of which were in nursing homes.
“The families in front of you, the families you represent deserve to know the truth,” Danny said, directing his comments to Cuomo. “If somebody made a mistake in all that was going on – and it was a crazy time – we would forgive.”
He continued, saying, “Maybe some wouldn’t forgive, but we certainly would. Then we can move on and celebrate the good things [in life].”
On the day of the rally, DOH data revealed that 25,644 New Yorkers had died from COVID-19. When this article was submitted on Oct. 27, 25,730 New Yorkers had died in total.
Voices for Seniors asks for accountability
Voices for Seniors co-founder Vivian Zayas attended on behalf of her grassroots organization, whose goal is to fight for the vulnerable and their substandard care. Voices for Seniors not only asked for accountability during the rally, but for an investigation with subpoena power to be launched in New York.
Zayas shared with the crowd that she, too, suffered a loss during the pandemic. Her mother, Ana Martinez, was in a Long Island nursing home undergoing physical therapy, but died on April 1 at a nearby hospital after contracting the virus.
“It’s a day that we usually celebrate April Fools, but the fool and the trick was on me. My mother was supposedly ‘fine’ at a nursing home when I continually called and tried to get the status of her health. We were reassured consistently that she was fine,” Zayas explained. “‘Fine’ was that on the morning she was supposed to be discharged, she actually had a collapsed lung and was on a respirator. … She got trapped and died.”
She continued: “We would like that, in any circumstance, our seniors should be safe in any long-term care facility … not just the ones who have already died, but the seniors of the future. If I have the good fortune of becoming a senior and should need services at a long-term care facility or rehab facility, I would like to know that, no matter where I end up, I’m going to be safe and treated with integrity and respect.”
Families share pain, stand together
For Michelle Smith, standing on Henry Street was her first time being out in months. “It’s just really hard because my mother just passed, so I’m just taking it all in,” she noted before the rally began. “I guess this will help with my grieving period.”
Before the pandemic struck, her mother was assigned to a rehabilitation center located within a nursing home and was reportedly doing well. However, when Smith couldn’t visit her mom due to the mandate, her mother’s health began to decline. Her mother was diagnosed with COVID-19 on May 10 (Mother’s Day) from the nursing home. She passed away a week later.
Smith hopes families can visit their loved ones in the future.
“There were several deaths and it’s about acknowledging the voices of not only those who can no longer be heard, but family members who still have family in the nursing homes and haven’t seen them since March,” she continued. “I really hope they can see their parents when I couldn’t see mine.”
Haydee Pabey and her two teenagers traveled to Brooklyn from Westchester County, showing their support. Pabey said that, although her mother died several months ago, her family was still grieving. She also noted that they never had the opportunity to properly lay her to rest.
“If we don’t speak about what happened, it’s like it didn’t happen and that our deceased loved ones’ lives didn’t matter,” she said. “All of our family members’ lives mattered and that’s why we’re here and we’re supporting each other.”
Aram Bauman took deep breaths and tried holding back tears as he spoke about his parents at the rally. His mother was in and out of CHHC for nearly two years with COPD and dialysis. During the spring, she went to a dialysis treatment with a fever and was sent to the hospital.
“That’s the last time anybody heard from her, basically. And then she shows up … in this box that came in the mail,” Bauman said, while holding up a box that contained his mother’s cremated remains.
“Two weeks later, my Pops got sick. Seventeen days after that, he passed away. I still don’t have his ashes. But, at least with him, we were able to put an iPad in his room to speak to him every night.”
Janice Dean, senior meteorologist at FOX News Channel, also spoke to the crowd. Her husband’s parents had been treated in separate eldercare facilities during the lockdown. Dean’s mother-in-law was diagnosed with the virus, but died in a hospital. In her father-in-law’s case, Dean told WION News that her family didn’t even know of his declining health until they were notified on a Saturday afternoon in late March. They received a phone call three hours later that same day, learning he had passed away. Dean also said that her family didn’t know he had died from the virus until they received his death certificate.
“The governor likes to say this is all about politics, but it’s not. It’s about accountability and families,” Dean said. “I didn’t know any of you, but now I feel like you’re part of my family because we’re all going through exactly the same thing – and that is grieving our loved ones.”
She, like many others, is calling for an independent bipartisan investigation with subpoena power to be launched, rather than a book launch.
“What governor has the time to write a book during the middle of a pandemic? What governor gets to profit off of the 30,000+ that have died?” Dean asked. “That’s how I look at it. I believe everyone that has bought that book, unfortunately, is profiting off our loved ones’ deaths.”
