Andrew Cuomo has apologized to New York City's Jewish community for his response to the COVID-19 pandemic when he was governor, a rare retreat on a signature campaign issue as he runs for mayor. In a video that circulated online Wednesday, Cuomo said he was acting to "protect health and save lives" during the pandemic when he angered Orthodox communities by limiting the size of religious gatherings. He did not "always fully consider the sensitivities and traditions that are so deeply important," Cuomo said, the AP reports.
"We could have done better, and for that I am truly sorry," Cuomo said in the video, which was timed to Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. "My intentions don't change the impact, and I sincerely ask for your understanding." The video was not posted to Cuomo's social media pages but spread on social media, and a copy was shared with the AP. The apology is a departure from Cuomo on his response to the pandemic, which he has heralded as a prime example of his managerial competence as he runs as an independent against Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani.
Cuomo has long boasted of his close ties to Orthodox Jewish communities. But that relationship soured when he closed schools and limited attendance at houses of worship and other gatherings in an effort to stop COVID-19 from spreading, at a time when it was killing hundreds of people a day in the state. Cuomo's "cluster initiative" brought further restrictions to neighborhoods experiencing high rates of the disease, including several densely populated Hasidic communities in Brooklyn and other places. The move sparked outrage, triggering allegations of antisemitism, lawsuits, and rowdy protests in which participants burned masks. A lawsuit brought by some synagogues led to a US Supreme Court ruling in late 2020 that struck down the capacity limits in houses of worship.
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