- By Steve Bittenbender | The Center Square/February 3rd, 2021
(The Center Square) – A New York Supreme Court justice has given state officials five days to turn over complete data on nursing home deaths from COVID-19.
In addition, Justice Kimberly O’Connor also ruled Wednesday that the state must pay the legal costs for the Empire Center, a think tank that filed a Freedom of Information Act request to the state Department of Health on Aug. 3.
The Empire Center in a statement hailed the ruling as a victory for open government.
“We hope Justice O’Connor’s unequivocal ruling finally pushes the Cuomo administration to do the right thing,” said Bill Hammond, the group’s senior fellow for health policy. “The people of New York – especially those who have lost loved ones in nursing homes – have waited much too long to see this clearly public information about one of the worst disasters in state history.”
The department released a statement late Wednesday afternoon saying that it had been planning on releasing the data anyway.
“With the preliminary audit complete, we were already in the process of responding to the their FOIL request, and updating DOH’s website with publicly available information,” Health Department spokesperson Gary Holmes said.
The department has delayed responding three times. According to an Empire Center statement, the most recent delay indicated the data would not be available until March 22.
“DOH does not, in the Court’s opinion, offer an adequate explanation as to why it has not responded to that request within its estimated time period or to date,” O’Connor said in her ruling.
A message to DOH officials for comment was not immediately returned Wednesday afternoon.
The ruling comes a week after Attorney General Letitia Lames issued a report indicating the state undercounted the total number of nursing home residents who died due to the coronavirus.
While no one accused the state of misrepresenting the overall death toll, concerns were raised at how the state counted its fatalities. Nursing home residents who contracted the virus in a home but were transferred to a hospital were not counted as a nursing home death if they died in the hospital.
The Empire Center said no other state reported its count in such fashion.
The attorney general’s report indicates the Cuomo administration may have undercounted the nursing home deaths by up to 50 percent.
The ruling will require DOH to release information it receives from nursing homes into the Health Emergency Response Data System, or HERDS. That data is gathered on a daily basis and includes resident deaths that happen in and out of the facilities.
- MTA Launches Six-Year Signal and Track Overhaul on A and C Subway Lines
- Long Island City Rent Overcharge Lawsuit Seeks $50 Million Against Developer
- Astoria E-Scooter Rider Dies After Northern Boulevard Crash in Long Island City
- Hate Crime Charges Filed After Vandalism at Fresh Meadows Kosher Bagel Shop
- Midtown Subway Shooting Leaves 26-Year-Old Dead; Queens Incidents Separate
State Sen. Jim Tedisco, R-Glenville, submitted an amicus brief on behalf of the Empire Center. In a statement, he said the people have a right to know the information.
“Clearly the best disinfectant is sunlight,” he said. “Governor Cuomo’s coronavirus cover-up is crumbling down … It’s obvious that the Governor’s six-month cover-up and refusal to give us these numbers shows he felt they mattered so he could hide any blame.”
Latest from the Roosevelt Island Daily News
Hate Crime Charges Filed After Vandalism at Fresh Meadows Kosher Bagel Shop
Hate crime charges have been filed after vandalism at a kosher bagel shop in Fresh Meadows, with prosecutors alleging bias-motivated acts. Hearings are set in New York’s legal process.
Midtown Subway Shooting Leaves 26-Year-Old Dead; Queens Incidents Separate
A shooting inside a Manhattan subway station left a 26-year-old dead. Police investigate the Midtown incident and separate shootings in Queens as commuters seek safety.
College Point Community Responds After Senior Dog Taken From Front Lawn
A College Point senior dog was taken from her front lawn, sparking a neighborhood response and NYPD investigation. Learn how the community is working together after a senior dog was taken from front lawn.
You Can’t Be All Three
April 9, 2026, during the full board meeting of the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation, Fay Christian said something that should have landed harder than it did. She wished RIOC were not responsible for the tram. Then she asked what it would look like if it were given to the MTA. That was not a passing comment.
