New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo COVID-19 Press Conference Transcript April 19

Governor Cuomo: (00:00) Okay, good morning, everyone. Happy Monday. It is a beautiful day. To my far left, good Dr. Howard Zucker. We thank him for being here. Thank him for his extraordinary service. To my immediate left, Robert Mujica, Budget Director, also sits on the MTA Board, also sits on the CUNY Board. To my right, Melissa DeRosa, Secretary to the Governor. Secretary to the Governor is an official title. It's nothing to do with being an actual secretary. It's the top position in state government. Governor Cuomo: (00:36) Let's talk about where we are today. What are the priorities? What are the goals? Define the goal and prioritize the goal. We have two goals. Two priorities. Both important. First, keep the COVID rate down. Vaccinate New Yorkers. We work at that 24 hours a day. Second, spring is here. We're reopening. We're not just building back New York. We're building it back better than ever before. Governor Cuomo: (01:12) After you've gone through a trauma in life, whether it's a natural disaster or whatever, that's a moment to learn and to grow and to improve. That's what we did post-9/11. That's what we did post-Hurricane Sandy, and that's what we're going to do post-COVID. On the COVID numbers today, the overall positivity rate is 2.9. The statewide deaths, 44. Obviously one is too many, but relatively that is good news, and they are in our thoughts and prayers. Hospitalizations, 3,700. That's good news. ICU, 836. That's good news. Intubations, 521. That's actually good news. If you look at the numbers ... You don't really look at the numbers day to day ... We look at the trend of the numbers, and where we are now is the lowest since November 13th. Why is that important? November 13th is pre-Thanksgiving, pre-holiday surge, pre any of the increase. So we're actually back to where we were before we hit the holiday increase. So that's very good news. Governor Cuomo: (02:25) Hospitalizations also continue to decline. Lowest number since December 4th. December 4th, that's also before we started to feel the effect of the holiday surge starting on Thanksgiving. You look at the positivity across the state. You see a different picture. I hate to repeat myself, but I do it all the time. You look at Western New York, and the number in Western New York, and then look at the numbers in the rest of the state and you look at the variance among the regions in the state. What accounts for that? We don't believe there's anything that accounts for that other than the variation in human behavior and the precautions that people take and how seriously they take COVID. COVID is still a risk. It's still a threat. But you go from 4.7 in Western New York to Southern Tier 0.8, which is right next door. Governor Cuomo: (03:29) Your community determines your positivity rate. I don't know how else to say it. New York City, you see Staten Island with the highest infection rate, not as high as it was, but still higher than any borough in New York City. How do you explain that? Your community determines your infection rate. Your behavior determines your infection rate. Your family determines your family's infection rate. Governor Cuomo: (03:58) We've been very aggressive on vaccinations. We're doing it every way we can. We're advertising it. I'm going to be traveling across the state stressing this message, "Get vaccinated." Now, this has been a constant adjustment dealing with COVID. This graphic, I do because I like it. Nobody else likes it, but it's a prerogative of being Governor, but it actually says something. It says, watch the dials, watch the gauges, watch the positivity increase, watch the hospitalization increase, and that informs you as to the calibration of economic activity versus protections. Governor Cuomo: (04:44) So the numbers are stable and going down. So we can start to open up more economic activity. Museum and zoo capacity will be raised to 50% starting next Monday. The weather is nice. We have magnificent zoos in this state. You want to get outside. You want to take the family somewhere. Museums and zoos will be at 50%. Movie theater capacity will go to 33%. That will also start next Monday, April 26th. Indoor large arenas, basically sports arenas, will be raised to 25%. That begins May 19th. May 19th is not a random date. We've been speaking with the teams. We're optimistic, and that would be a time when playoffs would begin. Governor Cuomo: (05:39) At the same time, it's about pivoting from COVID close down to post-COVID reopening. There's a season for everything. This is the season for renewal and for change. This is a season where New Yorkers do what New Yorkers do best. Get in the mindset of post-9/11, post-Hurricane Sandy. Governor Cuomo: (06:08) We're not just going to rebuild. We're not just going to replace. Reimagine what we should be. Renew what we should be, and let's build to that standard. When I was in the federal government, I dealt with a lot of federal disasters all across the country. You don't replace what was in the home. You build back a better home. You don't replace what was the infrastructure. You build it back. Modern, better, newer. COVID showed a lot of ugliness. How do we build back better? How do we take this moment when everyone has to rebuild ... This is a reset for the world. It's a reset for the nation. How do we use this to our advantage? The state, the region, that rebuilds best and fastest well have economic opportunity in the future. I believe that. Governor Cuomo: (07:16) Everyone is going through the process. Post-COVID. What did we learn? How do we rebuild? Whoever does that best has an economic opportunity, and that's where New York has to excel. People ask me all the time, "Well, what will New York be post-COVID?" There is nothing that is predetermined. New York will be what we make it to be. At one point in life, your destiny is in your own hands, and our destiny is in our own hands. It's what we make it. Our goal, our ambition is to make it better than it ever has been before. We're not just thinking about it and talking about it, we are already in the action phase. We're in the implementation phase. Governor Cuomo: (08:05) We have the most aggressive building program in modern history that is going on now. New airports, the new Moynihan Train Hall, which if you have not seen it, you are in for a treat. We're going to rebuild Penn Station. Should have been done decades ago, but we're going to seize this moment to make it a reality. The new Port Authority Bus Terminal. It's been an eyesore for the West Side of Manhattan for a long time. But now is the time. The commute from Long Island on the Long Island Railroad through Penn Station, which has been a daily torment, now is the time to put in a new track. The Belmont Arena. I was there the other day. It's going to be the home to the Islanders. It's going to be a new music venue. It's a place of identity for Long Island. It's going to be magnificent, and it's going to open this fall. We accelerated the schedule. Governor Cuomo: (08:57) Many cities still suffer from the mistake made in the 50s and 60s where we blocked off the waterfront, and the waterfront is now the attraction. You want to reconnect with that waterfront, and we're doing that in Buffalo and Rochester and in Albany. Governor Cuomo: (09:15) We just went through remote learning and kids having to learn from home. We saw the inequality in education. Well, remote learning. Yeah, if you have the computer, if you have someone who can work with you, and if you have broadband internet. Too many families had to go to the local fast food place or library to get broadband because they didn't have it at home. This remote learning discriminated against people, once again, the haves and the have-nots. Universal broadband that is accessible to everyone and affordable. First state in the nation. If you're a low income family, $15 and an internet company has to provide you high speed internet for $15. Governor Cuomo: (10:16) We're also going to be the green energy capital of the nation. Not by talking about it or demonstrating or signing goals, but by actually implementing a program. Governor Cuomo: (10:28) We have to, we have to reform public safety. This nation is still in turmoil with the relationship between members of the community and the police. We see it every day. There will be no economic recovery unless a city is safe. We have seen that in the past, and I'm going to speak more about this over the coming days. But public safety is directly related to the economy. The economy will not grow if people don't feel safe. It's that simple. We're in New York City today. I can tell you, because I've been born in New York City, you look at the periods of high crime in New York City, they are periods of economic decline. You see periods of where the crime rate goes down, the economic rate goes up. We are at a point of crisis in this nation and in this state. If you want to rebuild the economy, we have to reform public safety. Governor Cuomo: (11:38) We also have to help the middle class, especially at this time. The best way we can help them is through lower taxes. In the budget we just passed, we actually reduce income taxes for the middle class. The rate goes from 6.09 to 5.97 for those making between $43, 000 and 161,000 from- Governor Cuomo: (12:03) $43,000 and 161,000. From 43 to 161,000, your tax rate goes down. From 160 to 323, your tax rate goes down. $323,000 per year, middle-class. At one point, that would be rich people. But times have changed, so we want get those taxes down for people in those brackets. And we do it this year. And we also do it for the 20,000 to 80,000 bracket and 80 to 215,000 for individual taxpayers. So middle-class taxes come down as soon as I sign this bill, which I'm going to do in a moment. This tax change affects 4.8 million New Yorkers, and it's $2.2 billion. It is real. We're also instituting a property tax credit for people up to $250,000, because property taxes are the worst tax in the State of New York. It's not the state income tax, it is the property tax. And when people talk about high-tax New York, they're talking about the property taxes. That's what they're talking about. Governor Cuomo: (13:34) We passed a permanent property tax cap at 2%, first time ever in history. We passed it nine years ago. It has saved almost $60 billion in nine years, but there's no doubt that if you want to make a difference from a tax point of view in this state, it's about property taxes. With all we've done, we still have the highest property taxes in the country, right here in the State of New York. In New York State, the average middle-class taxpayer pays more in property taxes than they do in income taxes. People tend to focus on the state income tax. No, that's not what you're paying the taxes, you're paying the taxes in your property taxes. For example, we're in New York City today, Downstate, most people pay $10, 000 in property taxes, $7,000 in income taxes. The problem is property taxes. Governor Cuomo: (14:39) Property taxes in the Hudson Valley in Long Island are among the highest in the nation. Nassau, Westchester, Rockland, highest property taxes in the nation by dollar amount of how much people pay. Upstate, highest property taxes in the nation as a percentage of your home value. Nassau, Westchester, Rockland, highest absolute property tax payment. Upstate New York, highest property tax as a percentage of the value of your home. Home values are lower in Upstate New York, but the property taxes is higher. This situation has always been a problem. We made major progress when we passed the property tax cap, first time ever. Governor Cuomo: (15:41) But then what happens? In 2017, the federal government actually made it worse. The federal government passed a federal tax reform plan that reduced taxes for the rich, the wealthy, the corporations, but removed the deductibility of state and local taxes called SALT. They got away with it for two reasons. Number one, it was a little confusing. It was hard to communicate, "You no longer can deduct your state and local taxes." What does that mean? And second, it was President Trump and a federal government that was trying to help Republican states, and they took from the Democratic states. That is not a partisan statement, that is mathematics. Governor Cuomo: (16:35) Money came from the Democratic states under their tax reform, and they transferred it to Republican states. And it was a direct attack on New York, because the federal government was no friend to New York, as we know. For many reasons, it cost New Yorkers $30 billion over the last three years. What they did cost New Yorkers an additional $30 billion. I call it the SALT assault. It affected virtually the entire state. It limited deductions to $10,000. Most New Yorkers have deductions twice that level. It cost, on average, $2,600 per home. And because of SALT, in 2017, New York had the largest tax hike of any state in the nation. That's why it was personal. And that's why it was devastating. Governor Cuomo: (17:43) Make matters worse, New York already paid more into the federal government than any other state and got back less than any other state. It was already an unfair system, and they actually aggravated the injustice of it. Now, it's 2017, it's Trump, it's a Republican Senate, a Democratic House, all the New York officials, federal officials condemned what the federal government did. All of them got up and gave a speech. Governor Cuomo: (18:26) Senator Schumer condemned what they did, " State and local deductions are the bedrock of middle-class deductions that help steady the cost of middle-class families." Senator Gillibrand, same thing. Congressmen Nadler, the head of our congressional delegation in the House, "The Republicans didn't want to pay for the tax cut. They didn't care about this. They did this. They wanted to punish the state, the 12 states. They wanted to punish us for voting for Hillary Clinton, but they wanted to coerce us to have lower taxes and lesser services." Congresswoman Kathleen Rice, they all gave a great speech. Governor Cuomo: (19:08) Moderate Republicans, not the hyper-conservatives, or just the blind Trump loyalists, but reasonable, moderate Republicans, like Congressman Peter King, who I believe was just that, moderate, reasonable, pro-New York Republican said that it was outrageous what they did. Okay, that was their position. But for me, in life, it's not what you say, it's what you do. Since January, President Biden, who's a friend, Democratic Senate, Democratic Congress, no excuses, no Donald Trump, no Republican Senate, the Congress has passed multiple bills. They all promised to repeal SALT. They have not repealed SALT, and they must. Governor Cuomo: (20:12) There's another big federal package being proposed. They must repeal SALT. I understand a little bit about politics, but it is still about results at the end of the day. New Yorkers are bottom line people. "Did you get it done?" "Well, I'm trying. Well, I believe I made a good effort." "Did you get it done?" And we need results from Washington. SALT repeal means $12.3 billion to New Yorkers. SALT repeal is so powerful, it would lower the effective tax rate on New Yorker's highest payers by 37%. We just put a surcharge on the state income tax for the highest earners to finance our reconstruction in essence. Governor Cuomo: (21:17) Our top rate went to 10.9% from 8.8. If they repeal SALT, the effective tax rate on the high-earners goes to 6. 9%. So if they repeal SALT, which I believe they must, the net effect in New York will be that we didn't raise taxes on anyone. We lowered taxes on everyone, because when the SALT repeal happens, the top tax rate is not 10.9 in New York, it's really 6.9. And 6.9 is lower than what the taxes were. So when we did this budget, and we did this surcharge on the high-earners, we anticipated that SALT would be repealed, because there is no justification not to repeal SALT, especially after the way it was done, especially after every federal official pledged to repeal SALT. Governor Cuomo: (22:29) To Congress, my message is simple, on behalf of all New Yorkers who pay taxes, don't pass another bill until you fully repeal SALT, no political deals, no political games, fully repeal SALT. It was a political attack on this state. It was a partisan political attack on this state. You promised to repeal it, now is the time to do it. Lower our taxes. Help our economic recovery. Reverse the 2017 SALT in the wounds bill. Governor Cuomo: (23:10) I can't say it more clearly, but trust me, it is what every New Yorker knows and feels. And my job is very simple at the end of the day, I represent the people of the State of New York. I represent the people who are paying hard- earned tax dollars. I represent the people who were assaulted by the federal government in 2017. And I represent New Yorkers who demand justice. And for them to have justice, they need action. And they need action from President Biden, from Senator Schumer, from Congressman Jerry Nadler. These leaders must deliver, and they must deliver now. There are no excuses. What will new York's future... Governor Cuomo: (24:03) There are no excuses. What will New York's future be? It will be what we make it. We have to have the vision, dream big, and then do it. Build big, make it happen. Reform chronic problems like public safety, and make it happen. Reform chronic problems like high property taxes, and make it happen. We can be better than we have ever been. It's who we are. We just have to make it happen, and I am going to fight with you to make it happen every day. Thank you. I'm going to now sign this bill, which enacts the middle-class tax program and the property tax credit, and the bill is signed. Questions? Speaker 1: (25:09) Thank you, Governor. If you would like to ask a question, please use the raise hand function at the bottom of your window. We'll take a brief moment to compile the Q&A roster. Governor, your first question comes from Josefa Velasquez of THE CITY. Josefa, your line is now open. Please unmute your microphone. Josefa Velasquez: (25:30) Hey, Governor. Hope you're doing well. There have been several press conferences where you stood alongside supporters, other elected official, I'm wondering when we will be able to see reporters start joining press conferences, especially now since vaccination rates are up and that, we, as reporters have been able to get access to this. Governor Cuomo: (25:53) When will reporters be back in the room? That is purely a function of the COVID safety requirements. How many people can you have in a room? When we do a call like this, we can get 200 reporters who are listening and calling in. If we do an event in the city, you can get 50 reporters in a small room like this easily. So that's all health department guidance and Dr. Zucker's advice. But obviously, we want to practice what we preach, and we're preaching social distancing against large gatherings, et cetera. And you can either be in the room or frankly, we could never get 200 reporters in any room nowadays, so this is actually an effective medium. But when we get back to normal with COVID, then we'll get back to normal with press conferences. Speaker 1: (27:04) Governor, your next question comes from Adrienne Smith of WSYR. Adrienne, your line is now open. Please unmute your microphone. Adrienne Smith: (27:14) Hi, Governor. Adrienne here with Channel 9 in Syracuse. We've seen a lot of popular events, Taste of Syracuse, another is the Central New York Home and Garden Show that's actually held at the Fairgrounds, so I'm just wondering if you can give us an update on the status of the New York State Fair as we're just about four months away from it. Governor Cuomo: (27:38) Yeah, Adrienne, for just about four months, we face this question every day. When I talk about the valve and the dials, COVID changes. We saw a dramatic change over the past four months, right? You go back to... Our point of comparison is now November when the world changed. So four months... I don't have a crystal ball. All we can do is study the science and the data and the metrics. And as the numbers come down, then we relax more and more regulations. You saw today with the movie theaters, with the museums, with the zoos, with the indoor arenas. We're looking at outdoor arenas. Governor Cuomo: (28:35) Nobody wants to open the State Fair more than me. It is a fantastic facility. We have improved it tremendously as you know. We've broken all sorts of attendance records. It's a phenomenal asset for the entire state. So we're going to watch it. And I understand that events have to be planned that's why we're talking now today about the possible playoff games for sports teams. So whenever we get the data that justifies opening or opening to some extent, then we will promulgate those regulations. Governor Cuomo: (29:19) If we continue to vaccinate, if we continue to act smart, I think the worst is behind us and I think we're in a good place. But those ifs scare me, right? So yes, four months sounds like it's relatively close. And if nothing changes, we're on a good glide path, but I want to make sure that nothing changes. And I want to make the decision when it is timely, because once you say we're doing this, I don't want to have to go back the other way if there's a spike or a surge. And four months in this environment is a relative long time. Next question, operator. Speaker 1: (30:14) Governor, your next question comes from Ron Plants of WGRZ. Ron, your line is now open. Please unmute your microphone. Ron Plants: (30:24) Yes, Governor. We in Western New York, as you pointed out previously, have a 4.7% positivity rates. Is there any possibility that you would call for further restrictions regarding Western New York? And if so, what could they be? Governor Cuomo: (30:47) Good question. Good question. We are not there, but it is a good question. You have a 4.7 positivity rate. We looked at the comparison of the other regions in the state. We're doing some research right now on why we have certain places in the state that are extraordinary compared to other places in the state. Why Western New York? Why Buffalo, in particular to Rochester? Why Staten Island? Why Eastern Suffolk? Why? Because you see dramatically different rates in those areas. So we're researching that now. We're not contemplating additional restrictions, but we do have to get it under control. We do. Otherwise, we will have a problem. It goes back to the question before. What happens four months from now? Look, we have to plan four weeks from now, but the question is well taken. You have those high rates. Now, some will say the rates fluctuate and the rates are coming down somewhat. Yeah, but what's going on that they are so much higher than the rest of the state? And let's identify those causes and see if we can attack those causes. Next question, operator. Speaker 1: (32:22) Governor, your next question comes from Marie French of Politico. Marie, your line is now open. Please unmute your microphone. Marie French: (32:31) Hi, Governor. Can you hear me all right? Governor Cuomo: (32:33) Hey, Marie. Yeah, if you could just speak up a little bit, please, Marie. Marie French: (32:37) All right. I'll try. So Governor, today, some lawmakers discussed the possibility of instituting a ban on all new natural gas plants. They say that would better comply with the state's climate goals. Is that something you support and will your administration deny pending permits for gas plants? Governor Cuomo: (32:57) Marie, as you know, we have the most aggressive green goals and agenda, and agenda. Legislative bodies around the country, including the Congress, they're very big on passing goals. Goals to me are like New Year's resolutions. I have a goal of losing 10 pounds by March 1st. Yeah, I know that's a great new year's resolution. And goals are great, but they're very often toothless. We have a real agenda that says, "Here's what we want to get done, and by the way, this is how we're going to do it. 100 solar projects, offshore wind projects. Here's the funding. The RFP is going out. Transmission grid all across the state. That's how we're going to get the upstate renewable power down to downstate. Here's the cable. This is where the cable is going to come in from the Long Island Sound." We have an actual plan to do it. Governor Cuomo: (34:11) To come up with over lapping declarations that are not connected to a programmatic agenda doesn't make sense to me. So if they want to talk about the plan and how to accelerate the plan, that's my pleasure. But it can't be dictates that don't have any real life connectivity, right? We're closing Indian Point, if the PSC votes to close Indian Point, by the way. I have worked on that for 30 years. I lived in Westchester, and I remember talking to the county executive about it before I was attorney general. You know what Westchester's emergency plan was in case of disaster for Indian Point? They gave out iodine pills. That was the plan. Why? Because you couldn't evacuate Westchester quickly enough. Indian Point was an incredible security threat that is 25 miles or so from New York City. Frankly, it's a potential terrorist target, 25 miles from New York City. No one has ever come up with an evacuation plan. In theory, the plant was built to withstand an airplane crash in the 70s. Who knows what would happen now with Indian Point? Governor Cuomo: (36:02) ... what would happen now with Indian Point, plus the operation of Indian Point has been problematic on an ongoing basis. I have appeared at Indian Point in the middle of the night, a number of times, because they have had operating issues. And I've gone there myself to check out the plant, to make sure we were getting the truth, that the operating plant malfunction was actually fixed. There've been complaints of what it's been doing to the fishery in the Hudson River by the water intakes, destroying fisheries, and then putting out warmer water into the Hudson. So we're going to end Indian Point, if the PSC agrees, that is a very big deal. Governor Cuomo: (37:04) You now have to replace that amount of energy that comes off grid. That was nuclear energy, which is clean energy. It's dangerous energy, but it's clean energy, in my opinion. Where are you going to replace that from? Well, solar renewables. All right, can you build that many that fast? There has to be a connection to the specific consequences of actions. Governor Cuomo: (37:37) In theory, everything is easy, only renewable power, that's my position. If I just want to take a position, if I'm an advocate or a legislator, here's my position, only renewable power. Don't close everything else, just build renewable. Okay, that's a great position. I think it's impossible, but it sounds great. So if they want to talk about the specifics and actually how it would work and can we do it without telling New Yorkers, "You have to illuminate your home with candles and I hope you have a big fireplace to keep you warm in the winter," I'm open to it. Governor Cuomo: (38:28) Next question. Marie: (38:31) Are you saying that closing Indian Point is going to raise gas emissions? And I would say, these gas power plants are seeing a financial incentive because of Indian Point's closure, but your administration could make the decision to block any new gas plants. That is a real world decision that your administration has to make. Governor Cuomo: (38:53) Yes. And our first choice, Marie, is to replace it with all renewables. That is my first choice. The question then is, can we do it? We don't have the answer to that yet. But my goal is, get all the renewables, replace Indian Point with renewable energy, which means you have to get it cited. You have to get it cited without lengthy court fights, because we'll have a date for the closure of Indian Point. You have to have the transmission grid in place. It has to be funded. It has to be built, but that is my goal. And that is my hope. Governor Cuomo: (39:41) Now, if you say as an absolute, "Well, you can't build any more natural gas plants." Then the question arises, what happens if you don't have enough renewables online when you close Indian Point? That's the question you'd have to answer. I'm hopeful that we do, but what if you don't. Do you then say to New Yorkers, "Go to candles and fireplaces"? Governor Cuomo: (40:11) Next question, operator. Speaker 1: (40:14) Governor, your next question comes from Antoinette Biordi of News 12. Antoinette, your line is now open. Please unmute your microphone. Antoinette Biordi: (40:24) Thank you. Hi, my name is Antoinette Biordi, News 12. Just wondering, a Siena poll just came out today saying that New Yorkers continue to approve your handling of the pandemic. 60% to 32%, but your favorability, job performance, and re-election ratings all continue to head downwards. What do you want to say about that? Governor Cuomo: (40:49) I don't know what that means. I don't know how people can say, "I think you're doing a good job," but the favorable goes down. So they do these polls all the time. I tell you the truth, I don't put too much stock into them. We're working very hard on the pandemic. New York's success in dealing with COVID is inarguable. We went from the highest rate of infection to the lowest and I credit New Yorkers on that. We're now pivoting to the rebuilding and we're very aggressive on that. And I'm going to focus on my job. That's what I've always done. And public opinion goes up, it goes down, but if you're doing the job and people respect the job you're doing, to me, there's no more important barometer than that. Governor Cuomo: (41:44) Let's take one more question. Speaker 1: (41:49) Governor, your next question comes from Nick Reisman of Spectrum News. Nick, your line is now open. Please unmute your microphone. Nick Reisman: (41:57) Hey, Governor. Can you hear me? Governor Cuomo: (41:58) I hear you Nicholas. Nick Reisman: (42:01) Governor, I'm just curious, how much did you receive for the book that you wrote last year? There have been some numbers that have been reported out there. And could you clarify whether government officials were used to help you write that book? Governor Cuomo: (42:15) I probably am unique in the nation. I'll give you something to play with. What public official in the United States has released more taxes, personal income taxes for a longer period of time than I have? I bet you I've released my personal income taxes for the past 20 years. And I will do that again this year. And you will see everything you want to see in the personal income taxes. And on the book, some people volunteered to review the book. You look at the people who are mentioned in the book, I said things about people. I don't think I said anything about you in the book. But some people were mentioned in the book, I wanted to make sure they were okay with the mention. I wanted to make sure that it represented what they did and the facts correctly. So some people volunteered to help on the book. Okay, operator. Okay, everybody. Thank you very much for joining us. Have a good day.