Families Demand Accountability for Nursing Home Deaths

Andrew Cuomo spoke on November 4, 2025, in New York after conceding the race to Zohran Mamdani. The recent past has seen a reckoning for more than 15,000 New Yorkers who passed away in nursing homes. Their families have continuously challenged the thought that time would erase accountability for these losses.

Rep. Claudia Tenney wrote to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche demanding updates on the criminal referral against former Governor Andrew Cuomo. The need for such a letter highlights the current state of affairs.

Every person in a nursing home was cherished by someone. They had lives, families, and required care. On March 24, 2020, Cuomo stated that no one’s mother or family member was expendable. Yet, a directive followed, ordering nursing homes to accept COVID-positive patients without testing, leading to thousands of deaths. Families requested information, but received falsified death tolls, later proven to be undercounted by about 50%.

Cuomo testified to Congress in June 2024, denying involvement in the report drafting process. Evidence, however, indicated otherwise, with emails, edited drafts, and his handwritten notes. The Department of Justice was referred to investigate him for making false statements, yet no action ensued.

In April 2025, the referral was resubmitted by House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman James Comer. An investigation reportedly began but went quiet thereafter. Changes in attorney general leadership did not address the referral publicly.

Cuomo’s team argued that his prosecution was election interference, yet, having lost mayoral races, this argument holds no water now. The question remains whether the rule of law applies equally to him and everyone else.

Voices for Seniors, founded by grieving families, aims to ensure that accountability is served. They have actively engaged in congressional testimonies, media, and public advocacy. They reject the notion to forget and cease efforts.

The congressional letter by Tenney serves as a public declaration that New York’s representatives have not forgotten. The letter itself does not compel action from the Department of Justice, but it challenges silence from the powerful.

The pursuit of accountability for senior deaths in nursing homes continues. Families will persistently ask if accountability in this country holds the same standard for the powerful and everyone else. Grief, carrying a long memory, drives this quest. As Vivian Zayas, co-founder of Voices for Seniors, emphasized, the fight for justice goes on. This organization emerged from a need to grapple with loss while demanding accountability and will not cease their efforts.