‘DROP IN THE BUCKET’

Cuomo Says Senate’s $2 Trillion Coronavirus Stimulus Is ‘Terrible’ for New York

On the bright side, the governor said at his Wednesday briefing that social distancing might finally be working in the state.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has slammed the Senate’s proposed $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package as “terrible” for his state because it would barely cover the ballooning costs of the coronavirus pandemic. The massive bailout bill will provide $3.8 billion for New York state and $1.3 billion for New York City, despite New York having 10 times more coronavirus cases than the next most-affected state. “That is a drop in the bucket,” Cuomo said, adding that the cost of fighting coronavirus in New York had already surpassed $1 billion and will likely be “several” billions. The governor’s harsh assessment of the Senate bill comes despite the bill’s lead negotiator, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, being a New Yorker. “We’re looking at a revenue shortfall of $9, $10, $15 billion,” Cuomo said.

New York had completed 103,000 coronavirus tests by Wednesday, resulting in 30,811 positives cases, of which 12 percent had been hospitalized. During his daily briefing on Wednesday, Cuomo offered a rare spot of good news: the rate of hospitalizations in New York is slowing, suggesting that aggressive social distancing efforts are finally working. In Westchester County, an early hotspot of infections, cases were easing. “Can you slow the rate of infection? Yes. How do you know? Look at what we did in Westchester. That was the hottest cluster in the USA. We closed schools [and] gatherings... and dramatically slowed the increase,” he said.

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Rachel OldingSenior Breaking News Editor

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