Andrew Cuomo has a new job. Every Sunday at 5 p.m., you can tune into 77 WABC to hear the former New York governor host The Pulse of the People. He’ll be taking calls, discussing solutions, “cutting through the noise.” You know, the usual.
This is what redemption looks like now.
It’s been almost six years since my mother died in a New York nursing home, one of 15,000 elderly residents who perished after Cuomo’s March 25, 2020, order forced facilities to admit Covid-positive patients. Almost six years since I wrote about how his policy trapped her there, how they kept families away while the virus spread, how she died alone and terrified.
Since then, Cuomo has written a book celebrating his pandemic leadership. He collected $5 million for it. He ran for mayor of New York City, losing in both the primary and the general election to Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani, a 34-year-old state assemblyman he repeatedly attacked during the campaign. And now he’s got a radio show.
The man who allegedly lied to Congress about editing reports that covered up nursing home deaths wants to have “fact-based conversations.” The man currently under federal criminal investigation for reportedly making false statements gets a platform to discuss “solutions.” The station owner says they believe in “thoughtful discussion.”
I’m sure they do.
I’m not even shocked anymore. That’s the thing about watching powerful people fail upward — it’s a disturbing trend. Eventually you just stop being surprised. Disgraced politician lies low for a bit, tests the waters, then slowly rebuilds. A podcast here, a cable news hit there, maybe a radio show. Before you know it, they’re back in the mix, repackaged as an elder statesman with hard-won wisdom to share.
The media loves a comeback story — at least when it’s a Democrat comeback. Redemption is good for ratings. Everyone deserves a second chance, right? Forgiveness, growth, moving forward. These are virtues, after all.
Except my mother doesn’t get a second chance. And plenty of us who lost parents and grandparents are still waiting for something that looks like justice. We’re still replaying the phone calls, the gaslighting from Cuomo’s administration, and the nursing home runarounds, the moment we realized our loved ones were going to die and we couldn’t get to them.
For the past six years, I’ve worked with Voices for Seniors fighting for the accountability we haven’t seen yet. We’ve pushed for visitation rights so families are never locked out again. We’re fighting for cameras in nursing homes. We’ve fought for basic safety standards and dignity in long-term care. Small victories, unglamorous work. The kind of work that doesn’t make headlines or get you a radio show.
But Cuomo gets a radio show.
Hellbound and Down 