Larry Schwartz and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. Photo: Mike Groll/AP/Shutterstock/Mike Groll/AP/Shutterstock Larry Schwartz, the former top Cuomo aide who now coordinates New York State’s COVID response and vaccine-distribution efforts, has reached out to county executives to see if they remain loyal to the embattled governor, according to reports from the New York Times and Washington Post.
Other officials told the Times and Post that either vaccines didn’t come up, or they didn’t get the sense that the loyalty gauging was transactional or threatening with regards to vaccine access — though some acknowledged they could understand how the outreach could be seen as problematic. And if there’s one thing Cuomo and his administration are known for, it’s taking the governor’s bully pulpit literally.
[The official] said that Schwartz made no explicit threat to withhold vaccines, but felt there was an implication of what was at stake, given Schwartz’s influence over the vaccine distribution channels and the fact that he only called or emailed to discuss vaccine allotment. “I’m not calling about vaccines,” Schwartz told the executive, then stressed that it was crucial to let the investigation by the attorney general play out, according to the executive.
Schwartz, a personal friend and very close ally of Cuomo’s for more than 30 years, served as secretary to the governor from 2011 to 2015, then returned to the administration on an unpaid basis last spring to be its point person for the state’s COVID response — even moving in with the governor at the Executive Mansion for a time. As Cuomo’s COVID coordinator, he has been in regular contact with county officials throughout the pandemic.
Blah blah blah. Smear.
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