New York& #39;s failure to close schools early enough likely led to many deaths that didn& #39;t have to happen. It wasn& #39;t just about saving the lives of staff, though that was very important. School closures tell a city of 8 million: TAKE THE PANDEMIC SERIOUSLY. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/05/04/seattles-leaders-let-scientists-take-the-lead-new-yorks-did-not">https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/...

This New Yorker piece does a good job deconstructing how Bill de Blasio failed miserably to protect New Yorkers from COVID-19. It could have said far more about Andrew Cuomo. As recently as March 15, Cuomo failed to close schools statewide, deferring to localities

Cuomo& #39;s dithering on school closures likely led to many deaths. In a March 18 column (one of the first of several on Cuomo& #39;s failed COVID-19 response) I noted how behind New York was, relative to states like Ohio, Michigan, and Pennsylvania https://www.cityandstateny.com/articles/opinion/commentary/cuomo-only-looks-great-between-de-blasio-and-trump.html">https://www.cityandstateny.com/articles/...

Back on March 15th, I wrote about the desperate push of teachers and principals in New York City to get the schools to close. They were successful, but de Blasio and Cuomo moved far too late. https://www.thenation.com/article/society/coronavirus-schools-nyc/">https://www.thenation.com/article/s...