I understood her frustration, but this was about getting help for our state and saving lives.
I called for the team to enter the Red Room for the briefing—one I knew the president would be watching. A couple of minutes into my remarks I looked directly into the camera, and I did exactly what I said I would do, intended to reach an audience of one:
What does government do in this moment? It steps up, it performs, it does what it’s supposed to do. It does it better than it’s ever done it before. What does government not do? It does not engage in politics or partisanship. Even if you are in the midst of an election season. Even if you are at a moment in time and history where you have hyper-partisanship, which we now have. The president of the United States, Donald Trump, it is essential that the federal government works with the state and that this state works with the federal government.
We cannot do this on our own. I built airports; I built bridges. We have made this government do things that it’s never done before. This government has done somersaults; it’s performed better than ever before. I am telling you, this government cannot meet this crisis without the resources and capacity of the federal government. I spoke to the president this morning again. He is ready, willing, and able to help. I’ve been speaking with members of his staff late last night, early this morning. We need their help, especially on the hospital capacity issue.
We need FEMA. FEMA has tremendous resources. When I was at HUD, I worked with FEMA; I know what they can do. I know what the Army Corps of Engineers can do. They have a capacity that we simply do not have. I said to the president, who is a New Yorker, who I’ve known for many, many years. I put my hand out in partnership. I want to work together 100 percent. I need your help. I want your help, and New Yorkers will do everything they can to be good partners with the federal government. I think the president was 100 percent sincere in saying that he wanted to work together. In partnership, in the spirit of cooperation, I can tell you the actions he has taken evidence that. His team has been on it.
Shortly after the briefing, the president called again. He said the Army Corps of Engineers would be contacting me immediately to set up a meeting and that the USNS Comfort would be on its way, too.
So far, so good. But tomorrow would be another day.
MARCH 18 | 1,009 NEW CASES | 496 HOSPITALIZED | 4 DEATHS
“We are responding to science and data. There’s no politics here.”
SECRETARY OF DEFENSE MARK ESPER went on Fox News and confirmed what he and I had just discussed over the phone. “I had a call with Governor Cuomo, and we had a very good conversation,” Esper said. “What he sees is a deficit in hospital beds in New York State as he looks ahead to what may be coming. I gave him my full commitment that we would get the Corps of Engineers up there to assess the problem and see how we can help out.”
On Wednesday, March 18, I met with the leadership of the Army Corps of Engineers, including Major General Jeff Milhorn, Lieutenant General Todd Semonite, Colonel Thomas D. Asbery, and Anthony Travia, in my conference room in Albany. We discussed various ideas, including converting dormitory buildings, hotels, and vacant state buildings into field hospitals. My guiding principle was the urgency and scope of what needed to be done. While hospitals were expanding their own capacity by 50 percent, bringing us to nearly seventy-five thousand hospital beds, and elective surgeries were being postponed to free up space, we were still tens of thousands of beds short of what we might need.
Following the meeting, I assigned the commissioner of the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, Major General Patrick Murphy, a seasoned pro, and Gareth Rhodes to work with the Army Corps of Engineers to make sure they had all they needed to get the job done. A “site inspection team” including members of the Army Corps, led by Colonel Tom Asbery, the head of the Army Corps’s New York office, and state officials from the Department of Health, Dormitory Authority, Office of General Services, and New York Power Authority, was dispatched on Thursday to more than twenty sites around the downstate area to evaluate properties, including the dormitory complexes at SUNY Stony Brook, CUNY Hunter, CUNY City College, and the Fashion Institute of Technology, for their fitness as field hospitals. Thursday night and into the early hours of Friday morning, the team prepared copious reports on the benefits and drawbacks of each facility.
And despite growing public awareness of the severity of the situation, we were still fielding complaints from people who were upset that their favorite restaurants and bars and gyms were closed. I made it clear that people shouldn’t be upset with their local officials. They should be upset with me; I made these decisions in the best interests of the entire state.
MARCH 19 | 1,769 NEW CASES | 617 HOSPITALIZED | 22 DEATHS
“It is a war in many ways and government has to mobilize as if it is a war.”
PROVIDING ESSENTIAL SECURITY FOR FAMILIES continued to be a major concern. We needed to assure them that their basic way of life would be maintained until we got through this. I had previously ordered a ninety-day moratorium on rent eviction, and now I signed an executive order giving all homeowners a ninety-day grace period
