Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s daily coronavirus briefings have drawn more than 59 million online views, boosted his job approval rating to record heights and given rise to a new breed of liberal political junkies who call themselves “Cuomosexuals.”
But the three-term Democrat plans to pull the plug on the successful series — which also aired live on various TV channels — following Friday’s installment, which will mark his 111th consecutive appearance before the cameras.
“I’ll be doing press conferences as I need to, to communicate, big part of what I do is to communicate, I’m not going anywhere,” he said Thursday.
“But, I’m not gonna commit to doing it every day because it takes a lot of time every day and there’s a lot to do right now.”
As Cuomo prepares to bid farewell to his audience, The Post is offering a look back at some of his most memorable moments — which ranged from the terrifying to the absurd:
- On March 2, Cuomo set aside his long-running feud with Mayor Bill de Blasio to let Hizzoner sit next to him as they discussed the state’s first confirmed case of coronavirus in the Big Apple. Cuomo also announced “new cleaning protocols” in schools and on public transportation.
“So, if people smell — if it smells like bleach when you get on a bus or when a child goes to school, it’s not bad cologne or perfume, it is bleach,” he said. - Cuomo tried — and failed — to affect an Irish brogue during his March 11 briefing, when he defended his decision to cancel New York City’s famed St. Patrick’s Day.
“Well, I’m authorized, you know, by St. Patrick, that’s who,” he said in lilting tones. “Oh yes, I have the highest authorization, sure.”
- The crisis in the state’s nursing homes began to emerge on March 29, when Cuomo said about one-quarter of the 965 deaths to date took place in the facilities.
“Coronavirus in a nursing home is like fire in dry grass … The only question is how many people will die?” he said.
Left unmentioned was a Department of Health directive issued four days earlier, which mandated that nursing homes admit “medically stable” coronavirus patients discharged from hospitals.
- Cuomo’s baby brother, CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, made a guest appearance during the April 2 briefing, joining by videoconference to discuss his highly publicized battle with COVID-19 and a dream in which he said the governor was “dancing” around and “waving a wand and saying, ‘I wish I could make this go away.’”
“And you spun around and then you went away,” Chris added.
Andrew joked, “Obviously, the fever has affected your mental capacity,” before the brothers ended the call by telling each other, “I love you.” - Cuomo appeared shaken on April 9 as he announced that the state’s COVID-19 death toll had reached 7,067 overnight, prompting him to compare the deadly disease to the “same evil that we saw on 9/11.”
“We lost 2,753 lives on 9/11. We’ve lost over 7,000 lives to this crisis. That is so shocking and painful and breathtaking. I can’t — I don’t even have the words for it,” he said.
- The April 19 briefing — held in Manhasset, Long Island, instead of Albany — veered wildly off-course when Cuomo described meeting daughter Mariah Kennedy Cuomo’s boyfriend and detailed their dinner plans.
“I started my tomato sauce before I left,” Cuomo said while Mariah sat nearby. “We’re going to go back, we’re going to sit at the table, have spaghetti and meatballs on Sunday.”
He also instructed his fellow dads on how to react after meeting their daughters’ boyfriends.
“The answer of what you think of the boyfriend is always, ‘I like the boyfriend.’ Always,” he said. “I learned this lesson the hard way.”
- In response to questions from The Post, Cuomo stunningly claimed he wasn’t aware his administration had ordered nursing homes to admit patients discharged from hospitals with COVID-19.
“That’s a good question, I don’t know,” he said when asked to explain the controversial directive on April 20, nearly a month after it was issued by the Department of Health. - On April 22, Cuomo went on at length about how he and his daughters were going stir-crazy inside the Executive Mansion amid the lockdown he’d ordered a month earlier.
“Everyone is on movie probation in my house” for picking duds to watch on TV, he said. And even his dog, Captain, “is out of sorts, too,” Cuomo said. “Captain doesn’t like the boyfriend. I said I like the boyfriend.”
During the same briefing, he also sparked outrage by blaming nursing homes for any shortages of personal protective equipment, saying, “We have been helping them with more PPE but, again, it’s not our job.”
- Cuomo unveiled a massive display of colorful, handmade face masks during his April 29 briefing, saying they were a sampling of around 2,000 pieces of protective gear he’d received from people around the country.
“That’s a self-portrait of America and you know what it spells? It spells love,” Cuomo said. “That’s what it spells. You have to look carefully, but that’s what the American people are saying.”
- A physician clad in full protective gear visited Cuomo’s May 17 briefing to stick a swab up his nose to test him for the coronavirus and help encourage New Yorkers to follow suit.
“It is so fast and easy that even a governor can take this test,” Cuomo joked before undergoing the procedure. Later, he said, “If I’m not here tomorrow, it means I tested positive. Otherwise, we’ll see you here tomorrow.”
- Celebrities Rosie Perez and Chris Rock joined Cuomo’s May 28 briefing to promote coronavirus testing, social distancing and wearing face masks.
“Spreading love the Brooklyn way means respecting your neighbors, respecting your communities,” said borough native Perez, who starred in Spike Lee’s breakthrough 1989 hit, “Do the Right Thing.”
Two-time Oscar winner Sean Penn also made a June 9 appearance by video, telling Cuomo, “You’ve been a time capsule of reason during this time.” Penn, whose Community Organized Relief Effort nonprofit established 11 testing sites in hard-hit city neighborhoods, also accepted Cuomo’s offer of a free dinner next time he’s in town. - On Thursday, Cuomo revealed new statistics showing that the state had tested a record-high 68,000 people for the coronavirus on Wednesday and hit a record-low positive rate of 0.9%.
“That is just great news and that’s why I’m in such a happy-go-lucky mood,” he said. “That’s why I am a cool dude in a loose mood.”