NY & Cuomo Get Shout-Out at Final Presidential Debate

New York and Gov. Andrew Cuomo got a shout-out in the second, and final, presidential debate Thursday evening, with President Donald Trump calling New York City a “ghost town,” in context of the city’s lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Trump, a native of Queens, opined on the decline of New York City during the crisis, which caused Cuomo to close non-essential businesses and mass gatherings for a number of months.

"Take a look at New York and what's happened to my wonderful city. So many years it's vibrant ... people are leaving New York," Trump said.

Trump also referred to New York City as a “ghost town,” and said the five boroughs were “dying,” under the leadership of Cuomo, referring to the governor by name. Cuomo, like other governors in high-infection states, largely shut down businesses at the height of the pandemic.

Former Vice President Joseph Biden, a close ally of Cuomo, came to New York’s defense in response to Trump, saying the state had taken steps to reduce the prevalence of the coronavirus over the last eight months.

“Take a look at what New York has done in terms of turning the curve down,” Biden said.

New York still has the highest number of COVID-19 deaths than any other state, but has reported a stark decline in new cases and hospitalizations in the last few months.

New cases are on the rise across the country, including in parts of New York, but the state remains near the bottom of the list in terms of the rate of transmission and share of positive cases per those tested each day.

Trump also touched on the number of deaths in New York due to COVID-19, but referred to numbers that weren’t confirmed.

"New York has lost more than 40,000 people, more than 11,000 people in nursing homes," Trump said.

As of Thursday, there were nearly 25,700 confirmed COVID-19 deaths in New York, according to the state. Johns Hopkins has the number of deaths in New York above 33,000.