NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- A small plane pulling a banner that read “THE GOV KILLED NANA” flew over at least one New York City beach on Saturday, videos posted to social media show.
A beachgoer told the New York Post the message-bearing plane flew over Rockaway Beach around 4 p.m. on Saturday.
The message appeared to refer to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has faced criticism for the state’s handling of COVID-19 outbreaks in nursing homes.
In March, the state issued an executive order requiring nursing homes not to deny residents’ admission or readmission “solely based on a confirmed or suspected diagnosis of COVID-19.”
Cuomo reversed the controversial order on May 10, but the state’s official nursing home death toll had surpassed 6,600 as of mid-August, and that toll may have been an undercount, the Associated Press previously reported.
The governor’s senior advisor, Rich Azzopardi, told the New York Post the plane was likely chartered by “conspiracy nuts.”
“Everyone knows this governor has worked day in and day out to protect all New Yorkers, and that’s why these sad, politically-motivated lies always land with a thud,” he said. “And I have no comment on how conspiracy nuts want to waste their money.”