Video, Audio, Photos, & Rush Transcript: Governor Cuomo Announces Five New Pop-up Vaccination Sites at NFTA Stations in the Buffalo and Niagara Falls Areas

Earlier today, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced five new pop-up vaccination sites at Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority station stops in the Buffalo and Niagara Falls areas. The sites will serve walk-ins on a first come, first served basis utilizing the single dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine. New York State is partnering with Erie County Medical Center, Kaleida Health, Urban Family Practice and Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center to administer vaccines at the sites. NFTA will provide a free seven-day pass to people who get vaccinated at the sites.

The Governor also announced that beginning June 1, Sahlen Field in Buffalo will host a vaccination site. Anyone who gets vaccinated at the site will receive a voucher for a free ticket to a Buffalo Bisons game. The site will administer the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The Toronto Blue Jays will host a vaccine raffle for prizes, including four tickets to the Blue Jays-Yankees game in Buffalo, three autographed baseballs from star players and an autographed jersey from a star player.

VIDEO of the event is available on YouTube here and in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format here.

AUDIO of the event is available here.

PHOTOS will be available on the Governor's Flickr page.

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks are available below:

Good morning. Pleasure to be here. Beautiful day at Sahlen Field.

Let me introduce - to my far left we have Kelly Cummings, State Director of Operations who keeps the trains running on time. Pardon the pun. We have Mike Buczkowski from the Bisons. We have Kim Minkel from the NFTA who is the Executive Director. To my right, man who needs no introduction, Byron Brown, won a big award yesterday, I believe, from a mayors association for economic development. I was the former health secretary of Housing and Urban Development. I did economic development with all the cities. The mayor deserves that award. The economic development work he has done in the city is extraordinary. Let's give the mayor a round of applause. And to his right we have Commissioner Marie Therese Dominguez who is the transportation commissioner for the State of New York, works with transit agencies all across the state. I want to thank her for being here.

Let me give you some facts today. A lot to talk about today because there is a lot to do.

There is a lot going on. So let's talk about today and tomorrow. Today's COVID numbers, some people get up every morning, they look at the stock market, some people get up every morning and look at the gambling sheets. I get up every morning and I look at the COVID numbers.

We have great news on the COVID numbers today. Our statewide positivity rate is 1.1. What does that mean? The national rate is 4 percent. We're at 1 percent. We're one quarter of what the national COVID positivity rate is and that's a function purely of the good work of New Yorkers, so let's give them a round of applause.

Hospitalization rate is down. The ICU rate is down. The intubation rate is down. And before anyone says, well, COVID is over, that's it, we can move on - 26 people passed away from COVID yesterday. So yes, we're doing great. No, we have not yet fully conquered the COVID beast and we have to remember that and we have to continue that.

We watch three basic metrics because we decide what to do not on an act of faith, not because we have special information, we just look at the numbers. We look at the science, we look at the data, you follow the science, you follow the data, and positivity rate, we've made great progress. Remember, back in January, we had that holiday surge and we were at 7.9 percent. We talked about it before the holidays, be careful, Thanksgiving, then Christmas, then Kwanzaa, then New Year's, people get together, they socialize., you can see the positivity number go up. That's just what happened. And we came out of New Year's, we were at 7.9 percent, we're now down to 1.28 percent, 37 straight days of decline.

You look at the positivity rate around the state - this is worth looking at, especially in Western New York. Why the variance? Why the variance? Why do you have New York City at 1.1, Western New York at 2.3? That question is for a better mind than mine, but it's something that should be considered. Look at the variance, and the variance I believe is attributable to the actions of that community. What's my chance of getting infected? Your chance of getting infected depends on your behavior and what you do, and that extends to a community also.

Hospitalizations way down - 2,000, that's lowest since November 19, which is before we even started the holiday rush.

To me, the most important metric now is the vaccination rate. How many people are we vaccinating? We've done 17 million shots in arms statewide which is phenomenal when you think about it and that's a function of all the good work that everyone has done. You haven't seen a marshaling exercise like this since World War II and this is, thank you to the city, thank you to the county, thank you to Thomas Quatroche at ECMC. This is everybody doing everything that they can. 17 million doses, 60 percent of people 18-plus have at least one dose. 50 percent of the people in this state are now fully vaccinated, but the rate of people coming in for vaccinations has declined. That's troubling.

It's partially explainable. People who were more eager to get a vaccine came in first, right? You have people who were very anxious about COVID and wanted to get a vaccine right away. They came in first and now you're seeing the number slow and that's what we're fighting against now.

Two areas of focus for us, what we call the youthful and the doubtful. The youthful are much lower. You see 16 to 25, only 25 percent, 26 to 34, only 36 percent. Why? Well, in fairness, everything we've talked about with COVID was always older people, older people, older people. Older people were eligible for the vaccine. Younger people weren't. Older people had more risk with COVID younger people didn't. That's been our message for the past year. Younger people just became eligible for the vaccine just a few weeks ago, but we have to change that mindset because first of all, even if a younger person tends to be less effected by COVID, they can transmit COVID just as easily as anyone. So we have to change the headset, change the culture. We have to get those younger people and we're working on that. And then the doubtful. Doubtful, I'm hesitant about the vaccine. I don't trust the vaccine. I don't trust government. I think it's all a bunch of baloney. I don't need it. I'm against vaccines. Period. A big population in this state, I just don't believe in vaccines. We went through this with the measles vaccine a couple of years ago. People wouldn't give their child the measles vaccine because they don't believe in vaccines. With that, I think it's about getting them more information.

But look, we have a lot of political differences in our society now. I deal with my colleagues in Albany in the State Legislature. We have the most rabid conservatives in this state and we have the most rabid socialists in this state. We have both ends of the political spectrum in stereo. We have the ends of the spectrums. The conservatives and the socialists, they can't agree on whether it's day or night. This is not about conservative, socialists. This is not about Democratic, Republican. It's not about political theory. There are still facts in life, okay? "Well, I think this, I think that, my opinion." That's all nice. You don't have to care about my opinion. You don't have to care about my philosophy, but a fact is a fact. The inarguable fact across the world is that as vaccinations go up, positivity goes down. That is a fact. Not a conservative fact, not a Republican fact, not a Democratic fact, a fact. Get the vaccine number up and the positivity rate will come down and we can get on with life. That's our focus. What's the solution? Eliminate excuses for not getting the vaccine, make it easy, and make the vaccine accessible, communicate the facts about the vaccine, and we're at a point where we have to get creative.

"Oh, government can't get creative. That's not what you do." I happen to be a very creative person. Wouldn't you say I'm a creative person?

Mayor Brown: Yes, sir.

Governor Cuomo: Yes, see? Mayor says I'm a creative person, so let's get a little creative. Here's creative. Get a shot, take a ride on the NFTA. This Friday to Wednesday, we're offering J&J, one-shot vaccines, at NFTA hubs across the region. You are getting on the bus anyway. You're getting on the train anyway. Put a vaccine site on your way to the bus or the train. You don't have to go out of your way. You're walking right past it. Stop, get a vaccine, and you get a free seven-day pass on the NFTA, metro pass for anyone who gets a shot, so you have a financial incentive. In essence, it's $25 pass, if you get a shot, and it's on your way, and it allows you to do all sorts of things that give you more freedom and flexibility. What could be easier and simpler than that? Thank you NFTA and Kim Minkel for cooperating in this idea. We started this today in New York City with what they call the MTA. Their NFTA is the MTA. Trains, buses, et cetera. Just started this morning, early results were long lines of people who actually get it. They're on their way to the train, here's a vaccine, let me stop and let me get a free pass. And we hope it works the same way here.

We're going to start with eight centers. Niagara Falls, Buffalo University Station, Utica Station, Buffalo MTC, AppleTree Business Park, and Cheektowaga. Different times, different places. Why? Because we're just starting this, because it is creative. There are different theories, maybe people will be more likely to stop in the evening because they don't want to stop in the morning, because in the morning they're on a rush, they're a little late, they want to get to work, maybe they'll have more time in the evening. So we're trying different hours, we're trying different places to see what works best, but it is creative, it's also common sense. And I'm hopeful that it will work. We're asking other transit authorities across the state to join this pilot. You have the NFTA, Albany has this CDTA, every region has a transit authority. We will partner with any of them who do this and I would consider, ask them to consider it, strongly. You get more shots in arms, you get more riders on the trains, it's a win-win.

And most of all, getting these vaccinations done, it allows us to get on with life. You know, life is about living. This past year has been hell, and life has been on hold, and untold damage has been done. We're going to be assessing the damage of the past year for years to come. Everybody talks about the economic damage. How about the social damage? How about the damage of isolation of people not being able to see other people, not being able to hug, not being able to kiss? How about the damage to families, to senior citizens, who have been isolated? How about the damage to kids who missed a whole year of socialization, even if they didn't miss a year of school. And, you know, remote learning, yeah, remote learning is great, if you have a computer and if you have broadband and if you had someone who could help you. But, remote learning in my opinion discriminated between children who had that access and didn't have that access. The mental health toll has been extraordinary. Divorces worldwide have gone up something like 300 percent, alright? A lot of stress. We have to get on with life. We have to reopen, but we have to do it smart, and that's, that's our strategy.

And we have to get ready for a great summer. The weather is turning, the winter is over, we have to get on with life and we want to have a great summer. Statewide, Memorial Day, beaches and pools open with six feet social distancing. Our goal is by the 4th of July to go to 100 percent capacity, all beaches, all pools. If the numbers keep going the way they're going, we're going to be able to do that. So we would actually be able to have a normal summer, finally, in beaches and pools, and that's what we're striving for.

Also, summer's coming, let's play ball, right? Today we're announcing at the Sahlen Field, opening on June 1, 50 percent vaccinated section, normal seating, 50 percent unvaccinated section, six-foot, social distancing, masks for all. Tickets go on sale May 20th. This is another reason to get vaccinated. You go to a ball game, you want to sit next to someone. You want to sit next to your friends, you want to sit next to your family. That's the vaccinated section, where you sit right next to people in a normal ballgame setting. Unvaccinated, we have to keep the social distancing rule. So it's another positive incentive to get vaccinated, and creative, because we're creative, aren't we? We are so creative.

We have a new team in Buffalo. Bisons, Blue Jays, ECMC and New York State Department of Health have come together and they've formed a new franchise, a little different than most franchises. Starting June 1 you can get a Johnson & Johnson shot at a Blue Jays game and you get a free ticket to a Bisons game next season. We would give you a free ticket to the Bisons game this season, but then you would have to go to Trenton to watch the game and we don't want that. So, a free ticket to the Bisons game next year, free shot at the stadium on your way in, easy, no reason not to do it. Not only a free ticket, but then there's going to be a Blue Jays raffle that has very cool prizes for anyone who gets a shot.

So, you get a vaccine, baseball, free transit, home team, we call that a grand slam. Last point, little bit of a personal point. Sahlen Field, Buffalo, New York opened 1988. It was funded by the state of New York, which was a little bit of a project of self-interest. My father loved Buffalo, as you know. My father also loved baseball, and they had a dream, Jimmy Griffin, my father, the Rich family that they would build the stadium for the Bisons, and they were very excited about the Bisons coming. But that they would build the stadium in a way that could be expanded to get a major league team to come to Buffalo. That was the dream. My father used to say, God bless his soul, remember the movie, Field of Dreams, Kevin Costner, "build it and they will come."

My father would say, "You know, that movie field of dreams? They got that from me. Yeah. I was Kevin Costner before Kevin Costner." Then he would pause. "And I'm better looking than Kevin Costner," he would say. But that's, that's what the Sahlen Field is. It brought the Bisons, which have excited Buffalo and Buffalo loves them, but it had the capacity to expand. And that was the dream. And the Rich family, God bless them for what they've done. Mayor Griffin, God bless him for what he's done. I just asked the mayor, you see that little, the head in the background between my father and Mayor Griffin, you see that red head with glasses -- Gerry Crotty counsel to my father, part of the great Crotty family, which has been such a part of the Buffalo legacy. So the dream lives, the dream lives and amazingly with the Toronto team playing here, this is the first time in 105 years the fans will watch major league baseball in Buffalo. Isn't that extraordinary? Let's give them a round of applause.

And the last, last point is this: New York better than ever. People ask me all the time what's going to happen after COVID? What does New York like post-COVID? and I say, I don't know. And nobody knows because New York post-COVID, any city post-COVID, is going to be what we make it. There was nothing pre-destined or pre-determined here. Nobody's been here before. Nobody in generations has survived the global pandemic that has transformed society. And we're not going back to where we were. You're not going to put Zoom back in a can. You're not going to put remote working back in a can. You're not going to put people's anxiety about public health. That's not going to disappear. The trauma of wearing this for a year, that's not going to go away. How do you adjust for that? How do you rebuild for that? How do you reconfigure for that? How do you reimagine Buffalo in Western New York for that and the State of New York for that? And who does that first? Because it's a challenge to New York. It's a challenge to California. It's a challenge to Texas. It's a challenge to Florida. Buffalo has to do it. Paris has to do it. London has to do it. Rome has to do it.

The question is what place on the planet went through this moment of disruption and figured it out first on how to come out of the moment of disruption better and stronger for it? That's the challenge. Well, what's going to happen? What are we going to be? No. What are we going to make ourselves? What are we going to do to seize this challenge and to build this new future? And there is a moment of opportunity, because I took the governors all across the state. I talk to international leaders. Everybody's asking the same question. How do I change the city of Buffalo? How do I change Western New York to make sure I come through this transformation better than before? And it's almost a massive global competition and who can do it best. And that's what we're looking at going forward.

One hand managing the COVID beast, but one hand building a new future and getting ready for a new future. And the stars are lined up and there is opportunity here. You have a federal government that is putting money on the table for urban development and infrastructure development like no federal government has done in 50 years. Fact. You have a state government that is a full partner to Buffalo and Western New York. I will do whatever I can do. You could not have a governor more committed to Buffalo in Western New York than me, and don't take my word for it. You know what I have done for Buffalo and Western New York, and I have put my money where my mouth is. I will be there.

So, you have the federal government, you have the state government, and we just announced the regional economic development council competition the other day. You have to come up with the vision for your future. And here's my one word of advice to Western New York. You have great options on the table. What do we do about the Skyway? What do we do about the Kensington? How do we improve our health system so next pandemic, and there will be a next pandemic, there will be, we are better prepared than anywhere else? How do we improve our education system to make it world-class? How do we take this remote broadband access and make Buffalo and Western New York, the first place in the country where every home has not only accessible broadband, but affordable broadband? What an advantage economically. That's a vision that you have to create. Those are the decisions that you have to make. And you have to make it through this regional economic council in the next couple of months. And the caution is this: The worst thing you can do is to do nothing. The worst thing you can do is to let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

I tease my friends in Western New York. You debated the Peace Bridge for 20 years. What color should it be? I like blue. You like red. You like yellow. I want to see an arch. No, no, I like flat. I like wide but you like narrow. Debated it for decades and never built it. Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. You know, the formula for success? Two steps. Step one: Decide what to do. Step two: Do it, do it. Government is about the action. It's about the accomplishment. Life is about the action and about the accomplishment.

There's a moment for New York and there's a moment for Buffalo. Seize it and we'll do it together. Thank you for having me here today. Let me now turn it over to Buffalo's great mayor. Congratulations on the award. Once again, mayor, you deserve it. Congratulations for what you've done on COVID. Congratulations for your leadership and standing up to COVID. I worked with a lot of mayors and local officials across the state during COVID. You would be surprised at how people react when the pressure is on. And you had a lot of local officials who said not my job, not my job, too big for me. Not Mayor Brown. He stepped right up to the plate, as we would say here at SahlenField. Mayor Brown.

Mayor Brown: Thank you, Governor. You can clap on that. Governor, certainly great to have you back in Buffalo so soon. We're grateful for your strong partnership and continued commitment to Western New York. Also want to just thank Mike Buczkowski and Jon Dandes for hosting us here at Sahlen Field.

As we all know, Western New York is still experiencing increased COVID positivity rates. We have to put a stop to this and make sure COVID can't make a resurgence in our community. As always, Governor Cuomo is responding to our needs. The Governor was here just a few weeks ago, making sure youth in our community have easy access to the vaccine. And I want to thank our partners in that effort, SUNY Trustee Eunice Lewin, School Superintendent, Dr. Kriner Cash, Dr. Raul Vazquez, the president of the Buffalo Urban League, Thomas Beauford, and the president of the NAACP, the Rev. Mark Blue, for making that such a successful effort. Now, Governor you're back again today, making sure that Buffalo and all communities hardest hit by the pandemic are getting the resources they need to defeat COVID once and for all. And clearly we all should know that the vaccine is the weapon that will end the war on COVID. But the vaccine means very little if we are not getting shots in arms. These additional pop-up vaccination sites will make it even easier for Buffalo and our neighbors across Western New York to get vaccinated and get back to our normal lives.

And Governor, we want to thank you for this and thank you for your creativity. I'm also grateful to Kim Minkel and the NFTA. Two weeks ago, they provided 1,000 bus passes so our community could travel to their vaccination appointments. And today, as you heard from the Governor, they're doing even more to make sure that vaccination is quick, easy, and simple for the members of our community.

Let's give Kim Minkel a round of applause.

OK. Another special thank you to our partners at the Buffalo Bisons and Sahlen Field for hosting this vaccination site and their generous donation of vaccination prizes, and tickets to Bison games next year. And I have to say, since we are here at Sahlen Field: Like the Governor, I am a big fan of the Mets and the Yankees. But this season with the Toronto Blue Jays playing here in Buffalo at Sahlen Field, I am only rooting for the Toronto Blue Jays this season,

You know Buffalo is grateful to have these partnerships as we recover and work to build back better and stronger than before. Once again, I want to thank Governor Cuomo for his tireless and effective leadership throughout the pandemic and for leading us into a brighter, better future. Thank you, Governor.

Governor Cuomo: Thank you very much, mayor. Mr. Mayor Byron Brown, big round of applause. Now we we'll hear from Kim Minkel in the NFTA . Creative. Government can be creative. It's just very hard. And the NFTA and Kim Minkelreally stepped up to the plate here and they thought outside the box and we want to thank them very much. Kim Minkel.

Kim Minkel: Thank you, Governor, and thank you for your tremendous leadership. The NFTA is excited to assist in this important state effort. We want to ensure there's easy access for the COVID-19 vaccine for all transit riders. And for the public, we are committed to doing all we can to help the community. We want to build back better. The NFTA will provide five convenience sites at our busiest location starting this Friday, May 14th, Saturday, May 15th and Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday of next week. Transit riders and the public can walk up and receive a free one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccination without an appointment. As the Governor had mentioned, the locations are at our University Station Utica Station, our Buffalo Metropolitan Transportation Center, which is a block from here, the Portage Road Transportation Center in Niagara Falls and the Apple Tree Business Park, where we will have a mobile bus providing access to the vaccine. As an incentive, the NFTA is also providing a free, seven-day pass to everyone who receives the vaccination. If our region is really going to recover, we need as many people as possible to jump on the bus and get vaccinated. Already over half of our workforce at the NFTA is vaccinated. These essential workers have done an incredible job, keeping themselves and the public safe during the pandemic. I'm confident that we will emerge from this public health crisis and be stronger. Safety is our number-one priority, so let's work together for a safer, greener environment by getting vaccinated and taking public transit. Thank you and thank you, Governor.

Governor Cuomo: Thank you. Thank you pretty much, Kim. Okay. I think the message is clear: The summer is right around the corner. We're ready for it. We just need to increase those number of vaccinations to keep us safe. Ride the MTA, ride the NFTA, take mass transit. Get a shot. Get a free pass. See a ball game, get a vaccine, get a free ticket. Life is looking good. Thank you all for being here.