Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio | Getty Images Data divide on coronavirus reveals behind-scenes spat between Cuomo, de Blasio

Mayor Bill de Blasio is being kept in the dark about data the state collects each day on incidents of coronavirus in New York City.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office has stonewalled City Hall in its efforts to get information on positive cases and subsequent fatalities from Covid-19, following the mayor’s recent pledge to align the information before making it public at his daily news conferences, according to three people familiar with the matter.


“It has been challenging to get the number” of daily fatalities across the five boroughs, said one source, who requested anonymity in order to speak freely about the latest spat between the two elected officials. “It’s not coming at a consistent time, repeated requests are not answered and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to assume that it’s being held for the governor to announce.”

Another person said the state is withholding the numbers until Cuomo makes them public at his own daily press conferences, forcing the mayor to either hold his briefings later in the day or present a different count.

A spokesperson for Cuomo denied there was any withholding of data.

“This is 100 percent wrong,” said the spokesperson, Rich Azzopardi, in an email. “We talk to the city and share data all the time. Whomever is stirring this up should think of better ways to work through a pandemic.”

De Blasio had been doing his briefings around 5 p.m. each day but moved them up to the morning after weeks of getting slammed with negative news coverage, while Cuomo’s mid-morning briefings developed a loyal and adoring following.

On Friday, New York State reported 92,384 cases and 5,663 deaths in New York City on its website, while the city’s site counted 94,409 cases across the five boroughs and 5,429 fatalities. Both sites are updated daily.

The state Department of Health noted on its Covid-19 tracker that its fatality data “may deviate slightly from NYC fatality data” as the state’s figures reflect deaths in hospitals, nursing homes and other health care facilities reported to the agency daily.

“NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene relies on different data systems,” it stated.

De Blasio’s spokesperson, Freddi Goldstein, said the city bases its count on information from its own health department and medical examiner. The numbers were initially closely aligned, but the gap has grown in recent days.

“We are literally reliant on the state to give us our data because we don’t have it coming to us directly. So the state has to call the city every day. They have agreed to do that,” Goldstein said.