Deaf New Yorkers Suing Cuomo For Not Providing ASL Interpreters

Deaf New Yorkers are suing Governor Andrew Cuomo for not providing sign language interpreters during his daily televised coronavirus briefings.

Disability Rights New York filed the lawsuit in federal court on Wednesday. The lawsuit urges Cuomo to provide an American Sign Language interpreter in all of his future briefings.

The lawsuit claims that New York is the only state in the US that doesn't provide some form of live, in-frame ASL interpretation during its televised Covid-19 updates.

Rich Azzopardi, a senior adviser to Cuomo, released a statement to CNN:

"We'll review the suit, but we've been moving heaven and earth and working with the Albany press corps to reduce density in the room and respect social distancing standards as we fight this pandemic," Azzopardi said in a written statement to CNN.