#Autism advocate group questions Cuomo’s reopening of summer day camps

Gov. Cuomo’s decision to allow day camps to open during the coronavirus outbreak has led critics to wonder out loud if it was a favor to a camp-owning political pal.

“If it is safe to open day camps, like the three high-end day camps owned and operated by Democratic Party chief Jay Jacobs, then there is no reason that summer schools can’t operate either,” the non-profit Autism Action Network posted on Facebook Friday.

The group had been pushing for in-person instruction for special education students to be allowed this summer, and argued it was “inconsistent” to allow the opening of camps but not the schools.

John Gilmore, the president of the group, said among those who stood to benefit was Jacobs, the chairman of the state Democratic Committee, who operates three Long Island day camps, two upstate sleepaway camps and one in Pennsylvania.

Two of the day camps are in the Hamptons and one is on a Glen Cove estate and they cost as much as $10,000 per kid for a full summer session.

Cuomo said Tuesday that summer camps could open June 29. A decision on sleepaway camps is expected in the coming week.

Jacobs flatly denied discussing the camp issue with the governor or having any recent conversations with him.

“I don’t mix my business with my politics. Never did,” he said. “We haven’t spoken for two months and we certainly didn’t speak about this.”

“Like 21 other states — including all of those in the northeast — we’re opening day camps because the economy is reopening and parents need a place for their kids whey they go back to work,” said Rich Azzopardi, senior advisor to the governor. “We are doing this cautiously in accordance with guidelines put out by the CDC. There are more than 1,800 day camp programs in New York that will open the day after school ends and now that we’re at the tail end of this pandemic, I think it would be a good idea for everyone to cool it with the fever dreams.”

After Cuomo “felt the heat” Friday, Gilmore said, he signed an executive order permitting summer school for special-ed kids.