About 10 years ago, I used to visit a prison in upstate New York as part of a program that brought law students and prisoners together for conversation and education.

One of the inmates who attended the sessions of our group was an older gentleman known as Mr. Smalls.

And Mr. Smalls always came in his signature gold-framed

glasses. And he was a very wise and thoughtful guy, and he was a mentor to other prisoners.

He was renowned for his legal knowledge and his willingness to help others. Now, it was always

a little strange to me when I was in the prison, which is Greenhaven prison,

that someone his age, who was clearly rehabilitated, should still be behind bars.

And I eventually left the program, left school, and I never heard anything about Mr. Smalls

after that. But in May of 2020, I came upon Mr. Smalls obituary.

Benjamin Smalls, age 72, had died of coronavirus after the COVID-19 pandemic had swept through

the state's prisons. And as I read further details of this story, I became enraged because it turned out that back in 2018,

Mr. Smalls had applied to Governor Andrew Cuomo for executive clemency based on his heart issues and his glaucoma. That application was not

acted upon. And when the pandemic hit, posing its greatest threat to the elderly and sick,

Mr. Small had made another emergency clemency application to Governor Cuomo. And again,

nothing happened. And the release aging people in prison campaign

then got involved. They joined the effort to get Cuomo to release the vulnerable, completely

rehabilitated Mr. Smalls. Now, despite these emergency requests, Cuomo did not release Mr. Smalls, and within months he had caught the illness and died. Now, despite these emergency requests, Cuomo did not release Mr. Smalls, and within months,

he had caught the illness and died.

Now, the story of Mr. Small's tragic life and his preventable, unnecessary death is one I think

about a lot.

And it's one that I'd like every New York City resident in particular to know when next month, they're

asked if they want to elect the man who killed Mr. Smalls as their mayor. Andrew Cuomo was bad,

...