Cuomo to young people: ‘This is not the time to fight for your right to party’

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) told younger residents of his state Thursday that they should not “fight for your right to party” as the state tries to get its outbreak of coronavirus under control.

At a press conference on the state’s efforts to fight the virus, Cuomo admonished young people for social media and news reports of large parties and other gatherings in the state, which he blamed for a spike in cases among younger New Yorkers.

“To young people, this is not the time to fight for your right to party,” the governor said, apparently referencing the Beastie Boys’s popular 1986 song “Fight For Your Right.” “I respect your right to party. I fully respect it. I would enshrine it in the state law, if you want to know. You have the right to party.”

“But let’s be smart about it, right? There’s an attitude that young people are immune. You are not. [Ages] 21-30, the virus can kill you. And if it doesn’t kill you, you can bring it home and give it to someone inadvertently, and it can kill them,” he said.

Cuomo went on to further criticize younger New Yorkers during the press conference, claiming that “they just don’t know the facts” and explaining that he received “inane” responses when having “dozens and dozens” of conversations with younger people about their concerns surrounding the virus.

“They are dealing with assumptions that are just not true,” he said of younger New Yorkers who have attended parties or refused to wear masks and socially distance.

His comments come as New York has largely flattened its trend line of new coronavirus cases but has seen the rate of cases among younger residents increase over the last several weeks. Over the last two weeks, a breakdown of new coronavirus cases by age groups by the state’s Department of Health showed the rate of new cases among New Yorkers aged 21-30 increase from 9.9 percent to 13.2 percent, while the rates fell among all other age groups.

New York was the site of the most confirmed coronavirus cases in the U.S. until the last few days when it was overtaken by California, which has seen rates of new infections surge in recent weeks while New York’s has remained mostly flat. 413,595 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in New York state, while California currently sits at 422,528 cases of the virus, according to The New York Times.