What caused New York's high Covid death rates?

Looking at the Covid deaths per million population for the nations of the world and the 50 United States finds that if New York were a nation, it would rank as the 2nd worse place on earth right behind Gibralter. And it is 55% higher on deaths per million than the rest of the United States.

Contributing to this factor is early dismissal of the seriousness of the pandemic by New City Mayor Bill De Blasio and NYC Health Commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot as demonstrated in statements each made in February 2020.