Cuomo resigns as inner circle collapses

The things that he was saying was so textbook abuser. It was sickening from beginning to end.”

GUSTAVO RIVERA

Getting to know New York’s next leader, Kathy Hochul

Gov. Andrew Cuomo surprised many in Albany and across the rest of the state Tuesday when he announced his decision to resign in 14 days in the wake of a series of sexual harassment allegations against him.

When Cuomo leaves the executive chamber, it will elevate Kathy Hochul as New York’s 57th governor.

Hochul rose to political prominence in the mid-1990s as a member of Hamburg’s town board, a small community just south of Buffalo. She later became the Erie County Clerk, a role she filled until winning a special election in 2011 to become that region’s first Democratic U.S. House member in more than four decades.

Hochul’s time in congress was short, however, thanks to redistricting. Yet she didn’t stay out of politics for long. When Cuomo’s first lieutenant governor, Robert Duffy, decided not to seek re-election, Cuomo invited Hochul to join him for the 2014 race. The pair beat Westchester County executive Rob Astorino, and Hochul was sworn in as lieutenant governor.

While Hochul is set to become the first woman to serve as governor of New York, she was not the first woman to be elected as lieutenant governor. That honor instead goes to former Assemblywoman and state senator Mary Anne Krupsak, who took over the office in 1975 under Gov. Hugh Carey.

Krupsak, however, felt Carey froze her out of many decisions, and instead of joining with the governor on his re-election ticket, decided to challenge him in the primary. Carey ultimately prevailed, but this time with a new running mate: Carey’s secretary of state, Mario Cuomo.

Hochul is not exactly considered a progressive Democrat. As a congresswoman, she opposed efforts like Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s campaign to help undocumented immigrants get driver licenses, and she was one of the rare Democrats to get endorsed by the National Rifle Association.

Yet, Hochul has also supported higher taxes on the wealthy, and finding ways for the government to better subsidize renewable energy.

She’s married to former U.S. Attorney William Hochul Jr., who is set to become New York’s “first gentleman.”

Kathy Hochul is scheduled to be sworn in as New York governor on Aug. 24.

— Michael Hinman

To many, it never seemed possible. But Gov. Andrew Cuomo told New York on Tuesday he’s resigning — a week after state attorney general Letitia James released a report that concluded he sexually harassed nearly a dozen women while in office. 

The three-term governor will leave office in 14 days, replaced by his lieutenant Kathy Hochul. When she’s sworn in Aug. 24, Hochul will be the first woman to lead New York state.

In his televised news conference, Cuomo continued denying many of the sexual misconduct allegations made against him. But he said he’s choosing to step aside because a months-long impeachment process would make it impossible to govern the state while a public health crisis in the form of the coronavirus pandemic rages.

“Government needs to function,” Cuomo said. 

“’New York tough’ means ‘New York loving.’ And I love New York, and I love you. And everything I have ever done has been motivated by that love. The best way I can help now is if I step aside.”

State Sen. Alessandra Biaggi — a frequent Cuomo critic and a rumored gubernatorial candidate in next year’s primary — said she’s grateful to all of the women who stepped forward to share their horrific experiences they said they had with the governor.

“While further accountability is necessary, this moment reflects the hard work of survivors who have been striving for an end to workplace harassment for decades,” Biaggi said. “New York state can now move forward and address the needs of the people we were elected to serve. I look forward to working under Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul’s leadership. 

“Let this next chapter for New York be one of integrity, optimism and progress.”

Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, who recently told The Riverdale Press that he supported impeachment if the governor didn’t step down, also applauded Cuomo’s decision on social media.

“The governor’s resignation is in the best interest of New York and New Yorkers,” the lawmaker said. “I look forward to a new chapter under soon-to-be-governor Kathy Hochul.”

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No more second chances

Cuomo has ruled over Albany with an iron fist over the past decade, using a bare-knuckled style of politics to control the state’s policy agenda. And up until last week, he showed a remarkable ability to survive political scandals, not only from claims of sexual harassment, but also his alleged mishandling of patients still sick with COVID-19, sending them back into nursing homes last year. Both issues surfaced after New York finally seemed to be gaining full control of the pandemic before fading into the political background.

Until last week, that is. 

Letitia James’ office released her damning report against the governor, and this time there seemed no way Cuomo could survive. Calls for his resignation came not only from longtime critics like Biaggi and fellow state Sen. Gustavo Rivera, but now from some powerful political figures in the Democratic Party like President Joe Biden. 

All of this left Cuomo in a vulnerable position, with virtually no allies. 

James’ investigation concluded Cuomo violated state and federal law by sexually harassing women inside and outside of his office, through sexualized touching and unwanted flirtations. James and her team also concluded Cuomo retaliated against Lindsey Boylan — a former aide and the first woman to publicly accuse him of sexual harassment. 

Investigators said they spoke to not only all the women who had previously made allegations against the governor, but new accusers as well. One was an anonymous state trooper assigned to his security detail who said Cuomo touched her so inappropriately on more than one occasion that she felt violated.

The report only confirmed what Biaggi said she already believed — that the women who came forward to accuse Cuomo of sexual misconduct are telling the truth.

“As I read through it, and read through all of the appendices, what it made me feel was that the governor and his team are people who don’t respect New Yorkers,” Biaggi said ahead of Cuomo’s resignation. “They see politics as a tool solely for power instead of what’s possible — which is that it’s really a tool to transform people’s lives, and to also create possibility and hope. The governor abused his position of power, and created an almost intolerable workplace for any person who decided to work there.”

Rivera — also no fan of the governor — echoed Biaggi’s sentiments.

“It just confirmed what many of us have known for a long time,” the lawmaker said. “This guy’s a bully. He creates a toxic work environment. Everything around him is ultimately about himself. And we need to have him out.”

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Responding to the accusations

Both senators supported impeaching Cuomo if he didn’t resign. It was a position shared also by Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz — not known to regularly agree with the lawmaking pair who work outside of the Bronx Democratic political machine. In a statement, Dinowitz said he found Cuomo’s reported behavior “nauseating and antithetical toward how our state government should operate.”

“I feel horrible for the women who experienced this behavior, and it seems abundantly clear that there is a pattern of sexually inappropriate behavior that has been allowed to exist in the governor’s office,” Dinowitz said.

Soon after James released her report, Cuomo responded with a pre-recorded video denying most of its findings. Like the accusation by a former aide that he touched her underneath her blouse in the governor’s mansion last year.  

“First, I want you to know directly from me that I never touched anyone inappropriately or made inappropriate sexual advances,” Cuomo said. “I am 63 years old. I have lived my entire adult life in public view. That is just not who I am. This is not who I have been.”

Cuomo also called the investigation’s conclusions biased and politically motivated. But Biaggi disagrees, making it clear she felt the investigation was professional and as free from politics as it could be.

“He’s basically trying to say that this investigation is not credible,” the senator said. “But when you look at the thoroughness of this investigation, the number of people interviewed, the cooperating witnesses (and) testimony … I truly think he’s the sole person that believes that he has done no wrong.”

In other cases, Cuomo apologized for making women feel uncomfortable, but insisted that was never his intention, and his actions were simply misconstrued. 

For instance, he said talking to former aide Charlotte Bennett about a past sexual assault she experienced was not harassment, but simply his attempt to comfort and support her.

The video also included a slideshow of the governor hugging and kissing various people to prove that’s something the governor does all the time, and isn’t sexually motivated.

Rivera didn’t buy it, accusing Cuomo of just trying to control the narrative.

“It was a disgusting master class in gaslighting,” the senator said. “Like the things that he was saying, it was so textbook abuser. But the fact that it was so blatant and done in this elegant fashion with the soft lighting, and his makeup, and the pre-recorded slideshow of him feeling up different people — it was sickening from beginning to end.”

While Cuomo’s resignation means he’ll no longer be in office as of Aug. 24, it doesn’t preclude him from running for his old job again in 2022. That’s why, in the aftermath of his resignation, several state legislators are entertaining the possibility of moving forward with impeachment anyway.

That’s something Rivera says he can get behind.

“The governor must be held accountable for perpetuating sexual harassment and fostering a toxic work environment, and I am committed to making it so,” Rivera said, in a statement. 

“I hope my colleagues will join me.”