Cuomo Announces Resignation

Kathy Hochul to become NY's first female governor [FORWARD TO A FRIEND]( [VIEW IN BROWSER]( [DONATE]( [WNYC Politics Brief] Gov. Andrew Cuomo Resigns By the Gothamist Staff [Gov. Andrew Cuomo during a press conference] Gov. Cuomo's Office/AP In 14 days, Andrew Cuomo will no longer be the governor of New York. After [a damning report]( of sexual harassment allegations from the state attorney general’s office, and mounting pressure from lawmakers and allies, Cuomo [announced this morning]( that he is resigning, effective in two weeks. At that point, Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul will step in, becoming the first woman to serve as the state's governor. "New York Tough means New York Loving, and I love New York. And I love you," Cuomo said, with his voice breaking. "I would never want to be unhelpful in any way," he continued. "The best way I can help now is if I step aside and let government get back to governing. And therefore, that's what I'll do, because I work for you, and doing the right thing is doing the right thing for you." Before announcing his resignation, Cuomo doubled down on his defense against the report released last week by State Attorney General Letitia James, which detailed allegations from 11 women of sexual harassment by the governor. Cuomo claimed the report had "serious issues and flaws...with no credible factual basis," and that the allegations stemmed from women who were "offended" by his out-of-date behavior rather than criminal behavior. Cuomo also accused the report of being politically-driven: "There is an intelligent discussion to be had on gender based actions on generational and cultural behavioral differences on setting higher standards, and finding reasonable resolutions," he said. "But the political environment is too hot, and it is too reactionary for that now. And it is unfortunate." Cuomo’s resignation marks a stunning end to a decades-long career in public service that began with a job managing a campaign for his father, former Governor Mario Cuomo, whom he idolized. Cuomo won the first of his three terms as governor in 2010, and soared to international fame last year with his constant, reassuring presence during the pandemic. State lawmakers from both sides of the aisle had been calling for his resignation since late February, after the federal government opened an investigation into his administration’s handling of nursing home deaths, and two former aides accused the governor of sexually harassing them. Then [more women came forward]( most recently a current staffer who said Cuomo groped her under her shirt in the executive mansion late last year, and that there had been other inappropriate encounters. Last week, the attorney general’s office released its independent report, including previously reported and new accusations of Cuomo’s sexual misconduct. After the report’s release, Cuomo refuted the claims, as did his private attorneys, who repeatedly sought to attack the credibility of the report and the women who stepped forward. While saying he took full responsibility for his actions, Cuomo also repeated his defense that the women were mistaking his Italian-American tendency to show physical affection as harassment. "I do hug and kiss people casually, women and men. I have done it all my life. It's who I've been since I can remember, in my mind," he said Tuesday. "I've never crossed the line with anyone, but I didn't realize the extent to which the line has been redrawn." During his resignation speech, Cuomo also took a moment for a victory lap, noting his administration had enacted a slate of liberal policies that made New York a frequent target of the Trump administration. "We made New York State the progressive capital of the nation. No other state government accomplished more to help people," Cuomo said, naming marriage equality, gun control laws, and an increased minimum wage. Hochul, who called Cuomo's behavior "repulsive and awful" following the release of the attorney general's report, said she agreed with his decision to resign. "It is the right thing to do and in the best interest of New Yorkers," [she said Tuesday](. While Cuomo's resignation nullifies the State Assembly's impeachment proceedings — which had just begun yesterday — the Albany County Sheriff's Office confirmed recently that it's in the "infant stages" of investigating a criminal complaint alleging that Cuomo groped a staffer in the Executive Mansion last fall. That process, the sheriff said, could result in [a misdemeanor charge]( being brought against the soon-to-be-former governor. This is a developing story. [Visit Gothamist to read more.]( --------------------------------------------------------------- 🗳️ --------------------------------------------------------------- Why A Second Black Mayoralty Is Inspiring A Mix Of Hope And Skepticism [Eric Adams holds a press conference with the union 32BJ] Elizabeth Kim/Gothamist By Elizabeth Kim Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, the son of a single mother who worked as a house cleaner, won the Democratic mayoral primary with strong support among Black and Latino voters in the outer boroughs, narrowly defeating Kathryn Garcia, a white candidate, by roughly 7,000 votes. But unlike in the watershed moment of the 1989 election of David Dinkins, the city's first Black mayor, many Black voters are viewing Adams as a candidate colored less by racial identity than class. That heightened discernment comes, in part, from the fact that many Black voters are starting to recognize that there are limits to representational politics. "We've already had a Black mayor. We've been there," said J. Phillip Thompson, the city’s deputy mayor who was part of the Dinkins administration, and who is Black himself. "We've learned how to elect people. What we have not learned is how to lift ourselves out of poverty. And that's the challenge for Eric." During an appearance on WNYC’s "The United States of Anxiety," Fordham professor Christina Greer made a similar observation. "The larger crux of the question, I would argue, is we have a lot of descriptive representation," she said. "So why, substantively, policy-wise, are Black people not doing better in the city?" Indeed, while Adams' record as a former NYPD officer and his stances on public safety were widely viewed as the winning argument with Democratic voters, some experts say his mayoralty (assuming he wins in November) will be largely judged on whether he can tackle a broader spectrum of problems — such as unemployment and a segregated and underfunded education system — that are often considered the underlying factors of crime in poor neighborhoods of color. To that point, political experts see Adams' blue-collar roots as reason to feel optimistic that he'll adopt policies that truly improve the lives of struggling residents. Last Sunday, outside the Brooklyn Museum, Joan Valentine, a 74-year-old native New Yorker, echoed that feeling in explaining why she voted for Adams. Valentine, who is Black, downplayed the significance of race. "We need a mayor for the working class," she said. "And he grew up working class. He knows what they're going through." — [read more]( --------------------------------------------------------------- 🗳️ --------------------------------------------------------------- Here's What Else Is Happening Democratic socialist Kristen Richardson Jordan has won the tight Democratic City Council primary in Central Harlem. The second-place finisher, former City Councilmember Bill Perkins, [conceded on Monday]( after an unofficial manual recount tally showed Richardson Jordan with the lead. Her likely win in November will add to the total number of self-identified democratic socialists in the City Council, as well as the number of women, who will hold a majority in the chamber for the first time in history. ( [Gothamist]( The first citywide primary to use ranked-choice voting saw a higher-than-average rate of "exhausted" ballots. In the final round of tabulations in the Democratic mayoral primary, about 15% of ballots became "inactive" because the voter hadn't ranked either Eric Adams or Kathryn Garcia, the two final contenders. It's not known yet if this rate of exhausted ballots — which was higher than in most American ranked-choice elections — was due to a large number of voters not using all five picks. ([Gothamist]( For the first time in New York City history, the three top citywide elected leaders are all likely to be Brooklynites. If mayoral candidate Eric Adams, comptroller candidate Brad Lander, and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams win their general elections in November — which is all but certain — the borough with the most people overall, the most Black residents, and the most registered Democrats, will further solidify its role as the city's new power center. ([City & State]( New Jersey GOP gubernatorial nominee Jack Ciattarelli has selected women's rights champion Diane Allen as his running mate. At the same time that Ciattarelli is moving rightward to court pro-Trump voters, he's selected Allen — a former Republican state senator who's considered a strong advocate for women and the LGBT community — to be his pick for lieutenant governor. Close followers see the choice as an attempt to curry favor with suburban college-educated women, a group that's swung left in recent elections. ([New Jersey Monitor]( Thanks to this mayoral run, Curtis Sliwa can only get more famous. The Republican mayoral nominee knows he's an extreme long shot to win, given that Democratic voters outnumber Republicans by about 8 to 1. But the tabloid veteran is not wasting the spotlight that comes with a major party's mayoral nomination. "This is what Curtis wants," said Ron Kuby, Sliwa's former radio co-host. "People are paying attention, they’re listening, they’re quoting him. They’re talking about him. He’s having a fantastic time." ([Gothamist]( --------------------------------------------------------------- 🗳️ --------------------------------------------------------------- [Meanwhile: The Infrastructure Bill]( New Jersey Rep. Josh Gottheimer discusses the latest news on the $1 trillion infrastructure package, which has bipartisan support but is getting pushback from progressive lawmakers. [LISTEN FOR FREE]( Support WNYC + Gothamist Make a donation to support local, independent journalism. Your contributions are our largest source of funding and pays for essential election coverage and more. [DONATE]( [Facebook]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [Instagram]( [WNYC]( [WQXR]( [NJPR]( [GOTHAMIST]( [WNYC STUDIOS]( [THE GREENE SPACE]( Copyright © New York Public Radio. 160 Varick Street, New York, NY 10013 All rights reserved. [Terms of Use.]( Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your [preferences]( or [unsubscribe]( from this list