NEW YORK — City and state officials who gathered outside of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Manhattan office on Wednesday ripped into the governor in the wake of the New York attorney general’s report substantiating sexual harassment claims by 11 women.
Housing advocates were rallying for longer pandemic eviction protections, which expire on Aug. 31, and faster disbursement of rent relief payments, but NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and other officials in attendance did not mince words when it came to the governor’s sexual harassment scandal.
“I mistook bullying and a good public persona for good leadership … never make that mistake again!” Williams said.
New York State Sen. Gustavo Rivera called for Cuomo to resign or face impeachment.
State Sen. Julia Salazar called out the governor for what she said has been years of bullying behavior under his administration.
“Sexual harassment is fundamentally about abuse of power, and there is a pattern of the governor abusing his power,” she said. “Thanks to the courageous women who shared their experiences with the investigators, we know about this form of the governor’s abuse of power. But we have witnessed — anyone who’s been to Albany — has seen the many manifestations of the governor’s abuse of power. And it needs to end now.”
Cuomo on Tuesday denied the allegations corroborated by the attorney general’s report and has refused to resign despite growing calls to do so from lawmakers and officials on both sides of the aisle, including President Joe Biden.
