Cuomo joked he wanted to ‘mount’ female staffer like a dog, says new Ronan Farrow story in New Yorker
Gov. Cuomo is accused of making a crude joke about a female staffer in a New Yorker magazine story about accusations he behaved inappropriately around women.
Lindsey Boylan — whose claims about the governor in a Medium post in February was the first of a series of allegations about his inappropriate behavior — told New Yorker writer Ronan Farrow that the incident happened in February 2018.
At a press conference, the story says, Cuomo was showing off his new puppy, Captain, a Shepherd-Malamute mix.
“After the meeting, Boylan said that she made her way toward the entrance with the Governor, and Captain approached her,” the story said.
“When the dog jumped up and down near her, Boylan said, she reached out to calm him, and then backed away. Cuomo, she said, joked that if he were a dog, he would try to ‘mount’ her as well.”
Boylan said she did not respond to Cuomo’s remark.
“I remember being grossed out but also, like, what a dumb third-grade thing to say,” she told the magazine.
Boylan added: “I just shrugged it off.”
A Cuomo spokesman declined to comment to The New Yorker on the claim — but reiterated Cuomo’s denial that he behaved inappropriately with her.
The story was posted on The New Yorker’s website on Thursday night.
Boylan, who was a deputy secretary for economic development and special adviser to Cuomo, used her Medium piece to describe a toxic work environment in which top female aides “normalized” the governor’s behavior.
She said in the article that she was told by staffers that Cuomo had a “crush” on her.
The Daily News reached out to Cuomo’s staff for comment late Thursday.
Cuomo has faced calls from elected officials to resign, and the state Assembly has started an impeachment probe. But a Siena poll released Wednesday found Cuomo’s constituents are deeply divided on the matter, with 50% saying Cuomo should not immediately resign.
Boylan also told The New Yorker that one day at a party in 2014 at the governor’s mansion in Albany, she saw a dartboard showing a photo of Mayor de Blasio.
“I couldn’t believe how brazen that was,” she said.
A Cuomo spokesperson declined to comment on the dartboard, the magazine said.
