Cuomo sexual harassment scandals, nursing home probe could impact budget and legislative efforts in Albany
ALBANY — A federal nursing home probe and sexual harassment claims against Gov. Cuomo could cause seismic shifts and expose rifts among legislators as budget negotiations get underway in Albany.
With 30 days before a state fiscal plan must be approved, some lawmakers are ramping up calls for Cuomo to step down as they say his troubles could cause a ripple effect, impacting budget negotiations and affecting relationships within the Legislature.
Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara (D-Schenectady) joined a growing group of the governor’s fellow Democrats saying the harassment allegations and ensuing probes of Cuomo’s behavior could be a problem.
The situation only intensified Monday, with the New York Times reporting a third woman, Anna Ruch, 33, stepped forward to reveal a 2019 encounter with Cuomo at a wedding reception where he bluntly asked if he could kiss her.
“I turned my head away and didn’t have words in that moment,” Ruch told the Times.
“There’s an ongoing pattern here of abuse of power. It’s making the working relationship with the governor a real distraction from the work we have to do for the people,” Santabarbara said. “I firmly believe that the governor’s resignation is for the good of the state at this point.”
Charlotte Bennett, a former health policy adviser to Cuomo who went public over the weekend with claims that the governor made sexual overtures, said in a statement that his qualified mea culpa on Sunday smacked of a refusal “to acknowledge or take responsibility for his predatory behavior.”
Another former staffer, Lindsey Boylan, also accused Cuomo of making inappropriate comments about her appearance and once kissed her without her consent following a meeting at his Manhattan office.
Over the weekend, Sen. Alessandra Biaggi (D-Bronx) called on Cuomo to resign after 25-year-old Charlotte Bennett alleged the governor asked her about her sex life and whether she was interested in older men.
“The assertions against Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo by Charlotte Bennett detail behavior that is unacceptable,” Biaggi said. “I am especially horrified by the comments the governor made to Charlotte about her experience with sexual assault –– comments he did not deny making. They are the epitome of a hostile work environment.”
Senate Minority Leader Robert Ortt (R-Erie County) said the governor’s outsized influence on the budget must be reined in as Cuomo contends with damning allegations of impropriety and criticism over the state’s handling of nursing home deaths during the pandemic.
“How can that person also do the job they’ve been elected to do, in guiding us through this pandemic?” Ortt said during a press conference at the State Capitol. “In guiding us through the fiscal and economic crisis that we are facing?”
The Democratic-led Assembly canceled its session on Monday as the multiple scandals swirled and Cuomo’s office sent a formal referral to Attorney General Letitia James granting her the power to appoint an outside law firm to probe sexual harassment claims made against the governor.
Lawmakers have already been weighing rescinding the governor’s COVID executive authority amid criticism of the administration’s handling of nursing home deaths during the pandemic. Federal prosecutors are also probing the matter.
March is typically one of the busiest months in Albany as legislative leaders and the governor’s office hammer out policy and spending proposals ahead of the April 1 deadline.
Mayor de Blasio, meanwhile, gave a fiery denunciation of Cuomo’s attempted explanation of his treatment of ex-staffers who accused him of sexual harassment.
“Sexual harassment is not funny. Who the hell tries to explain sexual harassment by saying he was just joking around?” he said on Hot 97.
Cuomo on Sunday night issued a qualified apology to women who accused him of harassment and attempted to blame his conduct on a work culture in which “sometimes I think I am being playful and make jokes that I think are funny.”
Speaking at a press conference later Monday, the mayor joined calls from a growing number of New York Democrats for Cuomo to leave office if the allegations prove true.
“If someone purposefully tried to use their power to force a woman to have sex with them, of course that person should no longer be in public service,” Hizzoner said.
With Chris Sommerfeldt
