Gov. Cuomo tells reporters, “There is No Way I Resign!”
This billboard, from an Albany gun store owner, is now the same sentiment of State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins. Three days ago, Stewart-Cousins, from Westchester, said “Any further people coming forward, I would think it would be time for him to resign.”
Now after two more women who worked with and for Governor Cuomo have come forward with similar allegations of sexual harrassment as the first two of Cuomo’s accusers, Stewart-Cousins followed through on her prior statement and called on Cuomo to resign.
“Everyday there is another account that is drawing away from the business of government. We have allegations about sexual harassment, a toxic work environment, the loss of credibility surrounding the Covid-19 nursing home data and questions about the construction of a major infrastructure project. New York is still in the midst of this pandemic and is still facing the societal, health and economic impacts of it. We need to govern without daily distraction. For the good of the state Governor Cuomo must resign,” said Stewart-Cousins in a statement released on March 7.
Earlier that same day (march 7) Cuomo, during a conference call with reporters, said that he would never resign. “I was elected by the people of the state, I wasn’t elected by politicians. I’m not going to resign because of allegations. The premise of resigning because of allegations is actually anti-democratic and we’ve always done the exact opposite. You know the system is based on due process, and the credibility of the allegation,” Cuomo said.
“This is not about me and accusations about me, the Attorney General can handle that. This is about doing the people’s business, and this next six months I believe will determine the future trajectory for New York State.There is no way I resign.”
Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie joined Stewart-Cousins in calling for Cuomo to resign. “We have many challenges to address, and I think it is time for the Governor to seriously consider whether he can effectively meet the needs of the people of New York,” Heastie said in a statement.
Ana Liss, was 25 years old when she worked as an aide to the Governor in 2013. And in what has now become a familiar recollections of her interactions with Cuomo, said “he asked her if she had a boyfriend, called her sweetheart, touched her on her lower back at a reception and once kissed her hand.”
And Karen Hinton, a former Press Secretary for then Housing and Urban Development Chief Andrew Cuomo in 2000, said that Cuomo had embraced her after an event. While Cuomo has downplayed the recent allegations, they have been reported on in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and Washington Post, the three most influential newspapers in the country.
Plus two of the three most important elected officials in New York, or two of the three people “in the room where it happens,” Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, have called on Cuomo to resign, with upcoming budget negotiations with Cuomo due to proceed in a week, a showdown between Cuomo and Stewart-Cousins and Heastie is now anticipated.
Cuomo’s second accuser, Charlotte Bennett, from Westchester, said that the Governor told her last year that “People in positions of power will never give up that power.”
So far this is true, but what if Governor Cuomo should get a call from President Joe Biden, offereing some advice about his predicament. Or what if the hundreds of reporters out there searching for another accuser, or searching for some other part of Cuomo’s interactions with young, female staffers, finds someone else, or someone with a bit more about her story with Andrew to tell.
The countdown has begun, and Kudos to Senator Stewart-Cousins for saying one more accuser and Cuomo should resign, and then sticking to her word.
The Albany Times-Union, the upstate daily paper of record, wrote an Editorial over the Weekend calling on Cuomo to resign. “It is time for Mr. Cuomo to resign, and for those who helped him deceive the public to go, too…We do not say this lightly. We endorsed Mr. Cuomo for governor three times. He has brought to fruition a host of important progressive goals. But between his manipulation of state ethics bodies, multiple allegations of sexual harassment and these latest revelations on nursing home deaths, he has lost the credibility he needs to lead this state, especially in the midst of a public health crisis.”
