Pressure mounts on embattled Cuomo to resign
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
Having pledged to fight the sexual
harassment allegations outlined
in state Attorney General Letitia
James’ independent investigation report on
Tuesday, Governor Andrew Cuomo offered
no public statements on the matter through
Wednesday afternoon.
The Governor’s office released three
known official items to the media through 4
p.m. on Aug. 4. The first, sent in the morning,
was the announcement of a campaign
to promote the Child Tax Credit, which
provides cash payments to eligible parents.
Two releases in the afternoon included
the regular daily update on COVID-19
totals in New York state (the 7-day positivity
rate up to 2.57%, with 3,115 new cases
reported and seven more fatalities to the
illness) and details about the completion of
a $12.3 million affordable housing development
in upstate Erie County.
The governor’s official Twitter page
was more active, with updates on the daily
COVID-19 vaccination totals and some
retweets, including a post from the official
New York State Twitter page congratulating
recent medal winners from the Empire
State at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
But there were no official statements
Governor Andrew Cuomo MIKE GROLL/OFFICE OF GOVERNOR ANDREW CUOMO
volunteered from the office Wednesday
in the aftermath of James’ report being
released. The report outlines allegations
made by 11 women, including former
Cuomo aides and even a state trooper, that
the state’s top executive sexually harassed
them — from groping and embracing them
without their consent, to speaking with
them in sexual overtones.
James’ report of the five-month
investigation, carried out by two top attorneys
in Joon Kim and Anne Clark,
indicated that Cuomo allegedly broke state
and federal law. She deferred prosecuting
the matter and closed the case — but that
opened the door for four district attorneys,
including Manhattan’s chief prosecutor, Cy
Vance Jr., to launch probes into the allegations
and request related materials from
James’ office.
After the report was released Tuesday
morning, Cuomo issued a pre-recorded
statement in the afternoon denying wrongdoing,
in most cases, and asserting that his
actions were misinterpreted. He gave no
indication that he would resign — even as
a bipartisan assortment of federal, state and
city lawmakers demanded that he step aside
immediately.
Cuomo’s up for re-election in 2022 and is
eligible to fun for a fourth term, though he
may not get the opportunity. James’ report
was provided to the Assembly, which is
conducting its own investigation into the
matter, and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie
said Tuesday afternoon that the legislature
would pursue an impeachment inquiry.
Much like presidential impeachment
proceedings, the state Assembly can draft
and pass articles of impeachment against
the governor, which it can then present to
the state Senate at a trial. The governor can
provide a defense of the accusations. Should
two-thirds of the senators vote to convict
the governor, he would be removed from
office.
If Cuomo steps down or is removed from
office, Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul
would succeed him as the 57th governor of
the Empire State.
Displaced East Village fire victims demand answers
BY DEAN MOSES
Displaced, teary-eyed East Village
residents are calling upon their
former landlord for aid to help
rebuild their lives.
The corner of East 7th Street and Second
Avenue has been the site of several disasters
over the last few years, most notable
of which are two fires that ravaged Middle
Collegiate Church and destroyed a five-story
apartment building. In February 2020, a fire
ravaged 48 East 7th St., displacing tenants,
and while the building remained vacant
for many months, a six-alarm blaze occurring
on Dec. 5, 2020 completely gutted
the property, including the rent-regulated
apartments and the restaurant below them.
Now nothing but an empty lot, the
former tenants — many of them, seniors
— have been without their home for close to
17 months. After this long waiting period,
they are imploring landlord Faith Popcorn
to negotiate terms, finding a way for them
to return to the East Village.
Those who resided at the site argue that
they are senior citizens who’ve lived there
for over 60 years, some even raising generations
of families, and are tired of waiting to
discover if they will ever call East 7th Street
Oksana Lopatynsky and son Andrew Lopatynsky. PHOTO BY DEAN MOSES
home again.
On July 28, the Cooper Square Committee
hosted a rally with TakeRoot Justice,
tenants, elected officials, and other community
advocates held a rally pleading
for Popcorn stop stalling and engage in
meaningful negotiations.
“The fire was an enormous loss for these
families, and to call it a disruption is not
even appropriate—it upended their lives.
Since the fire, tenants have been reaching
out to the landlord Faith Popcorn and trying
to keep open lines of communication and
also discuss equitable arrangement with the
landlord that shows consideration for them
and for how long they’ve been here with
deep roots in the community. However,
communication with faith and her lawyers
at this point has been fickle, at best,” said
Brandon Kielbasa, director of organizing
and policy at the tenant advocacy group
Cooper Square Committee.
Longtime resident Oksana Lopatynsky
tried to hold back tears as she stood alongside
her daughter Martha Lopatynsky and
son Andrew Lopatynsky at the rally. She
sniffled as her family recounted the life she
had led before the fire burned away the
sanctuary she had made upon immigrating
to New York after World War II.
“We are grateful that there was no loss
of life, but everyone is still traumatized. ...
Five days before the pandemic shut down
our country these families lost their home,”
Martha Lopatynsky said.
Throughout the pandemic, these seniors
have not only had to survive the virus but
the loss of their homes simultaneously. As
Council Member Carlina Rivera arrived,
Oksana Lopatynsky broke down. Weeping,
she fell into the elected official’s arms, who
exclaimed, “enough is enough.”
“We want to ask that Faith and this company
come to the table. There is no reason
to hide, no reason to be afraid when people
want to have a commonsense conversation
and live with dignity and have the respect of
their neighbor and friends who are allies,”
Rivera said.
The Villager reached out to Faith Popcorn
for comment, but received no response
before the time of publication.
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