SEPTEMBER 2021 • LONGISLANDPRESS.COM 15
CUOMO RESIGNATION
PROMISING START, ABRUPT FINISH
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
It began in the shadow of another
governor’s scandal, and ended before
its scheduled conclusion, mired in
controversy.
The tenure of Andrew Cuomo as the
56th governor of New York State, which
ended at 11:59 p.m. Aug. 23, featured 11
years of seismic political changes, major
construction projects and a devastating
pandemic that brought about the governor’s
best — and sometimes worst
— qualities.
Cuomo had plans to do something that
his father, former New York State governor
Mario Cuomo, couldn’t do — win
election to the governor’s mansion four
times. In 1994, the elder Cuomo’s fourthterm
bid was derailed by Republican
George Pataki in the year of the Republican
revolution.
But in 2021, the younger incumbent
Cuomo’s stewardship of the state came
to an ignominious end, rocked by a
massive sexual harassment scandal in
which 11 women came forward to accuse
the governor of groping and/or making
inappropriate statements toward them.
The scandal dogged Andrew Cuomo
for months, as the governor claimed he
did nothing wrong, and that his actions
were simply misunderstood. He tried to
shake it off with apologies and promises
of reform, but the damning independent
investigation from state Attorney
General Letitia James issued on Aug. 3
made Cuomo’s continued leadership, in
the eyes of Democratic and Republican
lawmakers statewide, untenable.
On Aug. 10, even as his attorneys continued
a strident defense, Cuomo gave
New York State residents his two weeks
notice. Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul became
New York’s 57th — and first female —
governor at midnight Aug. 24, and will
at the very least complete what’s left of
Cuomo’s third and final term in office.
She took the same oath of office that
Andrew Cuomo did when he became
governor on Jan. 1, 2011. After serving
one-term as New York’s attorney general,
Cuomo was swept to power in
November 2010 with 62.2% of the vote,
promising to reform government and
change the way New York did business.
Cuomo took office nearly three years
removed from the sudden resignation
of then-Gov. Eliot Spitzer in March
2008. Spitzer, who was elected governor
in 2006 after serving two terms as
attorney general, had been caught in a
prostitution scandal.
Within months, Cuomo helped steer the
legislature toward approval of the Marriage
Equality Act, finally legalizing
same-sex marriage in New York State
after years of public battle in Albany.
It turned out to be one of the biggest
progressive victories of the Cuomo era
in New York.
The governor secured numerous legislative
victories in the years that followed
— from gun control measures to
marijuana legalization. He also helped
get numerous public infrastructure
projects completed, including new
terminals at LaGuardia Airport and a
brand new Hudson River crossing replacing
the Tappan Zee Bridge that was
renamed in his father Mario’s honor.
Cuomo governed as a moderate, and
wasn’t afraid to work with conservatives
lawmakers in Albany — though
that often raised the ire of progressives
who felt increasingly ignored.
When he ran for re-election, Cuomo
faced challenges from progressives
Zephyr Teachout in 2014 and actor
Cynthia Nixon in 2018. Each time, the
upstart candidates drew more than a
third of the vote from Democrats across
New York, but neither the progressives
— nor Cuomo’s Republican challengers
in the general elections — could topple
him.
Then the Covid-19 pandemic hit New
York in the spring of 2020, with the first
official case diagnosed on March 1. Cuomo
won statewide and national praise
for his handling of the health crisis that
crippled the state. With daily televised
press briefings on the pandemic, Cuomo
was seen as a stalwart of facts and
science in the face of then-President
Donald Trump’s denial.
Cuomo’s approval rating surged to
as high as 77%, and it seemed that
winning a fourth term was a fait accompli.
But it all unraveled quickly
beginning in the winter of 2021, when
another investigation by Attorney
General James found that the Cuomo
administration and the Department
of Health failed to be forthright on
the number of Covid-19 deaths in
nursing homes.
The situation was further aggravated
when Secretary to the Governor Melissa
DeRosa revealed that the administration
had withheld that information
from state lawmakers due to an ongoing
federal investigation. Public reports of
Cuomo’s multi-million dollar book deal
for his autobiography on the Covid-19
crisis further sparked the ire of New
Yorkers.
Sexual harassment allegations against
Cuomo also surfaced, beginning with
former aide Lindsey Boylan’s public
disclosure on Twitter. As other women
came forward to accuse the governor,
and calls for his resignation mounted,
he directed James to open an investigation
into the alleged actions.
That led to the Aug. 3 report that outlined
accusations made by 11 women —
and served to be the end of the Cuomo
era in New York.
-This story first appeared in
amNewYork Metro.
IN THE NEWS
A farewell speech by Gov. Andrew Cuomo is broadcast live on a screen in Times Square on his final day in office on
August 23, 2021.(REUTERS/Andrew Kelly TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)
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