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Eleven years of Governor Andrew Cuomo,
from a promising start to an abrupt fi nish
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. Monday night,
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, Mario,
couldn’t do — win election
to the governor’s mansion four
times. In 1994, the elder Cuomo’s
fourth-term 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. Lieutenant Governor
Kathy Hochul became
New York’s 57th (and first female)
governor at midnight
Tuesday, Aug. 24, and will at
the very least complete what’s
left of Cuomo’s third and final
term in office.
She’ll take the same oath
of office that Andrew Cuomo
did when he became New York
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.
His tenure
Cuomo took office nearly
three years removed from the
sudden resignation of then-
Governor 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
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.16 COM | AUG. 27 - SEPT. 2, 2021
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 a property tax cap to
gun control measures; from
a hydraulic fracturing ban
to marijuana decriminalization
and legislation. He also
helped get numerous public
infrastructure projects
completed, including a new
Kosciuszko Bridge on the
Brooklyn/Queens border, the
first phase of the Second Avenue
Subway, 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.
After Superstorm Sandy
submerged coastal areas of
the city in October 2012, Cuomo
led the effort to rebuild the
damaged Queens-Midtown
and Hugh Carey (Brooklyn
Battery) Tunnels, along with
funding MTA repairs to its
tubes.
Cuomo governed as a
moderate, and wasn’t afraid
to work with conservatives
lawmakers in Albany —
though that often raised the
ire or 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 candidacies
drew more than a third of the
vote from Democrats across
New York, but neither of the
progressives — nor Cuomo’s
Republican challengers in
the general elections — could
topple him.
Still, the progressive angst
over Cuomo remained, embodied,
in many respects, by the
governor’s feud with Mayor
Bill de Blasio. Like a bad seven
year marriage, the governor
of New York state and the
mayor of its largest tax base
traded barbs and snipes over
all kinds of issues — in good
times and bad, in sickness and
in health.
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 dithering and denial.
His unraveling
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 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 multimillion-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 beginning of
the Cuomo era in New York.
Reach reporter Robert
Pozarycki by e-mail at rpozarycki@
schnepsmedia.com or
by phone at (718) 260-4549.
Governor Andrew Cuomo Photo by Mike Segar/REUTERS
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