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LIVE: New York Protesters Demand Gov. Cuomo Resign Over Sexual Harassment Claims
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March 2, 2021
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20:05Now Playing(Mar. 2) Watch live as protesters rally in New York to demand the resignation of Governor Andrew Cuomo over recent sexual harassment allegations.
New York legislative leaders announced an agreement Tuesday to curb pandemic-related emergency powers granted to Governor Andrew Cuomo last year, in the latest blow to his tenure amid growing calls for him to resign over dual scandals.
The legislature will likely act on the bill as soon as Friday, Democratic Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner said Tuesday in a Twitter post. The measure would repeal the extraordinary powers they gave Cuomo at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, limiting his directives to those “necessary to reduce the spread or increase vaccinations.” On a broader level, it would require the governor to provide online reporting on all executive orders, increasing transparency, Woerner wrote.
Cuomo, 63, a third-term Democrat, is facing investigations over accusations from three women of inappropriate behavior, and questions over whether his administration purposely concealed data on Covid-19 deaths of nursing-home residents. Several Democratic lawmakers have called on the governor to step down, while others have suggested impeachment.
A call to his office for comment on the agreement wasn’t returned.
“These temporary emergency powers were granted as New York was devastated by a virus we knew nothing about,” Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said in a statement that didn’t address either scandal. “Now it is time for our government to return to regular order.”
Other components of the bill would restore the rights of counties and municipalities to issue executive orders without state approval. Cuomo has faced criticism from local officials, including New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, for asserting authority over decisions about school and business closings amid the pandemic.
State lawmakers have been debating a curb on Cuomo’s emergency power for weeks. While state Republicans have already proposed similar measures, the united approach from Democrats, who hold a supermajority in both houses, highlights growing tension against the governor among members of his own party as the scandals mount.
In January, a report from New York Attorney General Letitia James said that more residents died in nursing homes from the coronavirus than the state Department of Health had reported. A top Cuomo aide admitted on a private call with lawmakers that the state withheld data because it was afraid of a federal investigation.
On Monday, the New York Times reported an account of Cuomo’s behavior from Anna Ruch, who said he put his hand on her bare lower back, then placed his hands on her cheeks and asked if he could kiss her at a wedding in 2019, the first time she had met him.
Charlotte Bennett, a former Cuomo aide, and Lindsey Boylan, a former top economic development official, have described similar uncomfortable interactions with Cuomo, who has denied the accounts but apologized for what he called “playful” interactions that he said were misconstrued.
On Tuesday, six socialist members of New York’s legislature called on Cuomo to step down, joining Long Island U.S. Representative Kathleen Rice, the first Democratic member of Congress to do so. That followed a third report of inappropriate behavior late Monday.
Other members of the New York congressional delegation were more cautious, saying the investigation should play out before they call for Cuomo to quit.
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who is also from New York, said the “serious, very troubling” allegations should be investigated. So did New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, U.S. Representative Hakeem Jeffries and other lawmakers.
New York Assemblyman Ron Kim, whose account of a browbeating by Cuomo helped spark the current controversy, said that he and other Democrats are “building consensus” on ousting Cuomo.
“There are a few of us, we’re pushing for impeachment, and there are more people every day who ask him to step down and resign,” Kim said Tuesday during an interview on Bloomberg Quicktake.
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