KISS GOV POWERS GOODBYE
Losing crisis reins amid calls to quit
Top Democrats in the state Legislature agreed Tuesday to strip Gov. Cuomo of the emergency powers granted him during the pandemic — possibly by week’s end — as calls mounted for the governor to resign amid his dueling sexual-harassment and nursing-home scandals.
Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Yonkers) and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) brokered a deal on the bill, which could see a vote as early as Friday.
Once passed by both houses of the Legislature, it would immediately repeal the powers granted to Cuomo last March to largely control the state response to the coronavirus.
The powers are currently set to sunset on April 30.
“A year into the pandemic, and as New Yorkers receive the vaccine, the temporary emergency powers have served their purpose,” Heastie said in a statement. “It is time for them to be repealed.”
The legislation would also bar
Cuomo from creating new emergency directives without a sign-off from legislative leaders and relevant committee chairs, and would allow the extension of existing directives only if they are directly tied to managing the pandemic.
Some of the existing directives would be allowed to continue uninterrupted, such as the statewide mask mandate.
Calls to revoke the powers have intensified in recent weeks with Cuomo, 63, embroiled in two scandals at once, first over his administration’s manipulation of death tallies in nursing homes, and now over allegations of sexual harassment lodged by three women in less than a week.
Ex-Cuomo staffer Lindsey Boylan, 36, last week accused the governor of kissing her on the lips without warning and of suggesting they play strip poker.
Days later, fellow former aide Charlotte Bennett, 25, alleged that Cuomo made off-color comments that convinced her he wanted a relationship.
And on Monday, Anna Ruch, 33, accused Cuomo of grabbing her and forcibly kissing her cheek at a wedding in 2019 — the first time they had met. She provided pictures to back up her claim.
On Tuesday, the local chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, as well as the Working Families Party, joined calls for Cuomo to resign.
“Someone so comfortable with abusing his power should not be in leadership of our state,” the DSA said in a statement. “The people of New York deserve better.”
The WFP — which backed Cuomo’s unsuccessful 2018 pri
mary challenger, Cynthia Nixon, only to grudgingly support him in the general election — echoed the call.
“Andrew Cuomo’s reign of fear, harassment and intimidation cannot continue,” the party said in a statement. “We are calling on Governor Cuomo to resign immediately because he is unfit to serve the people of New York.”
The groups joined some pols already calling for Cuomo’s job, including US Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-LI) and state Sen. Alessandra Biaggi (D-Bronx/Westchester).
Most prominent Democrats, however, have only gone so far as to insist on an independent probe of the allegations.
They include DSA member and US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Heastie, Stewart-Cousins and New York’s two US senators, Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand.
“The behavior described in these allegations against Governor Cuomo is completely unacceptable and every allegation of sexual harassment must be taken seriously and reviewed,” Gillibrand said Tuesday.
State Attorney General Letitia James has received formal approval to select an independent investigator, who will be granted full subpoena power.
In a statement issued Sunday, Cuomo apologized for workplace “jokes” that he admitted could have been construed as “unwanted flirtation,” while denying that he touched anyone inappropriately.
The Cuomo administration did not respond to a request for comment on the pending vote to strip Cuomo of his emergency powers.