Top N.Y. Dems end support for Cuomo

The two top Democrats in New York’s Legislature withdrew their support for Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Sunday amid mounting allegations of sexual harassment and undercounting COVID19 deaths in nursing homes.

Senate Majority Leader Andrea StewartCousins became the first senior Democrat in the state to say the threeterm governor should resign.

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie stopped short of demanding that Mr. Cuomo quit but said in a statement that “it is time for the Governor to seriously consider whether he can effectively meet the needs of the people of New York.”

On Saturday, a third woman who worked for Mr. Cuomo publicly accused him of inappropriate behavior in the workplace.

“Every day there is another account that is drawing away from the business of government,” Ms. StewartCousins said in a statement. “New York is still in the midst of this pandemic and is still facing the societal, health and economic impacts of it. We need to govern without daily distraction.

“For the good of the state Governor Cuomo must resign.”

Her push for his resignation came shortly after a Sunday news conference in which Mr. Cuomo argued that it would be “anti- democratic” for him to step down because of the allegations.

“There is no way I resign,” Mr. Cuomo told reporters.

In a brief phone conversation Sunday prior to the news conference, Mr. Cuomo told Ms. Stewart- Cousins he wouldn’t quit and they would have to impeach him if they wanted him out of office, according to a person who was briefed by someone on the call.

Support for Mr. Cuomo has eroded with surprising speed as he’s faced twin scandals, one over his treatment of women in the workplace and a second over his administration’s monthslong refusal to release complete statistics on COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes.

Formeradviser Lindsey Boylan, 36, said Mr. Cuomo made inappropriate comments on her appearance, once kissed her on the lips at the end of a meeting, and suggested a game of strip poker as they sat with other aides on a jet flight. Another former aide, 25-year-old Charlotte Bennett, said Mr. Cuomo asked if she ever had sex with older men and made other comments she interpreted as gauging her interest in an affair.

Another woman, 33year- old Anna Ruch, who did not work for the state, described Mr. Cuomo putting his hands on her face and asking if he could kiss her just after they met at a wedding.

A third former aide, Ana Liss, told The Wall Street Journal in a story published Saturday that when she worked as a policy aide to the governor between 2013 and 2015, Mr. Cuomo called her “sweetheart,” kissed her hand and asked personal questions, including whether she had a boyfriend.

Asked about Ms. Liss’ story at his news conference Sunday, Mr. Cuomo said such talk was “my way of doing friendly banter.”