Hochul taps new health chief to replace embattled Zucker

NEW YORK (AP) — Former New York City Health Commissioner Mary Bassett will become the top health official in the state as it seeks to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Wednesday.

Bassett will replace outgoing state Health Commissioner Howard Zucker, a key figure in former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s pandemic response. Zucker has been criticized over his handling of pandemic, especially in relation to nursing homes. Hochul recently announced his resignation.

Bassett’s appointment is effective Dec. 1. Zucker had agreed to stay until his replacement came on board.

Hochul lauded Bassett’s 30 years of experience in the public and private sectors and her devo

tion to health equity and social justice.

Bassett served as a resident in a Harlem hospital and spent 17 years developing Aids-prevention programs in Zimbabwe.

“Our recovery from this pandemic requires tested leadership and experience to improve health equity and access across the state, and Dr. Bassett is perfectly equipped to lead the New York State Department of Health during this critical moment,” Hochul said in a prepared release.

Bassett is currently director of the Françoisxavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University and a professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

She was Mayor Bill de Blasio’s commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene from 2014 through summer 2018 and led the department’s response to Ebola and other disease outbreaks.

“I am humbled and honored to return to my home state of New York to lead the Department of Health at this pivotal time,” Bassett said in a prepared statement.

In other news, Attorney General Letitia James dismissed criticism from former Gov. Andrew Cuomo about the bombshell report from her office that detailed sexual harassment allegations against Cuomo, saying the former governor has “never taken responsibility for his own conduct.”

James, speaking to a group of civic leaders from business, nonprofits and other organizations in New York City on Wednesday, defended the 165-page report her office released in August that found Cuomo sexually harassed at least 11 women, prompting the Democrat’s resignation.

“Mr. Cuomo has a lot to say on these matters, but he’s never taken responsibility for his own conduct. He’s never held himself accountable for how his behavior affected our state government,” James, a Democrat, said.

Cuomo emphatically denied intentionally mistreating women and has cast the pressure on him to resign as politically motivated. He said he was stepping aside to avoid subjecting the state to months of turmoil. Since announcing his resignation, he’s promoted opinion columns on social media that question the independence of the investigation and suggest his ouster was an orchestrated, political bludgeoning.

“This was politics. Every step of the way,” he said in a tweet last week.

The five-month, noncriminal investigation from James’ office concluded that 11 women within and outside the state government were telling the truth when they said Cuomo had touched them inappropriately, commented on their appearance or made suggestive comments about their sex lives. The report also detailed efforts by his staff to discredit some of his accusers.

“Let’s not lose sight of what’s important,” James said. “It’s not me. It’s not Mr. Cuomo, but the survivors of his harassment. The people of our state whose trust, he broke. And the people who believed in him, including myself. No one is above the law. And our state can do better moving forward.”

James contrasted her investigation with one Cuomo himself ran while he was serving as attorney general and investigated then-gov. Eliot Spitzer, who resigned in 2008 in a prostitution scandal. She noted that her investigation started after Cuomo’s office referred the allegations to her, was led by outside investigators and took five months. Cuomo’s investigation of Spitzer, James said, started without an outside referral, took 20 days and was handled within the office.

She said her office plans to publicly release transcripts of the 179 people interviewed as part of the probe.

James’ office has only released excerpts of the interviews. The Associated Press filed open records requests in August for full transcripts and recordings of interviews with Cuomo and other witnesses but has yet to receive the materials.

Rich Azzopardi, a senior advisor to Cuomo and his longtime spokesperson, said in a statement, “It should raise serious red flags that the AG and her staff duck every time specific questions about omissions and inaccuracies in the AG’S report are raised. The public deserves specific answers from the AG as to the credibility of her report — especially while she mulls a run for governor.”

Before resigning, Cuomo, his attorney and staff questioned the date on which one accuser says he groped her at the governor’s mansion.

James is considered a potential candidate 2022 candidate for New York governor. After giving remarks at Wednesday’s event, James dodged a question from the moderator about whether she will run, saying: “I am focusing on my work, putting my head down and serving all of you as the attor