Governor Andrew Cuomo bid New Yorkers goodbye Monday afternoon, citing his key accomplishments in office and taking jabs at the left-wing of the Democratic Party, while still maintaining he’d done nothing wrong and was only stepping aside for the good of the state.
In a pre-taped speech that aired at noon, Cuomo reiterated his insistence that the Attorney General Letitia James's report was deliberately crafted to take him down.
“The attorney general's report was designed to be a political firecracker on an explosive topic and it worked,” he said. “The truth will [come] out in time, of that I am confident.”
Attorney General James has repeatedly defended the report's integrity and slammed Cuomo's efforts to discredit women who reported sexual harassment.
Cuomo brought up key pieces of legislation signed into law under him—a phased-in $15 minimum wage, the legalization of same sex marriage, a ban on assault rifles—and pointed to renovated Penn Station and LaGuardia Airport as evidence of his accomplishments.
“We didn't get everything done that we wanted to, or even everything we should have done. And we didn’t always get it quite right,” Cuomo said. “But I want you to know from the bottom of my heart, I want you to know that every day, I worked my hardest, I gave it my all, and I tried my best to deliver for you.”
Cuomo offered advice for incoming Governor Kathy Hocul, saying the state should require teachers be vaccinated, reimplement a mask mandate in high-risk settings, and require proof of vaccination at large gatherings. He took digs at the left-wing of the Democratic Party, at their insistence on raising taxes on the wealthy and their desire to reallocate funds from police departments.
“No governor in the nation has passed more progressive measures than I have, but I disagree with some people in my own party who called to defund the police,” he said. “I believe it is misguided. I believe it is dangerous.”
His resignation comes as the stunning culmination of decades spent in Albany, as an aide to his father Governor Mario M. Cuomo, as the state attorney general, and then as governor himself for three consecutive terms.
Lieutenant Governor Hochul, who will be the state’s first woman governor, will be sworn in at 12:01 a.m. followed by a more formal ceremony later at 10 a.m. Tuesday morning. She’s expected to deliver her first address to New Yorkers as governor later that afternoon at 3 p.m..
In recent days, U-Haul trucks had been spotted by the New York Post, lugging Cuomo’s belongings from the executive mansion to his sister’s Westchester home. Cuomo also tried to pawn off his photogenic pup Captain to a member of the executive staff, the Times Union reported. The governor’s office had denied the report.
Cuomo reached the height of his popularity in 2020 while responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and marshalling the resources of the state to confront the crisis. His level-headed daily briefings offered New Yorkers somber yet uplifting messages about the extent of the crisis and state’s ability to make it through, as hundreds of people died each day.
But over the past eight months, that pandemic popularity took hit after hit. Attorney General James confirmed in January he’d undercounted nursing home deaths by 50 percent. Soon after his top advisor Melissa DeRosa admitted the withholding of those deaths from the federal government was intentional. Assemblymember Ron Kim then spoke up about a bullying phone call he said he received from Cuomo.
Many state lawmakers, reporters, state employees shared similar stories, and soon after and several women came forward describing sexual harassment by Cuomo. The conduct ranged from unwanted kisses and touches, to an array of inappropriate comments and in the case of Brittany Commisso, she said Cuomo groped her under her blouse.
Cuomo held on for several months once the allegations emerged; he’d convinced allies to wait for the results of Attorney General Letitia James’ report into sexual harassment allegations. But following that report’s release on August 3rd, Cuomo’s remaining allies fell away; President Joe Biden said he should resign as did Jay Jacobs, the head of the state’s Democratic Party and one of Cuomo’s longtime allies.
While Cuomo may leave office Monday, he’s likely to be embroiled in various legal battles that could drag on for months if not years. He’s facing five potential criminal probes into his conduct, a federal probe into his handling of nursing homes and the threat of multiple civil lawsuits.
While Cuomo still sits on a campaign coffer of more than $18 million, top advisor Melissa deRosa reportedly said Cuomo was not planning on running for elected office again. His office didn’t return a request for further comment immediately.
