amNY Year in Review: Pandemic takes back seat to fall of Cuomo, rise of Hochul

The fall of Andrew Cuomo dominated the news in state government this year as multiple scandals beset New York’s 56th governor and removed him and his inner circle from power toward the latter half of 2021.

The year started against the backdrop of Cuomo’s first accuser, former aide Lindsey Boylan, coming forth with sexual harassment allegations just weeks earlier in December.

Several more went public in the lead up to the bombshell investigation by state Attorney General Letitia James’s office, which cemented the end of Cuomo’s decade-long governorship and ushered in Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul as the first female leader in the Empire State’s 233-year history.

Early ripples

Boylan published a thread on Twitter on Dec. 13, 2020 accusing Cuomo of sexually harassing her for years, but did not go into a lot of detail.

“Yes, @NYGovCuomo sexually harassed me for years. Many saw it, and watched,” she wrote. “I could never anticipate what to expect: would I be grilled on my work (which was very good) or harassed about my looks. Or would it be both in the same conversation? This was the way for years.”

Yes, @NYGovCuomo sexually harassed me for years. Many saw it, and watched.

I could never anticipate what to expect: would I be grilled on my work (which was very good) or harassed about my looks. Or would it be both in the same conversation? This was the way for years.

— Lindsey Boylan (@LindseyBoylan) December 13, 2020

She added, “And I *know* I am not the only woman,” a harbinger of the months to come.

Cuomo flatly rejected the accusations, saying they were “simply not true.”

On Jan. 28, James releases a report revealing Cuomo’s administration undercounted nursing home deaths by half.

Boylan declines to talk to the press about her allegations, and on Feb. 24 publishes an essay online detailing his alleged misconduct, including kissing her on the lips in his office, making inappropriate remarks about her appearance, and suggesting they play strip poker on a government jet.

Team Cuomo again denies the accusations, but a cadre of state lawmakers demand James investigate the claims.

Snowballing allegations

Just three days after Boylan’s revelations, a second former aide Charlotte Bennett, 25, said Cuomo, 63-years-old at the time, asked her about her sex life, relationships, and whether she had ever slept with older men. In response to public pressure, Cuomo tasks AG James with investigating the allegations claiming he never intended to offend anyone or cause any harm.”

Over the next months, several more former staff members accuse the governor of inappropriate behavior, including executive assistant Brittany Commisso who said he groped her at the Governor’s Mansion in late 2020.

The State Assembly’s Judiciary Committee launched a separate impeachment inquiry into Cuomo, including a probe of the sexual harassment allegations, nursing home deaths, and his pandemic memoir “American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic.”

Cuomo, who was omnipresent during the early pandemic days with his Emmy-winning COVID briefings, retreated from public view amid the growing controversies, all while relaxing pandemic restrictions on indoor activities and expanding vaccine eligibility.

In May the governor’s tax returns reveal what he long tried to keep from the public: That he stood to net more than $5 million from his book.

After a marathon interview with James’s investigators on July 17, Cuomo starts accusing her office’s probe — which he ordered — of being politically motivated due to her rumored run for governor and one of the lawyers, Joon Kim, previously having been involved as a federal investigator looking into Cuomo and his allies.

Cuomo during his 11-hour questioning session with investigators at his Manhattan office on July 17.Screenshot/Attorney General Letitia James’s Office

The big reveal

On Aug. 3, the other shoe finally drops when James releases her blockbuster five-month investigation detailing accusations by 11 women, including nine current or former state employees.

“What this investigation revealed was a disturbing pattern of conduct by the governor of the great State of New York and those who basically did not put in place any protocols or procedures to protect these young women who believed in public service,” James said. “I believe women, and I believe these 11 women.”

New York State Attorney General, Letitia James, speaks at a news conference regarding a probe that found New York Governor Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed multiple women, in New York City, New York, U.S., August 3, 2021. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz

Cuomo again rejected the allegations in a 14-minute pre-taped video statement saying: “I never touched anyone inappropriately or made inappropriate sexual advances.”

But calls for his removal spread throughout the Democratic Party all the way to President Joe Biden, who says he should step down.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo denies sexual harassment allegations in a pre-taped message that aired on Wednesday, Aug. 3.Screenshot

The first big Cuomo ally to go is his secretary Melissa DeRosa, who was accused of being deeply involved in suppressing allegations in the James report.

Two days later, Cuomo announces his resignation, setting his last day for Aug. 23. He resigns that day, and on midnight, Aug. 24, Kathy Hochul is sworn in as the 57th Governor and the first woman to lead the state.

New day in New York

Hochul ushers in a new day for the state during her first appearance as governor, promising to roll out COVID relief stalled by Cuomo, combatting the new surge of COVID, and changing the culture in Albany.

“I want people to believe in their government again, it’s important to me that people have faith,” she told reporters.

New York Chief Judge Janet DiFiore, left, swears in Kathy Hochul, right, as the first woman to be New York’s governor while her husband Bill Hochul holds a bible during a swearing-in ceremony in the Red Room at the state Capitol, in Albany, New York, U.S., early August 24, 2021.Hans Pennink/Pool via REUTERS

Hochul packs her team with fresh faces, including Harlem state Sen. Brian Benjamin as her Lieutenant Governor, Kathryn Garcia as her Director of State Operations, and Mary Bassett as her Health Commissioner.

Close allies of Cuomo drop out of the orbit, including Howard Zucker, who led Cuomo’s pandemic response as health commissioner, and MTA board member and former vaccine czar Larry Schwartz, who is set to leave his position at the transit agency in the new year.

Further fallout, political ambitions

The Albany County Sheriff’s Office files sex crimes charges against Cuomo on Oct. 28 for allegedly groping Commisso and the next day James announces her run for governor.

In November, the state’s ethics body, the Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE), pulls its own 2020 approval of Cuomo’s book, saying he violated terms by using state resources. The next month, they order him to pay back the proceeds to the people of the state, via James’s office.

Just days later the Assembly drops its impeachment report, which includes allegations by 12 women and details how work on the book was “not voluntary.”

The legislature’s review also found that the book’s publisher Penguin Random House reached out about a potential book deal as early as March 19, 2020, 18 days after New York’s confirmed coronavirus case and three days before the state shut down.

Public Advocate Jumaane Williams announces his run for governor that month, along with Long Island Congressman Tom Suozzi.

Chris Cuomo is suspended from CNN on Nov. 30 after newly-released documents showed he was deeply involved in helping his brother combat the pile-on of scandals. On Dec. 4, CNN fires the high-profile anchor just days after lawyer Debra Katz — who also represents Charlotte Bennett — informed the network of a client alleging sexual misconduct.

CNN anchor Chris Cuomo.REUTERS/Mike Segar

State University of New York Chancellor James Malatras also takes off after newly revealed documents from the James investigation reveal he went after Boylan during workplace arguments predating her allegations.

James drops out of the governor’s race after failing to get financial support from big donors during her early months, while Mayor Bill de Blasio all but declares a run for the top job.

After James’s exit, Hochul enjoyed a comfortable lead compared to all her competitors for the Democratic nomination next year, according to early polling.