Andrew Cuomo’s decade-long grip on power ends as Kathy Hochul takes over

AP

Andrew Cuomo neared the end of his decade as New York’s governor on Monday.

Mr Cuomo was set to end his term at 11.59pm, just under two weeks after he announced he would resign rather than face a likely impeachment battle over sexual harassment allegations.

Ms Hochul was scheduled to be sworn in as New York’s first female governor just after midnight in a brief, private ceremony overseen by the state’s chief judge, Janet DiFiore.

The switch in leadership was happening in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Henri, which narrowly missed Long Island on Sunday.

Mr Cuomo warned New Yorkers to take the storm seriously with the same mix of scolding and reassurance that once made his daily Covid-19 briefings popular.

As the potential for danger diminished, he said there would be no change in his plans, announcing on Sunday, “my final day is tomorrow.”

Ms Hochul, also a Democrat, will inherit immense challenges as she takes over an administration facing criticism for inaction in Mr Cuomo‘s distracted final months in office.

Covid has refused to abate, schools are set to reopen in the coming weeks with big decisions to be made surrounding masks and vaccinations, and the state’s economic recovery from the pandemic is still incomplete.

Mr Cuomo‘s resignation comes after an independent investigation concluded there was credible evidence he’d sexually harassed at least 11 women, including an aide who said he groped her breast and has since filed a complaint with the sheriff’s office.

Investigators also said Mr Cuomo‘s senior staff retaliated against at least one of those women and worked to undermine the credibility of others.

However, Mr Cuomo insists he did not touch anyone inappropriately and called the allegations “unfair” and “untruthful.”

He also said he would not force the state to endure an impeachment trial he could not win.

Separately, Mr Cuomo was facing a legislative investigation into whether he misled the public about Covid deaths in nursing homes to protect his reputation as a pandemic leader and improperly got help from state employees in writing a pandemic book that may net him $5 million.

He has offered few hints about his plans or where he will live after leaving the Executive Mansion.

He told New York magazine in a recent interview that he’s “not disappearing.”

In his resignation speech on August 10, he spoke with pride about his record of legalising same-sex marriage, expanding paid family leave and boosting the statewide minimum wage to $15.

Ms Hochul will need to quickly build her own team of advisers who can help steer the administration for at least the next 16 months.

Ms Hochul, who said she did not work closely with Mr Cuomo and was not aware of the harassment allegations before they became public, has vowed no one will ever call her workplace “toxic.”

“I have a different approach to governing,” she said on Wednesday, adding, “I get the job done because I don’t have time for distractions, particularly coming into this position.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in