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Harlem Leaders Rally Around Cuomo At Press Conference Excluding The Press
By
Gwynne Hogan
and
Brigid Bergin
Published Mar 17, 2021
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Seth Wenig/AP/Shutterstock
By
Gwynne Hogan
and
Brigid Bergin
Published Mar 17, 2021
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A group of Black clergy, community leaders and elected officials offered the fiercest show of support yet for embattled Governor Andrew Cuomo at a press conference in Harlem on Wednesday, speaking in personal and often jovial terms about their long-standing relationship with the governor and their steadfast commitment to him as someone who has historically gone to bat for their community.
At a pop-up vaccine site located at the Neboh Baptist Church, Dr. Hazel Dukes, head of the NAACP in New York, called Cuomo her son, and he referred to her as his second mother. Marc Morial, head of the Urban League, called Cuomo “a friend” as he presented a rendering of a new national headquarters for the organization that will be built in Harlem.
The strongest statement came from the former dean of the Congressional delegation Charles Rangel, the only person to directly address the sexual misconduct allegations currently facing the governor.
“Why would the governor be picking a time like this to come to Harlem?” said Rangel, adding, “You go to your friends because you know that they are going to be with you... when people start piling up on you." He was met with cheers from the crowd, as he cited “allegations” and the need for “due process.”
Rangel went on to paint the situation that faces the governor as one that could face any of them. “I don’t care whether you’re a clergy, a politician, a business person.”
READ MORE: A Timeline of Cuomo's Colliding Scandals
Cuomo later got a dose of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine.
Though dozens of attendees were allowed into the event, reporters were excluded, due “Due to COVID restrictions,” according to the governor’s press office. Since February 24th, when the first woman alleged sexual harassment, reporters have been excluded from all of Cuomo’s public appearances, allowing him to entirely avoid journalists' impromptu questions.
At a press call later in the day, Cuomo said he would no longer be answering questions about allegations of sexual harassment against him, citing the assembly’s investigations.
“I’m gonna respect the review and I won’t comment on it or related matters,” he said. “Let the lawyers do their job and let them conduct the review and then we can talk about it when we have facts established.”
The fervent defense of Cuomo came five days after most of New York’s congressional delegation demanded Cuomo’s resignation, including both U.S. Senators for New York, Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand. On Tuesday night, in an interview with ABC News Anchor George Stephanopolus, Biden reiterated his earlier statements that if investigations confirm the allegations of sexual harassment, Cuomo should resign, suggesting he could also face criminal repercussions.
“I think he’d probably end up being prosecuted, too,” Biden said. “It takes a lot of courage for a woman to come forward, so the presumption is it should be taken seriously.”
Despite the calls for Cuomo to step down, recent polling from Siena College suggest most New Yorkers think Cuomo should stay in office.
Earlier on Wednesday morning, New York Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie announced they had selected the law firm Davis Polk to undertake the assembly’s probe into wrong-doing by Cuomo; which could encompass allegations of sexual harassment, his administration's deliberate efforts to obscure the COVID-19 death toll of nursing home residents, and reports of a coverup of structural issues on the Mario M. Cuomo bridge.
The firm’s long-time partner Dennis Glazer, who was appointed by Cuomo to sit on the board of SUNY Purchase, is married to State Chief Judge Janet DiFiore, a Cuomo appointee, who Cuomo had first tried to tap to investigate his misconduct.
The assembly’s investigation is at least the third probe into Cuomo’s various alleged and confirmed misdeeds. Federal authorities are reportedly looking into his administration’s handling of the nursing home deaths, while attorney General Letitia James’s office has started interviewing former Cuomo staffers in their probe of sexual harassment allegations.
READ MORE: A Timeline of Cuomo's Colliding Scandals
Assembly leaders pushed for an investigation, rather than moving to vote immediately on impeachment, in what more left-leaning members of the body saw as a stall tactic “buying the governor time,” as Assemblymember Ron Kim told Gothamist/WNYC.
The decision on Thursday followed a four-hour long, tense and heated debate among Assembly democrats. Yahoo News published tidbits of that conversation through a leaked recording, in which several two Black Assemblymembers, Rodneyse Bichotte and Al Taylor, compared Cuomo to the Central Park Five, the wrongfully convicted teens who spent years in prison before they were exonerated, and Emmett Till who was murdered by a white lynch mob.
“Without due process they killed Emmett Till. They were allegations and they hung him,” Taylor said. “The exonerated five spent 15 years in jail without the proper due process.”
Other Democrats argued an impeachment trial offered due process, in which evidence would be presented and factual determinations would be made before a final decision was made.
More than six women have alleged a range of inappropriate sexual behavior by Cuomo, from outright sexual harassment, unwanted kissing or groping, to being kissed on the hand and cheek in the offices and told to wear heels by his staff.
The New York Times reported Tuesday that Cuomo and top staffers circulated a letter last December among current and former staffers seeking signatures, after former aide Lindsey Bolyan started tweeting about sexual harassment in Cuomo’s office. The letter attempted to discredit Boylan by claiming she was “supported by lawyers and financial backers of Donald Trump: an active opponent of the governor.” At that point, top aides already new about allegations of sexual harassment from a second aide, Charlotte Bennett. Cuomo's office is also accused of leaking Boylan’s personnel records to reporters.
Tagged
Governor Andrew Cuomo
Cuomo in Crisis
andrew cuomo
Gwynne Hogan
Gwynne Hogan is a former Gothamist reporter.
Read more
Brigid Bergin
Brigid Bergin is an award-winning senior reporter on the People and Power desk. She is fiercely committed to telling stories that help people engage and support democracy. In 2022, she hosted a live, ten-week call-in politics show ahead of the midterm elections called The People's Guide to Power. Brigid's reporting in 2017 included some of the first coverage of a political newcomer now known as AOC. In 2016, she broke the news of a voter purge in Brooklyn just days before New York’s presidential primary, triggering city, state and federal investigations. Brigid also guest hosts The Brian Lehrer Show and All Of It. She graduated from the University at Albany and the CUNY Newmark School of Journalism. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal 917-723-4719.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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