Cuomo Should Resign, NY Congressional Reps Say

NEW YORK, NY — Nearly a dozen of New York's representatives in Congress called on Gov. Andrew Cuomo to resign on Friday, escalating pressure that has mounted on the governor amid seven sexual harassment allegations against him.

Within minutes of each other Friday morning, Democratic U.S. Representatives Antonio Delgado, Mondaire Jones, Sean Patrick Maloney and Jamaal Bowman of the Hudson Valley, plus Jerry Nadler, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Carolyn Maloney, Yvette Clarke, Grace Meng, Nydia Velazquez, Adriano Espaillat, and Brian Higgins all demanded the governor's resignation in separate statements.

Jones, a freshman Democrat representing Rockland County and most of Westchester, tied his condemnation to more than the harassment allegations.

"His mismanagement of COVID-19 spread in nursing homes and subsequent attempt to cover it up cost lives and has decimated the public’s faith in our state government. New revelations about an alleged cover-up of potential structural defects in the Mario M. Cuomo Bridge, which thousands of New Yorkers cross every day, as well as his refusal to establish a mass vaccination site in Rockland County despite it having the highest rate of COVID-19 infection in New York State, raise additional questions about the Cuomo Administration’s commitment to keeping New Yorkers safe," Jones said in his statement. "Recently, the deeply disturbing allegations of at least six women, including several former employees, offer detailed descriptions of sexual misconduct that raise additional concerns about the Governor’s fitness to hold any position of public trust."

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The group joins Rep. Kathleen Rice, a Long Island congresswoman who was the first New York Democrat to call for Cuomo's resignation, as well as four Republicans. Others echoing the call include Mayor Bill de Blasio, a longtime Cuomo rival.

"The repeated accusations against the Governor, and the manner in which he has responded to them, have made it impossible for him to continue to govern at this point," said Nadler, a 15-term lawmaker from Manhattan who also chairs the House Judiciary Committee.

Amid the calls for his resignation, the State Assembly moved on Thursday to open an impeachment inquiry against Cuomo.

The most recent allegation emerged on Wednesday, when the Albany Times Union reported that an aide to Cuomo had accused him of groping her aggressively in the governor's residence last year. Cuomo denied the allegation, which is at least the seventh made against him in recent weeks.

The outpouring of accusations began in late February, when former aide Lindsey Boylan detailed her own claims of being subjected to an unwanted kiss and frequent harassment from the governor.

Cuomo's office did not immediately respond to the congressional members' demands on Friday.

By Nick Garber, Patch Staff. Patch Editor Lanning Taliaferro contributed to this report.