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      Andrew Cuomo sexual harassment: the key testimony from the report

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      Andrew CuomoAndrew Cuomo sexual harassment: the key testimony from the reportEleven women have accused the New York governor of harassment – and investigators say their accounts have been corroborated Lauren ArataniTue 3 Aug 2021 16.18 EDTLast modified on Tue 3 Aug 2021 16.19 EDTMonths after New York governor Andrew Cuomo denied multiple allegations of sexual harassment, the New York attorney general’s office released a 165-page report on Tuesday that corroborates the allegations that made public over the last year.‘This is not who I am’: Cuomo issues denial after investigation finds he sexually harassed women – liveRead moreThe report details the allegations from 11 women. The investigators interviewed 179 witnesses, 41 of whom testified under oath, and obtained “thousands” of documents as evidence.Nine of the 11 women are current or former employees of the state government. Many share similar stories of fielding inappropriate questions from the governor and being subject to unwanted touching in his presence.While the report included testimony from women who had brief, unsettling encounters with the governor, investigators also talked to women who endured years of unwanted behavior while working under the governor.Below are their key accounts, which investigators say have been corroborated by interviews with witnesses and documents.Lindsey BoylanBoylan, a former executive at the Empire State Development Corporation (ESD) and deputy secretary for economic development, was the first woman to come out with allegations against Cuomo in December.The report said investigators were able to corroborate Boylan’s public allegations that she experienced multiple incidents of inappropriate touching and comments while working with Cuomo. Boylan joined the ESD in 2015 and climbed the ranks of the agency until she resigned in 2018.According to the report, Cuomo frequently commented on Boylan’s appearances and casually touched her waist, legs and back. Cuomo told Boylan she looked like a former girlfriend and sometimes called her by that girlfriend’s name.Boylan described an incident where, after a one-on-one meeting with the governor, she walked by him to leave and he stepped toward her and kissed her on the lips. The incidents were “deeply humiliating”, Boylan told investigators.“I think a lot of people are like: of course this happened to young women who have no power. Well, I was really senior, and I had worked my whole life to get to a point where I would be taken seriously, and I wasn’t being taken seriously,” she said. “I worked so hard to be a doll for the governor of New York.”The report also described retaliation against Boylan from the governor’s office, including leaking to the press confidential internal documents that negatively portrayed Boylan as a bad employee. The governor and his office also circulated among employees an op-ed that was ultimately not published that disparaged Boylan.Charlotte BennettBennett, who worked for Cuomo as an executive assistant until last fall, was the second woman who went public with allegations against the governor in February. Like Boylan’s allegations, investigators said in the report that they were able to corroborate the accusations Bennett had made public in the spring.Bennett described multiple inappropriate comments Cuomo made to her while she was employed by his office. Initially, she described seeing Cuomo as a father figure but later saw their interactions as inappropriate as he started asking her personal questions and making uncomfortable comments.She described a series of conversations that took place over two days in January last year. Cuomo complained to Bennett about how long it had been since he hugged anyone. Bennett said that she told Cuomo that he could hug his daughters, but he said “not like that – like a real hug”. He then said he was lonely and wanted a girlfriend.The governor also asked Bennett if she had ever been with older men and whether she thought age was significant in relationships. The governor told Bennett – who was 25 at the time – that he would have a relationship with someone who was “22 and up”.Bennett described feeling “really uncomfortable” but also described trying not to upset the governor.Executive assistant no 1A current aide to the governor, whose name has not been publicly released and who is referred to as “executive assistant no 1” in the report, told investigators of multiple incidents when Cuomo inappropriately touched her, along with comments and jokes he made about her personal life and relationships.She described several incidents when the governor touched her, including close hugs where Cuomo would run his hands up and down her back. After the governor asked to take a selfie with her in December 2019, she felt Cuomo grab her butt and rub it. In November, after a hug, the governor slid his hand up her blouse and groped her breast.The assistant said that the touching made her stressed and nervous to be around the governor, causing her physical reactions like hives on her neck. She told investigators that she believes the governor knew that she was nervous and was emboldened by it.The assistant said that she originally planned to take the groping incident “to the grave” but became emotional after Cuomo said at a press conference in March that he had never “touched anyone inappropriately”.Trooper no 1The report included two incidents that had not previously been reported. One involved an anonymous employee at the state’s health department who said Cuomo made sexually suggestive comments while she was performing a live Covid-19 nasal test on the governor.The second involves another anonymous employee, referred to as “trooper no 1” in the report, who, after first meeting Cuomo, was hired to join the state’s Protective Services Unit.The trooper, who has been with the PSU since 2018, described multiple incidents when Cuomo touched her or made inappropriate comments.Biden to comment on Cuomo as White House calls report findings ‘abhorrent’Read moreDuring the summer of 2019, Cuomo approached the trooper and kissed her on the cheek, she said.Cuomo also discussed age differences in relationship with the trooper. He asked the trooper, who was in her late 20s, how old she was, and responded: “You’re too old for me.”KaitlinThe governor met Kaitlin, whose last name has not been made public, at a fundraiser event that was hosted by the lobbying firm she was working for at the time, the report says. At the event, she introduced herself to the governor, who ended up pulling her into a “dance pose” for a photograph and told her that he was going to have her work for the state.Nine days later, Kaitlin received a voice message from the governor’s office inviting her to apply to a job, at the governor’s request. She told investigators she did not share her information with the governor’s office at the fundraising event nor did she express interest in a job to him or his staff at the event. She said the opportunity was presented to her because of her appearance.Kaitlin took the job at the governor’s office, where Cuomo would frequently make comments about her appearance and the appearance of other women. He would comment on her makeup or clothing.In one incident, Cuomo called Kaitlin into his office and asked her to look for car parts for him on eBay. She described feeling uncomfortable bending down to use his computer as she was in a dress and heels and Cuomo was directly behind her.TopicsAndrew CuomoUS politicsnewsReuse this content More

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      Cuomo and the ‘macho’ problem in New York: Politics Weekly Extra

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      As the governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, tries to cling on to power, Jonathan Freedland and Alexis Grenell discuss why the state with one of the most liberal cities in the world has failed to match its politics with modern society

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      This time last year, Governor Andrew Cuomo was the man of the hour in New York, showing stability on a state level not seen by the man in the Oval Office. He even wrote a book about how well he handled the pandemic. Fast forward 12 months, and Cuomo is hanging on for dear life to a political career now marred by accusations of sexual harassment and undercounting of nursing home deaths from Covid-19. So how did this brutish figure come to power, and what does it say about the state of New York politics? Jonathan Freedland and Alexis Grennell discuss it all. Send us your questions and feedback to podcasts@theguardian.com Help support the Guardian by going to gu.com/supportpodcasts More

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      New details revealed of Cuomo’s ‘VIP’ Covid list for members of his inner circle

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      New York’s beleaguered governor, Andrew Cuomo, faces further allegations that his administration provided preferential treatment to members of his inner circle after seven people with knowledge of coronavirus testing practices in the state came forward with new details of a so-called “VIP” testing program.

      The individuals, who spoke anonymously to the Washington Post, described several instances of preferential treatment offered to family and friends of the governor, including his brother, the TV presenter Chris Cuomo, and his brother-in-law, the fashion designer Kenneth Cole.
      Cuomo has come under sustained pressure to resign following several allegations of sexual misconduct. The governor has vowed to remain in his position as the state attorney general investigates.
      Cuomo is also under pressure over his handling of Covid figures in nursing homes.
      The allegations include that during the early days of the pandemic when testing was scarce in New York, health officials fast-tracked testing for those labelled “inner circles”, “specials” or “criticals” and kept a separate testing priority database for about 100 individuals at one of New York’s first Covid-19 response hubs.
      According to two sources who spoke to the Post, a senior state physician also tasked with coordinating testing at nursing homes was dispatched to Chris Cuomo’s house in the Hamptons on a number of occasions to conduct testing during visits that took hours.
      One nurse alleged that fast-track testing offered to Cole was then driven by state troopers to a testing facility in the state capital, Albany, in order to get results as quickly as possible.
      One of the nurses recalled staff being instructed to prepare for members of Cuomo’s inner circle arriving for testing at one state testing site.
      “I remember them being like, ‘They’re coming, they’re coming,’” the nurse told the Post, describing how staff announced when members of the Cuomo family arrived. “And they would say, ‘Have the state trooper ready … have it ready to go to Wadsworth.’ There was a lot of anxiety over those samples getting to the right place.”
      The nurse added: “They were treated like royalty. I didn’t understand why they were able to jump the line.”
      A spokesman for Cuomo refuted the allegations.
      “There was no ‘VIP’ program as the Washington Post describes – when priority was given, it was to nurses, guardsmen, state workers and other government officials central to the pandemic response and those they were in direct contact with, as well as individuals believed to have been exposed to Covid who had the capability to spread it further and impact vital operations.”
      A spokesperson for Cole did not respond to the allegations. A CNN spokesperson said it would not comment on employee’s medical care.
      The latest set of allegations follow reporting by the Albany Times-Union and the Post that first uncovered the alleged scheme. More

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      Sherry Vill is latest to accuse Andrew Cuomo of sexual misconduct

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      Sherry Vill remembers feeling embarrassed and stuck as the New York governor Andrew Cuomo “manhandled” her and came on to her in her own home, in front of her husband and son.“He towered over me,” she said during a press conference on Monday. “There was nothing I could do.”Vill, 55, met Cuomo in May 2017, when he visited her suburban house near Rochester, New York, while surveying flooding damage in the area. Hers is the latest in a series of allegations detailing a pattern of sexual misconduct by the now infamous chief of state.Vill recalled Cuomo holding her hand, forcibly grabbing her face, aggressively kissing her cheeks and calling her beautiful. The unwanted advances made her uncomfortable, especially around her family and neighbors.She later received a letter and pictures from the governor, addressed only to her, and a personal invitation to attend one of his local events.“The whole thing was so strange and inappropriate, and still makes me nervous and afraid because of his power and position,” Vill said.Cuomo’s office did not immediately return a request for comment, but his administration has so far generally denied any inappropriate touching by the governor despite a swathe of accusations from multiple women about his behavior.Letitia James, New York attorney general, has now tapped a former acting US attorney and an employment discrimination lawyer to probe the sexual harassment allegations, while many of the state’s high-profile Democrats have already said that Cuomo should resign.“Due to the multiple, credible sexual harassment and misconduct allegations, it is clear that Governor Cuomo has lost the confidence of his governing partners and the people of New York,” said Chuck Schumer, Senate majority leader, and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand in a joint statement earlier this month.Cuomo is also facing widespread criticism for how he handled the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, despite once being heralded as a hero and Democratic darling.His administration is currently being investigated for how it reported nursing home deaths from Covid-19 and is under fire for prioritizing Cuomo’s family members for then hard-to-access coronavirus tests.Another woman, Anna Ruch, previously described a similar experience to Vill’s in 2019, when she said Cuomo put his hand on her bare lower back, touched her face and asked to kiss her.Multiple current and former aides have now outlined inappropriate interactions with the governor, even as he publicly admonished the “pervasive poison of workplace sexual harassment” and ardently defended workplace protections amid the #MeToo movement.Lindsey Boylan, a former economic development official, published an essay in February about how she felt Cuomo “would go out of his way to touch me on my lower back, arms and legs”. She recalled a number of his vulgar comments – including a suggestion that they play strip poker – and described her shock when, during a visit to his office, he kissed her on the lips.“Governor Andrew Cuomo has created a culture within his administration where sexual harassment and bullying is so pervasive that it is not only condoned but expected,” Boylan wrote. “His inappropriate behavior toward women was an affirmation that he liked you, that you must be doing something right.”Charlotte Bennett, a former executive assistant and health policy advisor in her 20s, told the New York Times that she felt Cuomo – who asked her invasive and pointed questions about her sex life, including whether she had ever slept with older men – was grooming her for a sexual relationship.“I understood that the governor wanted to sleep with me, and felt horribly uncomfortable and scared,” Bennett said. “And was wondering how I was going to get out of it and assumed it was the end of my job.”Alyssa McGrath, who works for the governor’s office, says Cuomo mixes “flirtatious banter with more personal comments”, and recounted one time when she caught him peeping down her shirt, the New York Times reported.Another current aide, who has remained anonymous, accused Cuomo of fondling her under her blouse at his executive mansion – conduct that could result in a misdemeanor sexual assault charge, according to the Albany Times Union. More

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      What is it about New York governors? Cuomo is latest in streak of scandals

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      “The governor’s health is fine, but he is going to resign within the hour.”Those are the words that Hillary Clinton, then a senator from New York, heard over the phone in a 2008 call announcing the imminent downfall of the sitting governor, Eliot Spitzer, in a prostitution and alleged money laundering scandal.“Well, what is the reason causing him to resign?” Clinton asked, according to David Paterson, who would then succeed Spitzer as governor and who was in charge of breaking the news.“I started to speak and then held my breath,” Paterson recounts in his memoir, “because I thought, ‘How do you explain a sex scandal to Hillary Clinton?’”The implosion of current New York governor Andrew Cuomo’s career in a double scandal involving sexual harassment allegations and the misreporting of Covid deaths inside nursing homes marked a sudden turn for Cuomo, a popular politician who just months earlier had won national admiration and international praise for his handling of the pandemic.But in a slightly longer view, the spectacle of a New York governor’s career spontaneously combusting in a sordid haze of sex allegations and possible criminality might appear more routine than shocking.Counting the demise of Paterson himself, who exited the governor’s mansion under allegations of witness tampering in a staffer’s domestic abuse case and the improper solicitation of gifts, Cuomo is the third consecutive New York governor to land with extreme flair on the front pages of the New York City tabloids – and possibly to be ejected from office.Paterson denied wrongdoing in the aide’s case and was not charged, but he was fined for lying under oath about accepting free World Series tickets. Spitzer was never criminally charged. Cuomo has denied wrongdoing and vowed not to resign, as most every prominent local politician has called on him to do.While the consecutive scandals involve a range of alleged offenses of varying degrees of seriousness, the overall streak is impressive, said Doug Muzzio, a professor of political science at City University of New York’s Baruch College.“First of all, the current scandal is not the first, not the second, not the third – but many scandals in a row,” Muzzio said. “It’s not only the governors, it is the legislators. If there were a contest between – a stakes for who was the most legislatively and executively corrupt, I don’t know, New York would be right up there.”Other states have registered stiff competition. In 2018 the governor of Missouri, Republican Eric Greitens, resigned under serious sexual assault charges that he denied; Greitens is now said to be preparing a US Senate run. The sitting governor of Virginia, Democrat Ralph Northam, admitted to wearing blackface in the 1980s but resisted pressure to resign; one of his recent predecessors, Republican Bob McDonnell, was convicted in 2014 on federal corruption charges and sentenced to prison, only to have the conviction vacated by the US supreme court.“Scandal and corruption in governor’s positions is far from unheard of,” said Robert Spitzer, a political science professor at the State University of New York at Cortland who is not related to the former governor. “I would just mention the state of Illinois, which had four successive governors serve jail time. That’s quite a record.”Just a month ago, it did not appear as if Cuomo were likely to keep New York in the running in the corruption sweepstakes. He had published a memoir about leadership during the pandemic, his daily televised updates on the crisis had won an Emmy and his popularity had run unusually high for all three of his terms.But after an aide was caught on tape admitting the manipulation of Covid death numbers, the state attorney general announced an investigation, and soon afterwards multiple women stepped forward to accuse Cuomo of sexual misconduct.Most of the allegations against Cuomo and his predecessors involve essentially individual acts, said Muzzio, but “there must be an institutional element to it”.“Leadership in New York is never calm,” he said. “There are too many vocal competing interests, there are too many vocal competing interests with money, and it’s a perpetual brawl with periods of calm.“But there’s always some form of conflict.”The Spitzer scandal started quietly, with a bank connected with Spitzer flagging large transfers as suspicious activity that could violate federal money laundering restrictions. Investigators would later allege that Spitzer spent tens of thousands of dollars on prostitutes, ultimately as “Client 9” with a service called the Emperor’s Club VIP with rates of $1,000 an hour.As a former state attorney general and top prosecutor, Spitzer’s alleged criminality left him open to charges of rank hypocrisy and fatally damaged his ability to lead. But the sum of the allegations facing Cuomo could constitute an even deeper violation of the public trust, analysts said.“I think taken together it does seem as though they are more serious,” Spitzer, the political scientist, said of Cuomo’s alleged misconduct. “Because you’ve got two different concerns, each of which could be the basis for calls for resignation. So put them together and I think the degree of seriousness is greater.“He’s facing quite the whirlwind as a result.”Multiple state investigations into Cuomo’s conduct are expected to be revealed this spring, at which point the governor’s political fate could be sealed.While sexual misconduct charges against governors in the past have animated a lot of popular interest, said Muzzio, Cuomo’s conduct in the nursing home deaths case could pose the greater threat to his public standing over the long term.“The nursing home situation is really serious, and that’s where the attorney general first exposed him,” said Muzzio. “And that’s a big danger for him now.” More

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      Biden tells migrants 'don't come over' US border as he tackles inherited 'mess'

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      Joe Biden told immigrants making the difficult journey to the US-Mexico border “don’t come over” as the administration attempts to respond to an increase of unaccompanied children seeking asylum.In a wide-ranging interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos, aired in full on Wednesday morning, the US president also discussed vaccines, Vladimir Putin and the New York governor, Andrew Cuomo.Biden said his plan for the immediate issue of children needing safety at the border was to increase the number of beds available and speed up the process of placing children with sponsors in the US while their legal cases play out.“We will have, I believe by next month, enough of those beds to take care of these children who have no place to go,” Biden said.In the interview Biden was also critical of the existing process for migrants. “You have to try and get control of the mess that was inherited,” Biden said.Longer-term, Biden said his plan for the border included creating programs to address the factors driving people from their home countries – including violence, poverty, corruption and the climate crisis – and to allow children to apply for asylum from those countries, instead of at the border. “They come because their circumstance is so bad,” Biden said.But he emphasized that the US was still blocking most asylum-seeking adults and many families from pursuing their claims at the border. “I can say quite clearly: don’t come over,” Biden said.Stephanopoulos also pressed Biden on his vaccine plan, asking when things would return to normal. Biden said his previously stated goal of getting things close to normal by the Fourth of July holiday wouldn’t happen unless people wear masks, socially distance and wash their hands.Biden also said he was surprised that the conversation about vaccines had been politicized.“I honest to God thought we had it out,” Biden said. “I honest to God thought that, once we guaranteed we had enough vaccine for everybody, things would start to calm down. Well, they have calmed down a great deal. But I don’t quite understand – you know – I just don’t understand this sort of macho thing about, ‘I’m not gonna get the vaccine. I have a right as an American, my freedom to not do it.’ Well, why don’t you be a patriot? Protect other people.”Biden said that since being vaccinated, he has been able to hug his grandchildren and see them in his home.The pair also discussed Biden’s foreign policy plans and the president said he was currently reviewing the deal made by Donald Trump with the Taliban to have the US pull its troops from Afghanistan by 1 May.“I’m in the process of making that decision now as to when they’ll leave,” Biden said. “The fact is that, that was not a very solidly negotiated deal that the president – the former president – worked out. And so we’re in consultation with our allies as well as the government, and that decision’s going to be – it’s in process now.”Biden said it would be “tough” for all service members to leave by the May deadline.“It could happen,” he said, “but it is tough.”Stephanopoulos asked Biden if the Russian president would “pay” after the US chief intelligence office found that Putin had overseen efforts aimed at “denigrating” Biden’s candidacy in the 2020 presidential election.“He will pay a price,” Biden said, noting that the two leaders had spoken in January about Putin’s election meddling.“The conversation started off, I said, ‘I know you and you know me. If I establish this occurred, then be prepared.’”Stephanopoulos asked: “So you know Vladimir Putin. You think he’s a killer?”“Mmm hmm, I do,” Biden replied.Biden was also asked about US leaders, including the allegations that Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed several women. The state attorney general is investigating the claims and several prominent New York politicians have called for the Democratic governor to step down.Stephanopoulos asked Biden: “If the investigation confirms the claims of the women, should he resign?”“Yes,” Biden replied. “I think he’ll probably end up being prosecuted, too.”The interview concluded with Stephanopoulos asking Biden about his dog, Major, who the White House recently announced had caused “a minor injury” to someone on the property. After, Major was brought to the Biden home in Delaware, where he is now being trained.Biden said Major did not bite someone and break their skin and only went to the Delaware home because he and his wife, Jill Biden, were going to be away for a few days. The new environment of the White House startled Major, Biden said.“You turn a corner, and there’s two people you don’t know at all,” Biden said. “And he moves to protect. But he’s a sweet dog. Eighty-five per cent of the people there love him. He just – all he does is lick them and wag his tail.” More

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      Biden: Cuomo should resign if sexual harassment inquiry confirms claims

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      Joe Biden has said that Andrew Cuomo should resign if the state attorney general’s investigation confirms the sexual harassment allegations against him.The president made the remarks in an interview with ABC News that is scheduled to air on Wednesday morning. When asked by the anchor George Stephanopoulos if the investigation confirms the claims of the women, should Cuomo resign, Biden said “yes”, adding, “I think he’d probably end up being prosecuted, too.”“It takes a lot of courage to come forward so the presumption is it should be taken seriously,” Biden said. “And it should be investigated, and that’s what’s under way now.”The New York governor is facing allegations that he sexually harassed or behaved inappropriately toward multiple women, including several former staffers. The former staffers have accused Cuomo of workplace harassment, including demeaning them with pet nicknames or making objectifying remarks about their appearance, subjecting them to unwanted kisses and touches or asking them about their sex lives.Cuomo also faces an allegation that he groped a female staff member under her shirt after summoning her to the governor’s mansion in Albany late last year. He has denied touching any women inappropriately.The three-term governor has rejected calls for his resignation from fellow Democrats, including New York’s two US senators, Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, and has asked New Yorkers to await the results of an investigation headed by the state’s attorney general, Letitia James.James last week named a former federal prosecutor, Joon Kim, and the employment discrimination attorney Anne Clark to lead the Cuomo investigation. They have full subpoena power and will document their findings in a public report.The sexual harassment investigation is in addition to scrutiny that Cuomo is facing from federal prosecutors who are looking into how his administration handled data on Covid-19 outbreaks at nursing homes. More

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      Cuomo made suggestive remarks about size of his hands, accuser says

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      As New York governor Andrew Cuomo tried to focus on work on Monday, one of his sexual harassment accusers met for more than four hours with investigators working for the state attorney general.Charlotte Bennett revealed new details about Cuomo’s behavior and what she said was a “sexually hostile work environment”, according to her lawyer, including a claim the governor frequently made suggestive remarks about the size of his hands.“One piece of new information that came to light today was the governor’s preoccupation with his hand size and what the large size of his hands indicated to Charlotte and other members of his staff,” her lawyer, Debra Katz, said in a statement.Bennett also provided 120 pages of records to corroborate her accusations, Katz said.Bennett, 25, is one of a number of women who have accused Cuomo of harassment. Some have said he demeaned them with nicknames or objectifying remarks, subjected them to unwanted kisses and touches or asked about their sex lives. A few, including Bennett, said they believed the governor was gauging their interest in a sexual relationship.Cuomo also faces an allegation that he groped a female staff member after summoning her to the governor’s mansion in Albany late last year.The claims have led to a chorus of Democrats demanding Cuomo’s resignation, including both New York’s US senators. Overshadowed by scandal, Cuomo has tried to press on. On Monday he appeared at a vaccination site on Long Island and talked about the importance of getting a new state budget done by 1 April.That process normally involves intense negotiations and deal-making between Cuomo and leaders in the state legislature – people who have demanded he step down. More than 130 state lawmakers have said Cuomo should go, including Senate majority leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins. The state assembly has opened an impeachment investigation.“The majority of the legislature has called for his impeachment or resignation,” said Baruch College political science professor Doug Muzzio. “How can you work with a legislature that is composed of his antagonists? It doesn’t work.”Assembly speaker Carl Heastie said he would try.“I’m going to proceed as if it’s a normal negotiation,” he said.The state attorney general, Letitia James, last week named a former federal prosecutor, Joon Kim, and employment discrimination attorney Anne Clark to lead the Cuomo investigation. They have full subpoena power and will document their findings in a public report.Cuomo has said he will “fully cooperate”. His office did not comment on Monday when asked about Bennett’s interview with investigators.The attorney general’s investigation is on top of scrutiny from federal prosecutors over how Cuomo’s administration handled data on Covid-19 at nursing homes. Cuomo has insisted he won’t be distracted and won’t resign. At his event on Monday, from which reporters were barred, ostensibly because of Covid-19, the governor spoke generally of comebacks in the face of adversity.“Sometimes, God comes and he knocks you on your rear end for one reason or another, or life comes and knocks you on your rear end for one reason or another,” Cuomo said. “The question is what you do when you get knocked on your rear end. And New Yorkers get up, and they get up stronger, and they learn the lesson.” More