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      Scott Stringer Is Accused of Sexual Assault

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      Jean Kim said Mr. Stringer assaulted her when she worked on his campaign 20 years ago and warned her not to tell anyone. He denied the allegation.A woman who said she worked on a 2001 campaign for Scott M. Stringer, the New York City comptroller who is now running for mayor, has accused him of sexually assaulting her 20 years ago.The woman, Jean Kim, now a political lobbyist, said at a news conference on Wednesday that Mr. Stringer, without her consent, “repeatedly groped me, put his hands on my thighs and between my legs and demanded to know why I would not have sex with him.”She said that Mr. Stringer warned her not to tell anyone about his advances, some of which she said took place during taxi rides.Mr. Stringer strenuously denied the allegations, and said that he and Ms. Kim had a consensual relationship over the course of a few months.Roughly two hours after Ms. Kim’s news conference ended, Mr. Stringer convened his own. Standing with his wife outside their Lower Manhattan apartment building Wednesday afternoon, he repeatedly characterized Ms. Kim’s allegations as “false” and “inaccurate.”“Sexual harassment is unacceptable,” he told a gaggle of reporters. “I believe women have the right and should be encouraged to come forward. They must be heard. But this isn’t me. I didn’t do this. I am going to fight for the truth because these allegations are false.”After he spoke, his wife, Elyse Buxbaum, came to the microphone and attested to her husband’s character.Ms. Kim said Mr. Stringer, who was then a state assemblyman running for New York City public advocate, had offered to make her the first Asian Democratic Party district leader on the Upper West Side, with one proviso.“You would have to prove yourself to me,” she recalled Mr. Stringer saying.Ms. Kim said she did not come forward earlier because she was “fearful of his vindictive nature and that he would retaliate against me and destroy my career in politics.” Her lawyer said that Ms. Kim faced less of a risk now that she was transitioning away from political work.Ms. Kim’s account, which was reported by Gothamist, comes roughly eight weeks before the June 22 mayoral primary. In the limited early polling that is available, Mr. Stringer is often in third place, behind Andrew Yang, the 2020 presidential candidate, and just behind Eric Adams, the Brooklyn borough president.Mr. Stringer denied the allegations on Wednesday, appearing with his wife at a news conference in Manhattan.Gabriela Bhaskar for The New York TimesMr. Stringer’s campaign had recently started to gain more steam, as he won the endorsements of the United Federation of Teachers and the Working Families Party, as well as one of two endorsements from the New York chapter of Sunrise Movement, a group of young climate activists. “The Momentum Continues to Build” was a headline in a recent email his campaign sent to the news media.People who had spoken with Mr. Stringer’s team in recent days described a sense of having turned the corner after months of struggling to break through in a crowded primary field. But among allies and others in touch with his campaign, there was concern that the accusation would damage his chances.Indeed, by late Wednesday, he had lost the backing of State Senator Jessica Ramos, one of the earliest supporters of his mayoral campaign.“I am officially rescinding my endorsement of Scott Stringer for mayor,” she said. “This kind of behavior is unacceptable in any workplace, and those who have perpetrated such acts must be held accountable for their actions, not given bigger platforms.”In Ms. Kim’s remarks on Wednesday, she said that she met Mr. Stringer, who was not married at the time, in 2001, through an introduction by Eric Schneiderman, who was then a state senator. Mr. Schneiderman would go on to become New York State attorney general, before resigning amid allegations that he abused women.Mr. Schneiderman, who admitted to the misconduct, did not return requests for comment.Ms. Kim said that she was an unpaid intern for Mr. Stringer’s 2001 campaign for public advocate; Mr. Stringer later said that she was a campaign volunteer. At some point that year, she joined a West Side Democratic club in which he was involved.Mr. Stringer “inappropriately and relentlessly pursued a sexual relationship with me,” she said, adding in a statement that he “kissed me using his tongue, put his hand down my pants and groped me inside my underpants.”She said she decided to come forward because she was sickened by Mr. Stringer’s run for mayor, and his portrayal of himself as an ally to women.“I am coming forward now because being forced to see him in my living room TV every day, pretending to be a champion for women’s rights, just sickens me when I know the truth,” Ms. Kim said.She called on Mr. Stringer to resign and withdraw from the mayor’s race.Mr. Stringer said his relationship with Ms. Kim was friendly until 2013, when she wanted a job on his campaign for comptroller and did not get one. Mr. Stringer also said that Ms. Kim had donated to his political campaigns..css-1xzcza9{list-style-type:disc;padding-inline-start:1em;}.css-3btd0c{font-family:nyt-franklin,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:1rem;line-height:1.375rem;color:#333;margin-bottom:0.78125rem;}@media (min-width:740px){.css-3btd0c{font-size:1.0625rem;line-height:1.5rem;margin-bottom:0.9375rem;}}.css-3btd0c strong{font-weight:600;}.css-3btd0c em{font-style:italic;}.css-w739ur{margin:0 auto 5px;font-family:nyt-franklin,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-weight:700;font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.3125rem;color:#121212;}#NYT_BELOW_MAIN_CONTENT_REGION .css-w739ur{font-family:nyt-cheltenham,georgia,’times new roman’,times,serif;font-weight:700;font-size:1.375rem;line-height:1.625rem;}@media (min-width:740px){#NYT_BELOW_MAIN_CONTENT_REGION .css-w739ur{font-size:1.6875rem;line-height:1.875rem;}}@media (min-width:740px){.css-w739ur{font-size:1.25rem;line-height:1.4375rem;}}.css-1dg6kl4{margin-top:5px;margin-bottom:15px;}#masthead-bar-one{display:none;}#masthead-bar-one{display:none;}.css-12vbvwq{background-color:white;border:1px solid #e2e2e2;width:calc(100% – 40px);max-width:600px;margin:1.5rem auto 1.9rem;padding:15px;box-sizing:border-box;}@media (min-width:740px){.css-12vbvwq{padding:20px;width:100%;}}.css-12vbvwq:focus{outline:1px solid #e2e2e2;}#NYT_BELOW_MAIN_CONTENT_REGION .css-12vbvwq{border:none;padding:10px 0 0;border-top:2px solid #121212;}.css-12vbvwq[data-truncated] .css-rdoyk0{-webkit-transform:rotate(0deg);-ms-transform:rotate(0deg);transform:rotate(0deg);}.css-12vbvwq[data-truncated] .css-eb027h{max-height:300px;overflow:hidden;-webkit-transition:none;transition:none;}.css-12vbvwq[data-truncated] .css-5gimkt:after{content:’See more’;}.css-12vbvwq[data-truncated] .css-6mllg9{opacity:1;}.css-1rh1sk1{margin:0 auto;overflow:hidden;}.css-1rh1sk1 strong{font-weight:700;}.css-1rh1sk1 em{font-style:italic;}.css-1rh1sk1 a{color:#326891;-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-underline-offset:1px;-webkit-text-decoration-thickness:1px;text-decoration-thickness:1px;-webkit-text-decoration-color:#ccd9e3;text-decoration-color:#ccd9e3;}.css-1rh1sk1 a:visited{color:#333;-webkit-text-decoration-color:#ccc;text-decoration-color:#ccc;}.css-1rh1sk1 a:hover{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}“Based on my understanding, she did not apply for any job on his 2013 campaign,” said Ms. Kim’s lawyer, Patricia Pastor, who said that it was part of Ms. Kim’s job as a lobbyist to make small donations to candidates.Ms. Kim, seen at a news conference with her lawyer, called on Mr. Stringer to resign as city comptroller and resign from the mayor’s race.Gabriela Bhaskar for The New York TimesStephen Levin, a Brooklyn councilman, said he had known Ms. Kim a long time professionally, and described her as a “a very nice, very good person.”“For someone like Jean, her entire career is in New York City politics,” said Mr. Levin, who is backing one of Mr. Stringer’s opponents, Maya Wiley. “So I have no reason to believe that she’s not telling the truth. Just like in elected office, for a lobbyist, your credibility is the most important thing.”Mr. Stringer, who has spent decades in politics, has cast himself as an ardent progressive in recent years. In the mayoral election, some observers view him as the most viable of the three left-wing options, along with Dianne Morales, a former nonprofit executive, and Ms. Wiley, a former counsel to Mayor Bill de Blasio.Ms. Morales was the first mayoral candidate to issue a statement condemning Mr. Stringer. She and other candidates — Ms. Wiley; Mr. Adams; Mr. Yang; and the former Wall Street banker Raymond J. McGuire — all expressed solidarity with Ms. Kim.Kathryn Garcia, another mayoral candidate and the former sanitation commissioner, called on Mr. Stringer to drop out of the race. So, too, did Shaun Donovan, a mayoral candidate and former federal housing secretary.Ms. Garcia noted that Mr. Stringer backs a zero-tolerance policy for sexual harassment and that in March, he called for Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, who is facing several sexual harassment allegations, to resign.Mr. Stringer said that he believed his situation bore no resemblance to Mr. Cuomo’s.“The allegations against Governor Cuomo are serious and multiple and they are in the workplace,” Mr. Stringer said. “I don’t think we are in the same situation.”Several supporters of Mr. Stringer’s mayoral campaign — State Senators Alessandra Biaggi and Julia Salazar and Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou — issued a joint statement demanding “accountability.”“As survivors of childhood sexual assault, we believe survivors,” they said. “Our commitment to a harassment-free government, workplace, and society is steadfast, and our zero tolerance standard regarding sexual assault applies to abusers like Andrew Cuomo, if not more so, to our friends.”State Senator Liz Krueger, a Manhattan Democrat, said that she had dealt with Ms. Kim in a professional capacity.“I was surprised and disturbed,” said Ms. Krueger, who has not yet endorsed a candidate in the mayor’s race. “There’s no reason for me not to think of Ms. Kim as a credible person.”“Maybe it’s time for us to stop voting for men,” she added. 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      Cuomo’s Approval Rating Has Fallen. He Could Still Win Re-Election.

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      Allegations of sexual harassment have hurt Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s favorability rating. But 57 percent of Democrats say he is doing a good job, a new poll shows, enough support to give him a decent chance at a fourth term.Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York has not had much good news over the past few months. His poll numbers have not been much of an exception.A new Siena College poll this week found that Mr. Cuomo’s ratings had fallen to the lowest level of his tenure, with allegations of sexual harassment continuing to erode his support.But for Mr. Cuomo, the worst poll numbers of his time as governor may still be enough to win re-election. His ratings are worse than they were in early 2014 or 2018, when he went on to win easily, but not by so much that it would make him an obvious underdog in pursuit of a fourth term.The governor’s favorability rating among Democrats in the Siena poll was 56 percent, while 37 percent had an unfavorable view of him. The poll found that registered Democrats were divided on whether they would vote to re-elect Mr. Cuomo. By these measures, Mr. Cuomo is more vulnerable than he was four years ago, but he has not lost so much ground as to close off his path to renomination, either.And by another measure, Mr. Cuomo’s position is also stronger now than it was in 2018: 57 percent of Democrats say he is doing a good or excellent job as governor.That Mr. Cuomo could still win is not an indication of any great political resilience. Nor does it imply he is an overwhelming favorite, even without considering whether his standing may diminish further with new revelations.Much will depend on the conclusions of several investigations that are underway, including one by the F.B.I. on whether his administration provided false data on deaths from Covid-19 in nursing homes, and another by New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, into the sexual harassment allegations. Findings by Ms. James that lead to an embarrassing impeachment trial could prompt more voters to shun him.Yet so far, Mr. Cuomo maintains enough support to have a good chance to prevail. If he does in the final account, he will have overcome allegations of impropriety — and a pummeling from progressive activists on social media — with persistent support from the rank-and-file of the Democratic Party.In some ways, Mr. Cuomo’s popularity at the peak of the pandemic — when he was earning raves for his daily updates — was an exception to the general rule of his tenure. He has often had fairly weak ratings, at least for the governor of a blue state. In April 2018, as Mr. Cuomo was vying for re-election, a Siena College poll found that just 62 percent of registered Democrats in New York had a favorable view of the governor, while 32 percent had an unfavorable view of him. Only 57 percent of Democrats said they would vote to re-elect him, while 32 percent said they would prefer someone else. Just 53 percent thought he was doing a good or excellent job.In the end, Mr. Cuomo won renomination with 64 percent of the vote. His 34 point margin of victory over Cynthia Nixon was slightly larger than his plus-30 favorability rating or the 24 point margin by which Democrats said they would prefer to re-elect him over someone else. It would be a mistake to assume on this basis that Mr. Cuomo is a clear favorite to win the primary so long as his ratings stay above water among Democrats. Indeed, Democrats are divided on whether they want to re-elect Mr. Cuomo, with only 46 percent saying they prefer to vote to re-elect him and 43 percent saying they would prefer someone else.Why is Mr. Cuomo still competitive for renomination? One factor is that New York Democrats remain equivocal about the severity or veracity of the allegations against him.Democrats continue to believe Mr. Cuomo has done a good job handling the pandemic in New York, despite the revelation that his administration has hid data about the death toll in nursing homes. While 59 percent in the Siena poll say he has done either a poor or “fair” job of making public all data about such deaths, a sizable 34 percent of registered Democrats believe that he has done a good or excellent job of making such data available. And a 64 percent majority of Democrats continue to say that Mr. Cuomo has, in general, done a good or excellent job of providing information during the pandemic.Democrats are even more divided on the multiple allegations of sexual harassment against Mr. Cuomo, which he has denied. Just 39 percent believe he has committed sexual harassment, the Siena poll showed, while 30 percent disagree and another 30 percent are not sure. The precipitous decline in his favorability ratings since the allegations became public suggest that many Democrats take the charges seriously and have re-evaluated him on that basis, but a larger number of Democrats are not ready to go so far. Most Democrats say they are satisfied with how he has addressed the allegations and do not support his immediate resignation.Perhaps the hesitancy of some New York Democrats to believe the allegations against Mr. Cuomo simply reflects their dispassionate read of the evidence. It might also be a reflection of the loyalty of the state’s rank-and-file Democratic voters to Mr. Cuomo.After all, many more registered Republicans believe the allegations against Mr. Cuomo than registered Democrats, a powerful reminder of the role of partisanship in shaping public opinion. Liberals, who generally argue that women should be believed when they allege sexual harassment, are the likeliest ideological group to say they do not believe Mr. Cuomo has committed sexual harassment. A majority of conservatives and Republicans, in contrast, believe the allegations.Mr. Cuomo’s resilience is also a reminder that New York Democrats are fairly moderate, despite counting some of the nation’s most famous progressive politicians, like Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and a thriving Democratic Socialist left among their ranks. In recent Democratic primaries, New Yorkers backed Hillary Clinton and Mr. Cuomo over idealistic, reformist, good-government progressive challengers.Mr. Cuomo and other establishment-backed Democrats have often won with considerable support from nonwhite voters, especially those who are Black, in New York City, who often hold relatively moderate views on cultural and ideological issues compared with those of white progressives. And of all of the demographic groups surveyed in the Siena poll, Black voters, regardless of party registration, were the likeliest to have a favorable view of Mr. Cuomo or say he has not committed sexual harassment.Mr. Cuomo’s path to winning the general election is straightforward: capitalize on New York’s Democratic lean. The Siena College poll found that registered voters in the state said they preferred a Democrat for governor over a Republican by a 20 percentage point margin, presumably making it quite difficult for any Republican to win the general election.Difficult does not mean impossible. It is not wholly uncommon for Democratic states to elect Republican governors, or vice versa. The three states where President Biden’s performed the strongest — Vermont, Massachusetts and Maryland — all have Republican governors, albeit moderate ones; the Democratic governors of Kansas, Kentucky and Louisiana offer examples on the other side of the political spectrum.Mr. Cuomo’s ratings are weak enough statewide that he could be vulnerable against a strong and moderate Republican challenger, who would probably need to accede to the state’s prevailing cultural views, perhaps even on abortion and Donald Trump’s presidency. Most of the Republican contenders so far do not fit into that category. Many have strong ties to national Republican politics, including several House Republicans and even Andrew Giuliani.There’s still time for a stronger challenger to emerge, but for now it is not easy to identify someone comparable to the three anti-Trump Republicans who currently govern blue states.In the final account, the most powerful force to help Mr. Cuomo overcome allegations of sexual harassment may be the partisan loyalty of Democratic voters in a blue state. More

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      Yang Lands Last Place on Ballot: 5 Takeaways From the Mayor’s Race

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      The ballot order for the June 22 New York mayoral primary was decided by lottery, not alphabetical order, but Andrew Yang will still appear last.Much of the focus in the New York City mayoral race has been given to the eight best-known Democratic candidates, who lead in fund-raising and in early polling. But on the June 22 primary ballot, none of the eight will appear at the top; that honor will go to a more obscure candidate.For Republican voters, the ballot will be far less involved: There will only be two candidates, after a third dropped out of the race last week.The contest, after months of being largely conducted virtually through online forums and fund-raisers, has shifted to a more normal pace, with candidates hitting the campaign trail in earnest last week. But they can’t put away their laptops just yet — they would risk missing the next big televised debate in May.Here’s what you need to know about the race:12 Democrats will appear on the ballot. Who is first?In a crowded field, being at the top of the ballot could arguably be an advantage, and with a dozen Democrats in the mayor’s race, it is almost certainly better to be first than last.That theory may be tested this year: Aaron Foldenauer, one of the least-known Democrats running for mayor, won top billing in the Board of Elections lottery last week.A lawyer who ran unsuccessfully for City Council in Lower Manhattan in 2017, Mr. Foldenauer celebrated the news, tweaking Andrew Yang, who got the last spot.“I’m first on the ballot for mayor, Andrew Yang, and I had to look quite far down the list to find your name!” he said on Twitter.Mr. Yang, considered the current front-runner in the race, responded to his bad fortune with a smiley face: “This feels like grade school where I was always last alphabetically.”Here is the full lineup for Democrats, from top to bottom: Mr. Foldenauer; Dianne Morales, a former nonprofit executive; Scott M. Stringer, the city comptroller; Raymond J. McGuire, a former Wall Street executive; Maya Wiley, the former counsel to Mayor Bill de Blasio; Paperboy Prince, a rapper; Art Chang, a former executive at JPMorgan Chase; Kathryn Garcia, the city’s former sanitation commissioner; Eric Adams, the Brooklyn borough president; Isaac Wright Jr., a lawyer who was wrongfully convicted on drug charges; Shaun Donovan, the former federal housing secretary; and Mr. Yang.On the Republican side, there are just two names: Curtis Sliwa, the founder of the Guardian Angels, who is listed first, and Fernando Mateo, a restaurant operator who has led or founded Hispanics Across America, the state Federation of Taxi Drivers and United Bodegas of America.The only female Republican candidate exits the race.Sara Tirschwell dropped out of the Republican mayoral race after failing to get a sufficient number of petition signatures.Kholood Eid for The New York TimesSara Tirschwell, a former Wall Street executive and the only female candidate in the Republican field, ended her campaign last week after failing to gather enough signatures to make the ballot.“The common wisdom is that the Democratic primary is the de facto election, and that is going to turn out to be true without me in the race,” she said in an interview. “I truly believe that I was the only chance the Republican Party had in the general election.”She said that Mr. Yang, Mr. Adams or Ms. Wiley would be likely to win the Democratic primary and become the next mayor. And she offered to put her “financial acumen” to use for any of them.“I would serve in anybody’s administration — Republican or Democrat — except for Fernando Mateo,” she said, blaming one of Mr. Mateo’s allies for challenging her petitions during a pandemic.Her biggest lesson from the campaign? New Yorkers, she said, want city government to “get back to the basics — picking up the trash and filling potholes.”Ms. Tirschwell said she planned to vote for Mr. Sliwa, who had defended her and had said Mr. Mateo “should call off his henchmen and stop intimidating” her.The first major debate will not be in person.Maya Wiley called for three debates to be held in person.Gabriela Bhaskar for The New York TimesAs the mayor’s race grows increasingly contentious, a number of the campaigns found agreement around one idea last week: A series of official debates should be held in person.“This election will decide what kind of city we want to be and doing the debates on just another Zoom is not going to cut it,” Ms. Wiley wrote on Twitter as she called for the three primary debates affiliated with the city’s Campaign Finance Board to be held in person. “When I am mayor, I won’t be in a box on a screen, I will be out with New Yorkers and our debates should be the same.”Nearly instantly, many of the leading candidates and campaigns agreed. Many hope to engage with each other directly — and in person — in the homestretch of the race and see the upcoming debates as one of the few opportunities for breakout moments in the contest.But as of now, the first debate, scheduled for next month, is not expected to be held in person, a spokesman for the Campaign Finance Board said.“With the first debate on May 13 less than a month away, and more than 2,000 Covid-19 cases reported daily in New York City, an in-person debate is not possible at this time,” said Matt Sollars, a spokesman for the board.He added: “The board and our co-sponsors share the view that the best debates are in-person debates” and left that possibility open for future debates.“We have a history of holding debates in front of large, live audiences,” he said. “We are confident that the 2021 mayoral debates will match or exceed the quality of those events and allow city voters to learn about and compare the candidates.”Will Stringer’s big endorsement translate into votes?The Working Families Party endorsed Scott Stringer as its first choice.Benjamin Norman for The New York TimesLeft-wing activists and leaders are growing increasingly worried as they contemplate the staying power of Mr. Yang, the former presidential candidate who embraces some progressive positions but is undoubtedly one of the more moderate contenders in the mayoral field.One major open question, though, is whether left-wing voters can coalesce around a candidate or slate of candidates to stop Mr. Yang’s momentum.The Working Families Party last week moved toward trying to facilitate a unified progressive front by issuing a ranked-choice endorsement: Mr. Stringer was endorsed as the party’s first choice, followed by Ms. Morales, the most left-wing candidate in the race, and Ms. Wiley.After months of struggling to break through the crowded mayoral field — and often being drowned out by Mr. Yang — Mr. Stringer received a dose of energy from the endorsement. But he already had the backing of many prominent progressives. His task is to turn those endorsements into enthusiasm on the ground.Some Democrats hope that if left-wing voters list the three Working Families-backed candidates first on their ballot, in any order, then one could come out on top under ranked-choice voting.That’s what Chas Stewart, a 30-year-old teacher, plans to do. He favors Ms. Morales first, then Mr. Stringer and Ms. Wiley.“It appears that her politics align most closely with mine,” he said of Ms. Morales, “especially regarding reining in the N.Y.P.D., and what else is the point of ranked-choice voting if I can’t rank that person No. 1?”Viral Yang video creates opening for opponentsMs. Wiley called Andrew Yang’s behavior “unacceptable.” Mr. Stringer released a statement from several women calling Mr. Yang’s behavior “disqualifying for someone who is seeking to be mayor of New York.”What led to their denunciations?In an encounter outside a comedy club captured on video and then broadcast on Twitter and TikTok, a comic, Lawrence Reese, asked Mr. Yang if a man could keep his Timberland boots on while having sex with women, using a coarse word for sex and a derogatory word for women.Mr. Yang patted Mr. Reese’s shoulder and suggested that “if your partner is cool with it,” that was fine. Then Mr. Reese asked if Mr. Yang choked women, again using the derogatory word for women. Mr. Yang laughed — too uproariously, his critics say — indicated that the conversation was over and walked away.Mr. Yang’s reaction — that laugh — created an immediate opening for his opponents, who have been eager to highlight his every gaffe as they look for ways to gain traction in the race.Ms. Wiley held a news conference condemning his behavior that featured the local president of the National Organization for Women, and Mr. Stringer’s allies tied Mr. Yang’s response to the allegations of “bro” culture that trailed his presidential campaign.Mr. Reese, who said he has no horse in this year’s mayoral race, suggested that Mr. Yang’s critics were just playing politics.“His opponents are going to go against him in any way they can,” he said.The 25-year-old comedian said he was merely performing one of his regular bits, where he asks people on the street random questions about their lives. In his own remarks, Mr. Yang suggested that his laugh expressed how shocked he was, and that he shut the discussion down as quickly as he could. He noted that his wife was the victim of sexual abuse.But that was not enough for some critics.Mr. Yang “should have been straight-faced and unequivocal in his reproach,” Charlotte Bennett, who has accused Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of sexual harassment, wrote in an op-ed on Saturday. “Failing that, even a simple ‘That’s not funny’ would have sufficed.” 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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      Politicians Behaving Badly

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      At least Tom Reed knows how to face up to his mistakes.As the investigation continues into the allegations of sexual misconduct by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo — about whom tales of bad behavior are piling up like soiled wet wipes at a rib joint — a vaguely similar scandal has taken down one of his aspiring rivals.Sunday evening, Republican Representative Tom Reed, who had been contemplating a challenge to Mr. Cuomo in 2022, announced that he would instead be retiring from public office at the end of his congressional term. This change of heart occurred just a few days after accusations surfaced that Mr. Reed sexually harassed a young woman on a political trip four years ago.While on an ice-fishing retreat to Minnesota in January 2017, the then-45-year-old congressman got sloshed at a group dinner at a pub one night and groped a 25-year-old lobbyist, according to her account. Among other offenses, he is said to have unhooked the woman’s bra through her blouse and slid his hand up her thigh. Nicolette Davis, the woman in question, was on her first big schmoozing trip and was anxious for things to go smoothly. Horrified, she texted a co-worker, “A drunk congressman is rubbing my back.” And later, “HELP HELP.” Ms. Davis ultimately asked the person sitting on her other side to intervene, at which point the encroaching lawmaker was gently led from the pub.Ms. Davis, who later left lobbying to join the Army, deserves major kudos for sharing her story — though it is disheartening that it took four years for her to feel comfortable enough to do so. Immediately after her close encounter with Mr. Reed, she told colleagues what had happened but declined to file an official complaint. “I was afraid I would become ‘that girl’ who made a mess of things for a member, and that no one would ever want to associate with me,” she told The Washington Post, which first reported the accusations.When Ms. Davis’s accusations broke last Friday, Mr. Reed fired off a short, vague statement saying her account was “not accurate.” But by Sunday, he had reversed course. In a longer, more detailed statement, the lawmaker stopped short of confirming Ms. Davis’s account but said that, at the time of the trip, he was struggling with alcoholism and that he accepted “full responsibility” for his piggishness. “This is in no way an excuse for anything I’ve done,” he wrote. “Consistent with my recovery, I publicly take ownership of my past actions, offer this amends and humbly apologize again to Ms. Davis, my wife and kids, loved ones, and to all of you.” He further vowed “to help those wrestling with addiction.”Clearly, the congressman’s behavior was gross and unacceptable. But in dealing with the fallout like an accountable grown-up, he now has the chance to redeem himself — possibly even serving as an example to other officials.There is a sharp irony to Mr. Reed’s fall. A centrist Republican, he was first elected to Congress in 2010, in a special election to replace Democrat Eric Massa, who had resigned while the House ethics committee was investigating allegations that he had sexually harassed a junior male aide. Fast-forward to the Cuomo scandal: Mr. Reed was among the early voices calling for the governor to step down. Later, he was among those in favor of impeachment.Thus New York politics has given us a reality-TV-worthy spectacle of a Republican lawmaker, elected to replace a Democrat accused of sexual harassment, leaving politics under his own sexual harassment cloud, thereby upsetting his plans to take on a Democratic governor beset by multiple accusations of sexual harassment.Got it?Obviously, elected officials behaving like entitled jerks is not a New York-specific problem, or even a politics-specific problem. Too many men in positions of power have come to believe that the rules of decent society do not apply to them, that they have a right to treat those around them like playthings.In many ways, politicians are tailor-made for this kind of stupidity. It generally takes a fair amount of self-regard to elbow one’s way up the political ladder. Upon attaining a certain stature, politicians get treated like mini regents, surrounded by aides whose livelihoods depend on them and supplicants seeking to curry their favor. They get invited on TV. Voters and reporters show up at their events. Power and celebrity — even low-level political celebrity — act like drugs, warping officials’ sense of self and of reality.If you want to dig into the science, there are all kinds of fascinating avenues to explore about how politicians may be affected by the things like the winner effect, in which it’s posited that success changes people’s brain chemistry in ways that cause them to behave more selfishly or aggressively. One 2018 study by scientists at the University of Cambridge found that merely the perception of having bested another man gives guys a testosterone boost, along with “an inflated sense of their own value as a sexual prospect.”None of which excuses the spectacle of powerful men behaving badly, to which we are still frequently subjected, even in the age of #MeToo.With this in mind, Mr. Reed deserves at least a sliver of credit for putting on his big-boy pants and owning up to the pain and damage he caused. He has expressed straight-up contrition rather than spout one of those dodgy, I’m-sorry-if-she-misinterpreted-my-actions nonapologies of which politicians are so fond. He did not paint himself as the “real” victim or — even more vile — attempt to smear and discredit his accuser. While this may not seem especially praiseworthy, such basic decency is still too rare.Until voters consistently demand at least this much from their elected officials, entitled jerkiness will remain a bipartisan problem.The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And here’s our email: letters@nytimes.com.Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram. More

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      in US Politics

      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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      in Elections

      A Woman Leading N.Y.C.? This Could Be the Year.

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      [Want to get New York Today by email? Here’s the sign-up.]It’s Thursday. Weather: Heavy rain in the afternoon, with a high near 50. It’ll get gusty in the evening, and watch out for snow overnight. Alternate-side parking: In effect until March 28 (Passover).Maya Wiley.Eduardo Munoz/ReutersNew York City has had 109 mayors. So far, not one has been a woman.That glass ceiling may finally shatter in this year’s election. There are three strong female candidates for the Democratic nomination, and all have suggested that the testosterone-fueled political culture that is the backdrop for the sexual harassment scandal surrounding Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo makes a strong case for electing the city’s first female mayor.“New York’s governor is reminding us it is time to see more women in positions of power,” Kathryn Garcia, the city’s former sanitation commissioner, said at a recent fund-raiser for her mayoral campaign. “In 2021, there is no right man for the job of mayor.”[The women running for mayor have sharply criticized the governor.]Here’s what you need to know:The candidatesTwo other women are running in the Democratic primary for mayor in addition to Ms. Garcia. (Another, Sara Tirschwell, is running in the Republican primary.)The two Democrats are Maya Wiley, former counsel to Mayor Bill de Blasio and former chair of the Civilian Complaint Review Board; and Dianne Morales, a former nonprofit executive.Ms. Wiley, the strongest female candidate in the polls and fund-raising, has emphasized a plan to create 100,000 jobs. Ms. Morales wants to cut $3 billion from the police budget. Ms. Garcia is focusing on improving basic services and quality of life in the city.All three have shared their stories of sexual harassment and sexism, and argued that they would offer a more inclusive style of leadership. People who have worked in Mr. Cuomo’s office have described it as toxic, especially for young women.All three candidates have taken a hard line against the governor: Ms. Morales called for his impeachment, while Ms. Garcia and Ms. Wiley called on him to resign.The historyOvert sexism, machine politics and the challenges of raising large amounts of money are just some of the barriers that prevent women from running for office in New York, political experts said.Those issues and others bedeviled the candidacies of two women who ran unsuccessfully for mayor relatively recently, Ruth W. Messinger and Christine Quinn.“Machine politics is a machine that was built by and for men,” Ms. Morales told my colleague Emma G. Fitzsimmons, the City Hall bureau chief.If Mr. Cuomo leaves office, New York State will break another glass ceiling: Kathy Hochul, his lieutenant governor, would become the first woman to lead the state.From The TimesAsian-Americans Are Being Attacked. Why Are Hate Crime Charges So Rare?A Father’s Gift to a Mayoral Candidate: A $1 Million Super PACNew York Renters in Covid Hot Spots Are Four Times More Likely to Face EvictionModernist Horse Sculptures Removed by City Housing AgencySt. Patrick’s Day in New York, a Year LaterWant more news? Check out our full coverage.The Mini Crossword: Here is today’s puzzle.What we’re readingGov. Andrew M. Cuomo said yesterday that indoor fitness classes will be able to reopen at 33 percent capacity next Monday. [New York Post]The mayoral candidate Andrew Yang called for the New York Police Department’s Asian Hate Crime Task Force to be fully funded after Atlanta-area shootings killed six women of Asian descent. [Politico New York]A man from Dutchess County was fined $5,000 after pleading guilty to illegally raising sharks in his basement to sell over the internet. [Fox 5 NY]And finally: After a summer off, Shakespeare could return to Central Park Last year, for the first summer since 1962, no players graced the stage at Central Park’s Delacorte Theater.But on Tuesday my colleague Michael Paulson reported that the Public Theater announced that it hoped to resume Shakespeare in the Park, the free performances of the bard’s works that have become a beloved city tradition.This year, the theater is planning just one Shakespeare in the Park production, “Merry Wives,” a 12-actor, intermission-free version of “The Merry Wives of Windsor.” It would have an eight-week run starting in July instead of the usual two-play season beginning in May..css-1xzcza9{list-style-type:disc;padding-inline-start:1em;}.css-rqynmc{font-family:nyt-franklin,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:0.9375rem;line-height:1.25rem;color:#333;margin-bottom:0.78125rem;}@media (min-width:740px){.css-rqynmc{font-size:1.0625rem;line-height:1.5rem;margin-bottom:0.9375rem;}}.css-rqynmc strong{font-weight:600;}.css-rqynmc em{font-style:italic;}.css-yoay6m{margin:0 auto 5px;font-family:nyt-franklin,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-weight:700;font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.3125rem;color:#121212;}@media (min-width:740px){.css-yoay6m{font-size:1.25rem;line-height:1.4375rem;}}.css-1dg6kl4{margin-top:5px;margin-bottom:15px;}#masthead-bar-one{display:none;}#masthead-bar-one{display:none;}.css-1pd7fgo{background-color:white;border:1px solid #e2e2e2;width:calc(100% – 40px);max-width:600px;margin:1.5rem auto 1.9rem;padding:15px;box-sizing:border-box;}@media (min-width:740px){.css-1pd7fgo{padding:20px;width:100%;}}.css-1pd7fgo:focus{outline:1px solid #e2e2e2;}#NYT_BELOW_MAIN_CONTENT_REGION .css-1pd7fgo{border:none;padding:20px 0 0;border-top:1px solid #121212;}.css-1pd7fgo[data-truncated] .css-rdoyk0{-webkit-transform:rotate(0deg);-ms-transform:rotate(0deg);transform:rotate(0deg);}.css-1pd7fgo[data-truncated] .css-eb027h{max-height:300px;overflow:hidden;-webkit-transition:none;transition:none;}.css-1pd7fgo[data-truncated] .css-5gimkt:after{content:’See more’;}.css-1pd7fgo[data-truncated] .css-6mllg9{opacity:1;}.css-coqf44{margin:0 auto;overflow:hidden;}.css-coqf44 strong{font-weight:700;}.css-coqf44 em{font-style:italic;}.css-coqf44 a{color:#326891;-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-underline-offset:1px;-webkit-text-decoration-thickness:1px;text-decoration-thickness:1px;-webkit-text-decoration-color:#ccd9e3;text-decoration-color:#ccd9e3;}.css-coqf44 a:visited{color:#333;-webkit-text-decoration-color:#333;text-decoration-color:#333;}.css-coqf44 a:hover{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}According to the plans, the show, which is being adapted by Jocelyn Bioh and will be directed by Saheem Ali, will be set in Harlem and imagine Falstaff as an African-American seeking to romance two married immigrants from West Africa.“We’re really centering BIPOC stories, but we’re also bringing Black joy to the front,” Mr. Ali told me in an interview, using the acronym for Black, Indigenous and people of color.Things will be different this summer because of the pandemic, but exactly how remains to be seen. Audiences will be smaller — Mr. Ali said that under current state rules, about 450 spectators would be allowed to attend each performance at the outdoor Delacorte, instead of the usual 1,800 or so.The actors face different challenges, Mr. Ali said, and the Public will have to follow Actors’ Equity Association safety guidelines in order to stage the show.Does that mean the actors will need to be vaccinated? Kept in an N.B.A.-style bubble? Forced to soliloquize through masks?Mr. Ali said that it was too soon to say for sure, but that he thought incorporating the safety regulations into the play could make the show feel more immediate.“I’m looking at those restrictions, and looking at them as opportunities instead of obstacles,” Mr. Ali said.It’s Thursday — take the stage.Metropolitan Diary: First day out Dear Diary:Nothing could prepare a timid young woman from a small Southern town for a move to Manhattan, but I knew two things: that I would be a full-time student at New York University and that I had to find a job to pay my portion of the rent.On my first day of job-hunting, I put on my ivory-colored linen suit and took the subway from West 86th Street to Times Square.About halfway there, the woman who was sitting next to me told me in a thick accent that I had a spot on the back of my skirt.“You must’ve sat in something,” she said. “It looks horrible.”Stellar first day out, I thought.When I got off the train, I was thinking desperately about what to do when I heard the woman yelling.“Maybe just turn it around,” she shouted.My first stop was a dry cleaner. Sure, the man there said, expressionless, when I asked if he could help: Leave the skirt and pick it up tomorrow.No, thank you, I stammered before hurrying out the door.Deciding to take my subway mate’s advice, I turned the skirt around so that the spot was squarely over the middle of my lap. What choice did I have? I had 20 minutes to spare and four blocks to go to get to my interview.I managed to obscure the spot with my large bag for the rest of the day. In the end, it was a conversation starter, and I left my interview with a job offer and a little insight that would come in handy for my many adventures in the city.— Victoria JamesNew York Today is published weekdays around 6 a.m. Sign up here to get it by email. You can also find it at nytoday.com.What would you like to see more (or less) of? Email us: nytoday@nytimes.com. More

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      in US Politics

      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