Governor Andrew Cuomo provided terse responses to reporters Wednesday about the ongoing investigations into sexual misconduct allegations against him during a brief Q&A session — and went as far as to mute one journalist mid-sentence.
“You’ve watched me in public for many many years, right?” Cuomo said during the digital briefing, held on site in Yonkers following the opening of mass vaccination sites to walk-in visitors aged 60 and over. “So you know how I behave, the people of New York know how I behave, they’ve seen it, they’ve watched it, watch it on a daily basis. Go on the web, look at all the photographs. But let’s see what the review says; the assembly is doing a review, the Attorney General’s doing a review, I’ll then tell you what I think, and then we’ll go from there.”
Just prior to this question, in which the governor was asked if he had changed any of his behaviors since the allegations came to the fore, a New York Law Journal reporter pressed Cuomo for a yes-or-no answer about whether he would resign if the findings from Attorney General Letitia James’ investigation landed unfavorably for him.
The reporter, Ryan Tarinelli, then attempted a follow-up question after Cuomo refused to give a definitive response — and was cut off.
Cuomo faces allegations from several women who both work and worked for him in either the executive chamber or the federal government and claim they were sexually harassed in various forms. Some of the women who have come forward were journalists.
Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, who joined him in announcing the mass vaccination site for Westchester County, had previously called for his resignation on account of the distraction it posed to the business of government.
As for the purpose of Cuomo’s visit to Yonkers, the governor announced that 16 mass vaccination sites — including the city’s National Guard Armory — would now be open to walk-ins 60 and over who want the COVID-19 vaccine.
The announcement impacts five such vaccine hubs in New York City:
- Javits Center, 429 11th Ave., Manhattan.
- Yankee Stadium, 1 East 161st St., Bronx.
- York College, 160-02 Liberty Ave., Jamaica, Queens.
- Aqueduct Racetrack, 110-00 Rockaway Blvd., South Ozone Park, Queens.
- Medgar Evers College – Carroll Building, 231 Crown St., Brooklyn.
