New York Governor Andrew Cuomo speaks at a news conference. | Seth Wenig / AP Photo
NEW YORK – A former assistant to Governor Andrew Cuomo said the governor kissed her without her permission and asked her to play strip poker, claiming a pattern of sexual harassment she set out in a new report on Wednesday .
Lindsey Boylan, who ran for president of Manhattan and previously worked for Cuomo and the state economic development agency, wrote in a media post that Cuomo kissed her on the lips against her will in his Manhattan office. has.
The former staff’s charges come because the governor was inundated with accusations that he disguised the coronavirus deaths in nursing homes in New York. The outage has led to accusations in New York’s political world over Cuomo’s tyrannical behavior – including a recent statement by Ron Kim, a member of the House, who said the governor was threatening to “destroy” him over Kim’s criticism. on the debate in the nursing home.
‘Governor Andrew Cuomo has created a culture in his government where sexual harassment and bullying are so pervasive that it is not only approved but also expected. “His inappropriate behavior towards women was a confirmation that he likes you, that you have to do something right,” Boylan wrote. “He used intimidation to silence his critics. And if you dared to speak, you would have consequences. ‘
Boylan said the kiss came after she gave the governor a one-on-one briefing on state economic and infrastructure projects.
‘We were in his New York office on Third Avenue. When I got up to walk to an open door, he stepped in front of me and kissed me on the lips. I was shocked, but kept walking, “Boylan wrote.
She said she left the desk of another staff member. “I was afraid she saw the kiss. The idea that someone would think I was in a high position because of the Governor’s’ pressure ‘was more condescending than the kiss itself,’ she wrote. “After that, my fears worsened. I went to work every day. My relationship with his senior team – mostly women – became hostile after I started talking to myself. I was reprimanded and told to get in line by his top assistants, but I could no longer ignore it. ”
Boylan first accused Cuomo of sexual harassment in December, but spoke in detail for the first time on Wednesday. Cuomo had earlier denied Boylan’s allegations.
“Look, I fought and I believe a woman has the right to come forward and express her opinion and express her problems,” Cuomo said in December. “But that’s just not true.”
Cuomo’s office on Wednesday did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Boylan could not be reached for comment either.
From 2015, Boylan was vice president and then chief of staff of Empire State Development. She then became deputy secretary of economic development and special adviser to the governor, a job she said she initially turned down because she was uncomfortable around Cuomo, but eventually accepted his insistence with the agreement that she ‘ another floor would work. She was unsuccessful last year for Congress against Rep. Jerry Nadler showed up.
In October 2017, Boylan said she was flying back with Cuomo’s government jet from an event in Western New York.
“Let’s play strip poker,” she quotes the governor as they sit opposite each other, close enough that their knees almost touch, in the presence of a state troop and press aid.
She said she tried to brush the remark and respond to sarcastic reaction: “That’s exactly what I thought.”
The former assistant said she first chose to disclose her allegations of harassment when she heard in December how Cuomo’s name as a candidate for the U.S. Attorney General was drifting.
“I am obliged to tell my story because no woman should feel compelled to hide their experiences of intimidation, harassment and humiliation in the workplace – not by the governor or anyone else,” she wrote on Wednesday. ‘I expect the governor and his top assistants to try to disrespect me further, just as they did with Member Kim. They will lose their jobs if they do not protect him. That’s how his administration works. I know, because I was part of it. ”
Boylan said shortly after she first met Cuomo in 2016 during an event in Madison Square Garden to promote the Pennsylvania Station-Farley Complex project, her boss told her the governor had a “crush” on her had.
Another staff member told her Cuomo suggested she look up images of Lisa Shields, his rumored ex-girlfriend, because “we could be sisters” and she was “the better sister”, and then started her Lisa in front of colleagues mention. Boylan’s message contains screenshots of some emails and texts she exchanges with family and colleagues about the governor’s behavior.
Cuomo would also touch her lower back, arms and legs, Boylan said.
She also described being called to Cuomo’s office, where he showed a cigar box that was a gift from former President Bill Clinton, which she took as a reference to Clinton’s relationship with Monica Lewinsky.
The governor has made negative comments about the weight of female colleagues and their personal relationships, Boylan said.
“Telling my truth is not about revenge. I was proud to work in the Cuomo administration, “Boylan wrote. I looked up to the governor for so long. But his abusive behavior must stop. ‘
Anna Gronewold contributed to this report.