New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Sunday rejected his resignation following further allegations of misconduct in the workplace, but will sign a bill that will strip his emergency powers to fight the Covid-19 pandemic while facing growing political pressure from his own party.
The Democratic governor, faced with waves of criticism and calling for his resignation over the crises that hurt his administration, also vowed not to be “distracted” in the fight against Covid.
“Today I sign the legislature’s emergency powers bill and I will implement it today,” Cuomo said in a conference call with reporters.
Cuomo said he would take that step with the “significant change” to allow Empire State restaurants outside of New York City to increase indoor dining capacity from 75% to 75%.
“The numbers go down. When the numbers go down, we adjust the economic reopening valve,” Cuomo said.
The change will be implemented on March 19, according to the governor. But he warned that “if the numbers change, if something happens, if there is a decline, we will obviously adjust.”
Cuomo is on fire amid a growing number of allegations of sexual harassment or misconduct in the workplace, as well as a continuing scandal over his administration’s handling of death data from homes. Covid’s opinion.
New York Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins called for Cuomo’s resignation Sunday after two more women went down in history for accusing the governor of misconduct.
“Every day there is another account moving away from government business,” Stewart-Cousins said.
“We have complaints about sexual harassment, a toxic work environment, the loss of credibility surrounding the data from the Covid-19 nursing home and questions about building a major infrastructure project.”
“New York is still in the midst of this pandemic and is still facing its social, health and economic impacts,” he said. “We must govern without daily distraction. For the good of the state, Governor Cuomo must resign.”
Carl Heastie, the Democratic spokesman for the New York State Assembly, said Sunday in a statement that he agrees with Stewart-Cousins ”on the governor’s ability to continue to lead that state.”
“The governor’s allegations that have been made in recent weeks have been deeply disturbing and have no place in government, in the workplace or anywhere else,” Heastie said.
“We have a lot of challenges to address and I think it’s time for the governor to seriously consider whether he can effectively meet the needs of the people of New York.”
But Cuomo was challenged the previous Sunday when he was filled with questions about the allegations of several women, including two more who filed Saturday.
“There are some lawmakers suggesting he resign on charges,” Cuomo said. Some members of Cuomo’s party, including state senator Alessandra Biaggi, have called for her to step down.
“I was elected by the people of this state, I was not elected by politicians. I will not resign because of allegations,” he said.
“The premise of resigning because of allegations is actually undemocratic,” Cuomo added. He called for people to let New York Attorney General Letitia James complete her independent investigation into the harassment claims before drawing conclusions.
“Let the attorney general do his job. She’s very good, she’s very competent. And that will be the due process, and then we’ll have the facts,” he said.
“There is no way to give up,” Cuomo added. “But I’m not going to be distracted by that either … We have a lot of work to do.”
Asked about Biaggi in particular, Cuomo replied, “I have news for you: there is politics in politics.”
“I have political differences with the people,” Cuomo said, even with some Democrats and Biaggi. “But they do not annul the will of the people. They do not annul the elections. They do not get to hear an allegation and decide on it,” he said.
– CNBC’s Dan Mangan contributed to this report.