Governor Andrew Cuomo has been the governor of New York since 2011, but he has recently been told to resign due to multiple sexual harassment allegations. 

A little over three weeks ago, Cuomo’s former top staffer Lindsey Boylan came forward with a claim that he had made her feel uncomfortable in the workplace. According to Boylan, Cuomo consistently went “out of his way to touch [her] on [her] lower back, arms, and legs.” Furthermore, Boylan told the New York Times that his senior staff would often track her location. 

In response, Cuomo issued a statement firmly denying the claims. Cuomo said that while he has no problem with women coming forward with complaints or concerns, these particular allegations were “not true.” Ashley Cotton, a woman who worked as Cuomo’s aide in 2010 when he was state attorney general, has outwardly expressed her support for the New York governor despite these allegations. She explained that Cuomo occasionally makes “lousy jokes” just like any regular guy but that she has never known him to “cross the line.”

Since Boylan’s accusation, Charlotte Bennet and Anna Ruch, two women who have previously worked with Cuomo, have also come forward. Cuomo issued an apology to Bennett about a joke that he thought was funny at the time, but in retrospect, may have been distasteful. To Ruch, his administration admitted that she probably misinterpreted his words as “unwanted flirtation.”

Like many New York residents, Scarsdale High School sophomore Estelle D’Alessio is disappointed in the Governor’s actions. “As the New York governor, Cuomo is supposed to be someone we can trust, but it’s scary and shocking to see that he… has been accused several times [of] sexual harassment, which is a huge deal,” said D’Alessio ’23.

Some have pointed out that these allegations arose shortly after Cuomo’s nursing home fiasco, which caused his reputation to take a hit. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, most people regarded Cuomo as a trustworthy information source. Recent data that Cuomo and his team massively misrepresented have given rise to other opinions. The number of deaths in nursing homes caused by COVID-19 was far higher than the public knew, possibly caused in part by Cuomo’s decision to mandate nursing homes to accept COVID-19 patient transfers from hospitals. Some people argue that the women conveniently timed harassment allegations to gain more publicity after Cuomo’s scandal with the nursing homes. Others say that many of these women began their accusations much earlier, with Boylan mentioning her concerns since December.

Popular Democratic politicians are urging Cuomo to step down as Governor of New York State, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Chuck Schumer. “I think he should resign,” said Vivian Guo ’21. “I think most people agree,” Guo added. Although Cuomo has firmly stated that he has no intention of doing so, the state will be waiting intently for the results of the New York Attorney General’s independent investigation into these allegations.