An aide to the New York governor, Andrew Cuomo, told The New York Times that Cuomo looked down on her and made inappropriate comments – the latest accusation of sexual harassment against a governor who already faces resignations from two parties.
Alyssa McGrath, 33, told the newspaper that Cuomo would comment on her appearance and make suggestive comments to her and another executive aide.
She told of a time when she was called to his office to take a dictation.
“I ducked my head expecting him to start talking, but he didn’t start talking,” she told the New York Times. “So I looked up to see what was going on. And he was shamelessly looking at my shirt. “She said that Cuomo asked her, ” What’s in your necklace? ‘ That was on my shirt. “
McGrath was also friends with another aide who claimed that the governor had groped her. The unidentified woman’s complaint was referred to the Albany police department. McGrath said he discussed the alleged incident with the woman after The Albany Times Union reported on it last week.
The colleague told McGrath that Cuomo had asked her not to tell him about the incident because he knew the two were close.
“He told her specifically not to tell me,” McGrath told The New York Times.
Cuomo denied the woman’s accusation of groping. “I never did anything like that,” he said in a statement to NBC News last week.
Cuomo’s lawyer, Rita Glavin, told the newspaper that there was nothing unpleasant about Cuomo’s actions, saying that “the governor greeted men and women with hugs and a kiss on the cheek, forehead or hand. Yes, he posed for pictures with his arm around them. Yes, he uses Italian phrases like ‘ciao bella’ ”.
“None of this is remarkable, although it can be old-fashioned. He made it clear that he never made inappropriate advances or touched anyone inappropriately, ”she said.
McGrath’s lawyer, Mariann Wang, told NBC News: “The governor’s deviations are not to be trusted. They were not just friendly jokes.”
From the first day, more than half a dozen sexual harassment charges were made in Cuomo last month, the governor denied having touched anyone inappropriately, but acknowledged that he may have acted in ways that made people feel uncomfortable. He said it was unintentional and apologized. Cuomo has repeatedly said he will not resign, despite calls for him to resign most of the New York Congressional delegation and dozens of state legislators.
Adam Reiss contributed.