New York Governor Andrew Cuomo rejected resignations on Sunday after new allegations of misconduct in the workplace, but will sign a bill withdrawing his emergency powers to combat the Covid-19 pandemic, while facing a growing political pressure from his own party.
The Democratic governor, swirling with waves of criticism and asking for his resignation due to the duel crises in his government, also promised that he “will not be distracted” in the fight against Covid.
“I am signing the legislature’s emergency powers bill today and I am going to implement it today,” Cuomo said in a conference call with reporters.
Cuomo said he would take this step with the “significant change” of allowing Empire State restaurants outside of New York City to increase indoor dining capacity from 50% to 75%.
“The numbers are low. When the numbers are low, we adjust the economic reopening valve,” said Cuomo.
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 drop, then obviously we will adjust.”
Cuomo is being criticized amid an increasing number of allegations of sexual harassment or misconduct in the workplace, as well as an ongoing scandal about his government’s handling of death data from the Covid nursing home.
New York Senate majority leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins called for Cuomo’s resignation on Sunday after two more women accused the governor of misconduct.
“Every day there is another account that is moving away from government business,” said Stewart-Cousins.
“We have allegations about sexual harassment, a toxic work environment, the loss of credibility around data from the Covid-19 nursing home and doubts about the construction of a major infrastructure project.”
“New York is still in the middle of this pandemic and is still facing its social, economic and health impacts,” she said. “We need to govern without daily distractions. For the sake of the state, Governor Cuomo must step down.”
Carl Heastie, the Democratic spokesman for the New York State Assembly, said in a statement on Sunday that he agreed with Stewart-Cousins ”regarding the governor’s ability to continue to lead this state”.
“The allegations regarding the governor that have been reported in the past few weeks have been deeply disturbing and have no place in the government, in the workplace or anywhere else,” said Heastie.
“We have many challenges to face and I think it is time for the governor to seriously consider whether he can effectively meet the needs of the people of New York.”
But Cuomo was defiant at the beginning of Sunday, when he was peppered with questions about the accusations of several women, including two more who appeared on Saturday.
“There are some lawmakers who suggest that I resign because of accusations,” said Cuomo. Some members of Cuomo’s own party, including state senator Alessandra Biaggi, asked him to resign.
“I was elected by the people of this state, I was not elected by politicians. I will not resign because of accusations, ”he said.
“The premise of resigning because of accusations is really undemocratic,” added Cuomo. He asked people to let New York Attorney General Letitia James complete her independent investigation of the allegations of harassment before drawing conclusions.
“Let the attorney general do her job. She is very good, she is very competent. And that will be due process, and then we will have the facts,” he said.
“There is no way for me to resign,” added Cuomo. “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 people,” said Cuomo, including some Democrats and Biaggi. “But they do not nullify the will of the people. They do not nullify the elections. They cannot hear an allegation and make a decision on the allegation,” he said.
– CNBC’s Dan Mangan contributed to this report.