The Report on Cuomo and the Calls to Resign: What to Know |
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Alternate-side parking: In effect until Aug. 15 (Feast of the Assumption). |
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The findings of the investigation had been highly awaited. |
On Tuesday, they were released: Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo sexually harassed 11 women, including current and former government workers, in violation of state and federal laws, according to a report from the New York State attorney general, Letitia James. |
Mr. Cuomo said in response that "the facts are much different from what has been portrayed." |
"I never touched anyone inappropriately or made inappropriate sexual advances," he said. "I am 63 years old. I have lived my entire adult life in public view. That is just not who I am, and that's not who I have ever been." |
Here are a few things to know: |
The report included previously unreported harassment allegations. |
Investigators said 11 women had accused Mr. Cuomo of a range of inappropriate behavior, and that nine of them are current or former state employees. At least two had not previously spoken publicly: A female state trooper on Mr. Cuomo's protective detail and an employee of an energy company. |
The report says Mr. Cuomo "sexually harassed" the unnamed trooper "on a number of occasions" after she joined the detail, including running his hand across her stomach when she held the door open for him at an event in 2019 and running his finger down her back in an elevator. "I felt completely violated," she told investigators. |
The National Grid employee, Virginia Limmiatis, told investigators that Mr. Cuomo touched her chest and brushed his hand between her shoulder and breasts at an event in 2017. |
The demands for a resignation grew. |
The calls for Mr. Cuomo to resign were loud on Tuesday. They came from people including President Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and every Democratic member of Congress from New York State. |
Mr. Cuomo disputed the attorney general's findings and showed no inclination to step down. |
The findings could fuel support for impeachment proceedings. |
The speaker of the State Assembly, Carl E. Heastie, held an emergency meeting with fellow Democratic members on Tuesday. Mr. Heastie said in a statement that it was "abundantly clear" that Mr. Cuomo had lost the support of the Democratic majority in the Assembly and could no longer serve as governor. |
Many who spoke at the hourslong meeting said they believed there was enough evidence for the Assembly to move quickly to draw up articles of impeachment, though no timetable was set. |
Here are a few other stories from my colleagues on Mr. Cuomo, his future and the report: |
The Biden administration released amended guidelines extending and expanding protected status for Haitian nationals — a welcome move for thousands in New York. [The City] |
A 91-year-old man was found dead in a Bronx building. He was bound and appeared to have been beaten, the police said. [Daily News] |
The tight parallel-parking job ignited furor on social media after a photo was posted on Twitter. Here is the back story. [Curbed] |
And finally: Major changes to vaccine rules |
New York City will become the first U.S. city to require proof of vaccination for a variety of activities for workers and customers — indoor dining, gyms and movie theaters — a move intended to put pressure on people to get vaccinated, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Tuesday. |
The rules will start on Aug. 16, and enforcement will begin in mid-September, when schools are expected to reopen and more workers could return to offices in Manhattan. |
"This is a miraculous place literally full of wonders," Mr. de Blasio said. "If you're vaccinated, all that's going to open up to you. But if you're unvaccinated, unfortunately you will not be able to participate in many things." |
The vaccine requirement marks a new chapter in New York City's fight against the coronavirus. With the spread of the more contagious Delta variant, the average number of daily cases has jumped to more than 1,300, roughly six times the number in June. |
Mr. de Blasio's announcement came a day after he declined to set an indoor mask mandate, even as more cities and at least one state did so. He has instead prioritized vaccination, requiring city workers to get vaccinated or tested and incentivizing vaccines for the public with an offer of $100 cash. |
City officials said that inspectors from the Health Department and other agencies would enforce the new rules, and that restaurants could face fines. The logistics of monitoring the city's 25,000 restaurants and bars could be challenging — and contentious. |
It's Wednesday — stay safe. |
Metropolitan Diary: Apollo's shine |
In the early 1960s, I was a student at the School of American Ballet, New York City Ballet's official academy. I loved all of the company dancers, but Jacques d'Amboise was my all-out favorite. It was seeing him in Balanchine's "Apollo" that led me to the ballet school. |
Forty years later, I was working in London and saw that the National Dance Institute was offering a two-week teacher-training program in New York. Jacques had founded the institute in 1976 to give New York City schoolchildren firsthand experience with the arts. |
I was aware that I was well past the usual recruitment age. A friend who knew Jacques from their early City Ballet days together wrote to him on my behalf, and I was accepted into the program. |
At our first workshop, Jacques walked into the studio. |
"Where is Kaye's friend?" he shouted. |
I maneuvered my way past the other dancers and stood facing him. I told him how much seeing him dance Apollo on that small City Center stage had meant to me. |
He started humming a few bars of the Stravinsky score, rising to demi pointe, his arms circling his head. |
He was Apollo once again. |
— Madeleine Piepes Nicklin |
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