New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio called for an investigation into claims of sexual harassment made against Gov. Andrew Cuomo by staffer Lindsey Boylan.
“These allegations are really disturbing. Let’s be clear about that—they’re really disturbing. We have to, as New Yorkers, we got to take this seriously. When a woman comes forward with this kind of very specific allegations, they have to be taken serious. We need a full and independent investigation,“ de Blasio said on Feb. 25. ”This is just unacceptable. This kind of behavior, if true, is unacceptable, in any public servant, in anybody.”
“Governor Andrew Cuomo has created a culture within his administration where sexual harassment and bullying is so pervasive that it is not only condoned but expected. His inappropriate behavior toward women was an affirmation that he liked you, that you must be doing something right. He used intimidation to silence his critics. And if you dared to speak up, you would face consequences,” she wrote.
Cuomo’s office, in a statement to The Epoch Times, disputed Boylan’s account and said that details about her story are false.
“In Ms. Boylan’s latest blog post, she opens up with a story about a plane trip in October 2017—the manifests of all flights from October 2017 can be found below—there was no flight where Lindsey was alone with the Governor, a single press aide, and a NYS Trooper,” the office said, adding that the conversation Boylan described “did not happen.”
Boylan, who is a candidate for Manhattan borough president in New York City, worked for Cuomo from 2015 to 2018 as a deputy secretary for economic development.
In December 2020, Boylan wrote on Twitter that Cuomo had harassed her. At the time, Cuomo categorically denied the claim and said it’s “just not true.”
Earlier this month, Cuomo came under fire for how his administration handled the COVID-19 epidemic in nursing homes, with Democratic state officials calling for his ouster.
