Kathy Hochul

The private ceremony took place at 12:01 this morning with the public swearing in ceremony set for 10am.
Hochul plans to meet with legislative leaders later this morning and make a public address at 3 p.m.

Andrew Cuomo in his final address as Governor yesterday, continued to attack the State Attorney General’s report for saying he sexually harassed anyone. He also cited his past accomplishments while adding that Kathy Hochul will be able to step up to the challenge as Governor.

Cuomo’s top aide, Melissa DeRosa, released a statement saying the governor was exploring his options for his post-gubernatorial life but had “no interest in running for office again.”

Cuomo’s resignation won’t end his legal problems.

An aide who said Cuomo groped her breast has filed a complaint with the Albany County Sheriff’s Office. Separately, Cuomo was facing a legislative investigation into whether he misled the public about COVD-19 deaths in nursing homes to protect his reputation as a pandemic leader and improperly got help from state employees in writing a book that may net him $5 million.

For the first time, a majority of the most powerful figures in New York state government will be women, including state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Attorney General Letitia James and Chief Judge Janet DiFiore. The state Assembly is led by a man, Speaker Carl Heastie.

Hochul made some initial staff announcements yesterday, saying she is adding Karen Persichilli Keogh to be the Secretary to the Governor and Elizabeth Fine to be Counsel to the Governor.

Keogh served on then-Senator Hillary Clinton’s senior staff as New York State Director and campaign manager for her successful 2006 Senate re-election.

Fine is Executive Vice-President and General Counsel of Empire State Development (ESD), New York’s economic development agency.

Hochul, who has already said she plans to run for a full term next year, is expected to pick a left-leaning New York City politician as her lieutenant governor.

Andy Goodell

ALBANY – Chautauqua County’s representative in the State Assembly is joining the chorus of criticism against Governor Andrew Cuomo as he continues to be scrutinized and investigated for his handling of nursing home residents during the Coronavirus Pandemic.

The Post-Journal reported over the weekend that Assemblyman Andy Goodell (R-Ellicott) wants the chair of the Democratic-controlled Assembly’s Health Committee to look into why the state chose to send some patients recovering from COVID-19 back into nursing homes.

Goodell last week sent a letter to Richard Gottfried asking him to look into the reasons for the order. Gottfried was one of several Democrats involved with a private conference call with the governor’s top aid, Melissa DeRosa, earlier this month, when she acknowledged the governor’s office was delaying the release of data involving nursing home deaths caused by COVID-19.

The call has since gone public and a wave of elected officials on both sides of the aisle have called for an investigation into the matter, with some even saying the governor should be impeached and also criminally charged for obstruction of justice.

Goodell said the information being requested by legislators should have been available months ago, but the greatest concern is the need for the state Legislature to understand how an estimated 15,000 nursing home deaths were allowed to happen, so that it doesn’t occur again in the future.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo during his presentation of the State Budget on Jan. 19, 2021 (Mike Groll/Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo)

ALBANY – Governor Andrew Cuomo acknowledged on Monday that his office should not have withheld data on COVID-19 nursing home deaths from state lawmakers, the public and press – but fell short of apologizing to state residents.

Cuomo said at a press conference that “lessons were learned’ in not releasing the data and that things “should have been done differently.”

“The last thing I wanted to do was aggravate a terrible situation,” said Cuomo, a third-term Democrat. “There were people’s requests, press requests that were not answered in a timely manner.”

More than 15,000 people have died in New York state’s nursing homes and long term care facilities from COVID-19, but as recently as last month, the state reported only 8,500 deaths.

Requests from state lawmakers and the U.S. Department of Justice were made in August for full accounting, along with numerous requests from the media, Cuomo acknowledged. But Cuomo said the state prioritized answering the Justice Department first, and other requests went unanswered.

Cuomo aide Melissa DeRosa told Democratic leaders in a private phone conversation last Thursday that the administration withheld information out of fear the U.S. Justice Department would use the information against it. She also reportedly apologized to those lawmakers for not disclosing the actual nursing home death-count earlier in the pandemic.

When details of that conversation went public, many on both sides of the political aisle perceived it as a cover-up and lawmakers said they are reconsidering their decision to grant Cuomo emergency powers to contend with the novel coronavirus pandemic.

As part of the fallout, Local State Sen. George Borrello (R-Irving) called on the Department of Justice and the New York Attorney General’s Office to investigate Cuomo’s administration.

“This news is heartbreaking but, sadly, not unexpected,” Borrello said in a media release. “After months of stonewalling and blaming everyone else  for these deaths,  we now know it’s been a cover up all along. This admission by DeRosa points to potential obstruction of justice, at the very least. The families of the thousands of people who lost their lives in New York’s nursing homes deserve no less than a complete and transparent investigation into how this happened.”