Even though Governor Andrew Cuomo resigned in the face of near-certain impeachment over several charges of sexually harassing his far younger female staffers, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio voiced incredulity that the outgoing Cuomo will still be allowed to receive a $50,000-a-year pension, the New York Post reported on Wednesday.
"I struggle to see why that’s OK," de Blasio is quoted as saying at a press briefing. "Let's face it, had he not resigned, he was going to be impeached, so I don’t know how you get to get a pension as part of that."
Nonetheless, according to the report, under present legislation, neither resignation nor impeachment for alleged misbehavior prevents a public employee from receiving a pension, as pension forfeiture can only be triggered by a felony conviction.
But de Blasio reportedly hopes that the soon-to-be ex-governor may still lose that money.
"There’s going to be more proceedings obviously by prosecutors. There’s a lot more that has to be addressed. He needs to be held accountable. The people who aided and abetted him need to be held accountable," de Blasio said. "Maybe those actions will settle some of those issues."
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo speaks during a COVID-19 briefing on July 6, 2020 in New York City. On the 128th day since the first confirmed case in New York and on the first day of phase 3 of the reopening, Gov. Cuomo asked New Yorkers to continue to be smart while citing the rise of infections in other states.
© AFP 2023 / DAVID DEE DELGADO
At least five district attorneys throughout the state are reportedly looking into claims made in the attorney general's sexual harassment report, which led Cuomo to resign.
More to that, Cuomo's memoir, "American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic," which was sold to Crown Publishing Group for $5.1 million, is under AG investigation over whether he misused government resources by pressing state employees to help him work on the book.
Speaker Carl Heastie stated last Friday that the New York State Assembly has chosen to put Governor Andrew Cuomo's impeachment proceedings on hold after he announced his resignation amid sexual harassment claims.
"The Assembly will suspend its impeachment investigation upon the governor’s resignation taking effect on August 25," Heastie said.
Cuomo picked New York State Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul as his successor when he stepped down. Hochul is set to become the first female governor of the state.