Source: Politics<\/p>\n
Thirteen women who worked for state government were sexually harassed by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo over the course of an eight-year period, a civil rights settlement announced<\/a> today by the Department of Justice found<\/a>.<\/p>\n The findings, which concluded Cuomo retaliated against four of the women, are the latest allegations leveled against the former three-term governor who has not ruled out<\/a> another run for elected office.<\/p>\n The agreement with Gov. Kathy Hochul\u2019s office found the governor\u2019s office under her predecessor violated federal Title VII rules against discrimination and retaliation.<\/p>\n Cuomo \u201crepeatedly subjected\u201d women in his office to sexual contact that wasn\u2019t consensual, ogled them and gave them gender-based nicknames.<\/p>\n The Justice Department\u2019s findings were part of a broader agreement with Hochul to expand her office\u2019s human resources department and create new policies and procedures for reporting.<\/p>\n Hochul had previously made a series of changes after taking office in August 2021, and she touted the efforts to address sexual harassment in the workplace.<\/p>\n “The moment I took office, I knew I needed to root out the culture of harassment that had previously plagued the Executive Chamber and implement strong policies to promote a safe workplace for all employees, and took immediate action to do so,\u201d Hochul said in a statement.<\/p>\n \u201cI am pleased that the U.S. Department of Justice has acknowledged the significance of those efforts, and look forward to partnering with them as we continue to build upon that success.”<\/p>\n Cuomo attorney Rita Glavin blasted the DOJ\u2019s settlement announcement and insisted he never sexually harassed anyone.<\/p>\n \u201cThe DOJ \u2018investigation\u2019 was based entirely on the NYS Attorney General\u2019s deeply flawed, inaccurate, biased, and misleading report,\u201d she said. \u201cAt no point did DOJ even contact Governor Cuomo concerning these matters. This is nothing more than a political settlement with no investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n And Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi in a separate statement blamed \u201cChuck Schumer\u2019s handpicked U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District\u201d and called the agreement \u201cnot worth the paper it\u2019s printed on.\u201d<\/p>\n Still, it\u2019s not clear what elements of James\u2019 report were used by the Department of Justice to reach its own conclusions. Details of the allegations against Cuomo were not released.<\/p>\n Additional questions remain: The 13 women the DOJ found were sexually harassed by Cuomo were all state employees. James\u2019 report concluded 11 women were subjected to sexual harassment or inappropriate behavior; two did not work for the state.<\/p>\n \u201cToday, the U.S. Department of Justice found that Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed multiple women and created a hostile work environment, confirming what the New York Attorney General\u2019s independent report found over two years ago,\u201d James\u2019 office said in a statement.<\/p>\n \u201cAndrew Cuomo can continue to deny the truth and attack these women, but the facts do not lie.\u201d<\/p>\n Lindsey Boylan, the first alleged victim to come forward publicly about Cuomo, wrote on X<\/a> about the new report: \u201cThese things happened. These things happened to me and other women. And then a huge bureaucracy tried to bury us for telling the truth. Never again will I ever let anyone or any system harm me and other women that way.\u201d<\/p>\n BILLS STADIUM UPDATE: Hochul joined Buffalo Bills owner Terry Pegula and Erie County local officials to announce new milestones in the construction of the Bills\u2019 new stadium.<\/p>\n The facility, which will hold 60,000 people and is being designed by the Bills and the architectural firm Populous, is prepped to now receive large-scale structural steel work.<\/p>\n \u201cThe first beam hoisted into place will signify the impressive progress taking place at the site of the new Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park,\u201d according to a press release from Hochul\u2019s office.<\/p>\n \u201cThis major construction milestone is a testament to the union labor and local workers who have made this project possible. By creating thousands of jobs, this stadium has already proven to be an engine for regional economic development,\u201d Hochul added.<\/p>\n Nearly 25,000 tons of steel \u2014 enough to build approximately three Eiffel towers \u2014 will be put in place by over 800 laborers working on the project.<\/p>\n The construction is set to be completed by 2026. \u2014 Shawn Ness<\/p>\n CANNABIS CASE: Officials from the state Office of Cannabis Management, including chief equity officer Damian Fagon, policy director John Kagia and general counsel Linda Baldwin, were spotted on an early morning Amtrak train from New York City to Albany.<\/p>\n The occasion? A hearing in a case seeking to halt the state\u2019s cannabis licensing process yet again.<\/p>\n Remember, the state has already dealt with two injunctions that have stalled its troubled rollout of the adult-use marijuana market. Now, a new lawsuit is asking the court for another preliminary injunction on the cannabis licensing process.<\/p>\n The argument is that New York\u2019s licensing process discriminates against out-of-state residents, violating the dormant Commerce Clause. While New York doesn\u2019t have a residency requirement, other federal courts have applied the dormant Commerce Clause to state marijuana markets.<\/p>\n New York\u2019s cannabis licensing rules give extra priority to applicants who meet certain criteria, including having a past cannabis conviction in New York. People who are residents of New York are more likely to have such a conviction, argued Jeffrey Jensen, an attorney for the plaintiffs.<\/p>\n District Judge Anne Nardacci methodically questioned both Jensen and assistant attorney general Ryan Hickey, who was representing the state\u2019s cannabis regulators at the hearing.<\/p>\n A OCM spokesperson declined to comment on pending litigation.<\/p>\n So what\u2019s next? Nardacci, a Biden appointee, did not rule from the bench, though an order is expected soon. It\u2019s hard to say which way she was leaning by her careful questioning of both sides during the hearing.<\/p>\n But if Baldwin\u2019s smile at the end was any indication, the state might be feeling good about its chances of avoiding another injunction. \u2014 Mona Zhang<\/p>\n ON THE RECORD: WNYC has run an ad campaign jokingly calling itself \u201cin the pocket of big truth.\u201d <\/p>\n So when City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams spoke on \u201cThe Brian Lehrer Show\u201d today, she framed it as setting the record straight on the police stops bill against Mayor Eric Adams\u2019 \u201cmisinformation.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s patently false that this law requires the NYPD to report every single encounter,\u201d she said. \u201cLadies and gentlemen: casual conversations and interactions are not level one stops.\u201d<\/p>\n The mayor vetoed the so-called<\/a> How Many Stops Act, but has said he\u2019d back a bill that exempted some or all of the lowest-level investigative encounters between cops and the public \u2014 known as level one \u2014 from reporting requirements. The speaker said again: She\u2019s done negotiating.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we get rid of level one in this bill, the whole bill is gutted. It\u2019s destroyed,\u201d she said. \u201cIt makes no sense.\u201d<\/p>\n Speaker Adams has said she has the votes to override the mayor\u2019s veto. She said the mayor\u2019s complaints that the law would waste officers\u2019 time aren\u2019t the council\u2019s issue to fix, but the NYPD\u2019s.<\/p>\n \u201cIf the administration decides to intentionally create the outcome that is most burdensome for officers, that will be at their hands.\u201d \u2013 Jeff Coltin<\/p>\n MORE MUDSLINGING IN NY-03: GOP House candidate Mazi Pilip is accusing her opponent, former Rep. Tom Suozzi, of associating with an individual Pilip claims is antisemitic and anti-Zionist.<\/p>\n Pilip claims the individual is listed as one of 12 hosts for a Feb. 3 Suozzi fundraiser in Queens. Neither Pilip nor anyone on her campaign said the individual\u2019s name out loud during today\u2019s press conference revealing the accusation.<\/p>\n Suozzi\u2019s campaign called the accusation a \u201cdistraction\u201d that \u201cdenigrates our common cause to combat antisemitism and support Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI condemn all antisemitism. I am unequivocally pro-Israel. My voting record reflects both,\u201d Suozzi said. \u201cI am not aware of the comments referenced by my opponent, but if I find them to be antisemitic, I will condemn them as I have throughout my public life.\u201d<\/p>\n Pilip\u2019s campaign alleges the Suozzi-linked \u201cfundraising surrogate\u201d reposted a video on Facebook featuring a rabbi from the Neturei Karta, a fringe sect of Orthodox Judaism whose members reject the state of Israel and often accompany pro-Palestinian protesters at marches. Pilip says the video was antisemitic and denies Jews a right to self-determination.<\/p>\n \u201cI served in the IDF to help protect Israel from terrorism, and I came to this country in search of (the) American Dream,\u201d Pilip said today in Great Neck, where she was flanked by Long Island Republican Rep. Anthony D’Esposito.<\/p>\n \u201cYet antisemitism is still here, and we are feeling it, and it is unfortunate it has made its way to this race for Congress.\u201d<\/p>\n Pilip is calling on Suozzi to boycott the Queens fundraiser, \u201crebuke\u201d the alleged host and donate any of the funds raised at the event to a pro-Israel nonprofit.<\/p>\n The accusation that the individual \u2014 who the Pilip asserts is \u201ca member of Team Suozzi\u201d \u2014 is antisemitic, seemed to rely solely on the individual\u2019s Facebook repost.<\/p>\n The event is just the latest example of the two candidates alleging an opponent is attacking their ethnicity.<\/p>\n Last week, Suozzi, an Italian-American, called on Pilip<\/a> to stop using language that evokes the Mafia or other Italian aspersions after Pilip\u2019s campaign spokesperson called<\/a> Suozzi the \u201cgodfather of the border crisis.\u201d \u2013 Jason Beeferman<\/p>\n REPEAT AFTER ME: Nobody in politics is more disciplined in their words than House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries \u2014 and he\u2019s asking fellow Democrats and others to follow his lead when it comes to talking about abortion.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are many of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle who want to enact a nationwide abortion ban. That\u2019s why reproductive freedom is going to be on the presidential ballot,\u201d and the House and Senate races\u2019 ballot too, Jeffries said at an Association for a Better New York breakfast today in Midtown Manhattan.<\/p>\n But in campaigning, \u201cWe want to take the abortion care issue and anchor it in a value: freedom. That is one of the reasons why it has become so powerfully resonant across the country,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n So Jeffries appealed to the crowd of politically connected New Yorkers, most of them Democrats.<\/p>\n \u201cThose of us who stand, I believe, on the right side of this issue, when we\u2019re communicating it, always use the freedom frame,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd that gives us the best opportunity, not just to reach people on the progressive side, but certainly moderates, centrist, swing voters. It will be core in determining this election.\u201d \u2013 Jeff Coltin<\/p>\n REDISTRICTING SPOT FILLED: Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins picked Dennis Walcott to fill a vacant spot on the Independent Redistricting Commission as it works<\/a> to complete the next draft of New York\u2019s congressional maps.<\/p>\n Walcott had top roles in New York City\u2019s schools for two decades, including a stint as chancellor under Michael Bloomberg. He\u2019s currently the Queens Public Library\u2019s president. In 2022, he led the commission<\/a> that drew new maps for the New York City Council.<\/p>\n He takes over for Medgar Evers professor John Flateau, who died in December<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are confident that Mr. Walcott will serve with the same dedication and integrity that marked Dr. Flateau’s tenure, and will be a valuable asset in the commission’s ongoing work to ensure fair and effective representation for all New Yorkers,\u201d Stewart-Cousins said in a statement. \u2013 Bill Mahoney<\/p>\n FISCALLY STRESSED SCHOOLS COULD SEE CUTS: State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli flagged 16 school districts<\/a> for financial stress, half of which are slated to receive cuts in Hochul\u2019s school aid proposal.<\/p>\n The report sheds light on what schools are struggling to cover expenses or pay off debts. And while Hochul\u2019s proposal for school aid is supposed to reflect district needs and changes to enrollment, several districts in the report are facing cuts.<\/p>\n Mount Vernon \u2013 which fell under the highest category of fiscal stress \u2013 was one of the districts that could see a $2.9 million cut in Hochul\u2019s proposal. When asked about the school aid runs, Hohcul stressed that overall school aid is increasing by $825 million. \u2013 Katelyn Cordero<\/p>\n STATUS OF TEACHER EVALUATION NEGOTIATIONS: Consensus over how to transition the state to a revamped teacher evaluation system wasn\u2019t agreed to late in the legislative session last year. This year, NYSUT president Melinda Person said she feels they are close to striking a deal, possibly even before the budget is approved in April.<\/p>\n While there\u2019s been agreement on the broad sweeping details<\/a> of what the new system will look like, how to move from the state\u2019s old system to the new has been the sticking point in negotiations.<\/p>\n Questions on the timeline and logistics surrounding implementation are still being ironed out. Person said she would like to see legislation passed before the budget is done, or possibly as part of the budget.<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone agrees on what the new plan is \u2013 which is the hard part \u2013 now it\u2019s just the, \u2018How do we get from Point A to Point B,\u2019\u201d Person told Playbook. \u2013 Katelyn Cordero<\/p>\n \u2014 An errant email has led to collusion accusations and subpoenas in the war for a New York casino license. (New York Times<\/a>)<\/p>\n \u2014 Donald Trump walked out while a jury was hearing evidence during his defamation trial. (POLITICO<\/a>)<\/p>\n \u2014 NRA chief Wayne LaPierre testified in a civil corruption case in New York City about the organization spending large quantities of money on private jets. (New York Times<\/a>)<\/p>\n