WGXC-90.7 FM

Current aide alleges eighth Cuomo sexual harassment claim

Mar 21, 2021 6:33 am
Jesse McKinley reports in The New York Times that an eighth woman has come forward with allegations of sexual harassment against New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. Alyssa McGrath, an employee of the governor’s office, told The New York Times that Cuomo would ogle her body, remark on her looks, and make suggestive comments to her and another executive aide. Cuomo is 63, and McGrath is 33. McKinley writes that, "McGrath described a pattern of the governor mixing flirtatious banter with more personal comments, as well as a subtle and persistent cultivation of competitive relationships between female co-workers in his office. It was something she said was compounded and protected by a demand for secrecy, and normalized inside the governor’s inner circle." Rita Glavin, a lawyer for Cuomo, said that, “the governor has greeted men and women with hugs and a kiss on the cheek, forehead, or hand. Yes, he has posed for photographs with his arm around them. Yes, he uses Italian phrases like ‘ciao bella.’ None of this is remarkable, although it may be old-fashioned. He has made clear that he has never made inappropriate advances or inappropriately touched anyone.” But McGrath recounts an incident when she was alone with Cuomo to take dictation. “I put my head down waiting for him to start speaking, and he didn’t start speaking,” she said. “So I looked up to see what was going on. And he was blatantly looking down my shirt.” Cuomo noticed she saw him looking down her shirt, she said, then “made a reference, a subtle reference, saying, ‘What’s on your necklace?’ Which was in my shirt.” Read more about this story in The New York Times.