The following is an extended version of the story that recently appeared in our print edition.

Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who resigned from office on August 24, 2021, amid a sexual harassment scandal, made his second public appearance on Thursday, March 17, since he escaped being hit with sex crime charges by State prosecutors. Cuomo addressed a group of Bronx supporters alongside former District 18 city councilman, Rev. Ruben Díaz Sr., during a regular meeting of The New York Hispanic Clergy Organization, a group founded by Díaz.

 

The standing room only crowd packed the Christian Community Neighborhood Church, located at 1437 Longfellow Avenue, in a neighborhood southeast of Charlotte Gardens. Sammy Ravelo, former candidate for Bronx borough president, former District 12 city councilman, Andy King, and a host of local clergy leaders were also in attendance.

 

Díaz Sr. praised Cuomo for several actions he had taken as governor. They included sending 23 State Army National Guard trucks to pick up donations for Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria hit; four new Metro North train stations soon-to-be-built in The Bronx; the deconstruction of the Sheridan Expressway to give residents better access to the Bronx River and get truck traffic off neighborhood streets; and the Orchard Beach renovation. Former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said in May 2021 that the City had devoted, with its “partners,” $83 million to the Orchard Beach renovation project.

 

Norwood News asked the New York State Empire State Development agency to provide details of the exact State funding allocated to the Orchard Beach project. A representative responded, saying, “This isn’t an ESD project so I don’t have more information to offer, unfortunately.” Norwood News reached out to Díaz Sr. for further context on his praise of the former governor in respect of this project therefore. We will update this story should we receive a response.

 

He also credited him with “Camp Junior” a 40-acre camp in Harriman State Park, named after Lesandro “Junior” Guzman Feliz, a 15-year-old NYPD Explorer who was murdered by a gang who stabbed him in a brutal assault in Belmont in 2018. The camp was created for 800 youngsters to attend each summer to give them some respite from the culture of street violence over the summer months.

 

Addressing the crowd, Cuomo said, “One of the things I’ve learned is that the people in The Bronx respect straight talk and unvarnished truth, and that’s what I want to offer you today.” He then continued with an unfortunate and possibly inadvertent choice of words, saying “I don’t speak to you as a politician, so I can tell you the truth. I speak to you as a concerned New Yorker.” He added, “The truth is we are in a pivotal and dangerous time in this country and in this state.”

Cuomo said he believed the current political discord in the country began with the Republican Party’s “Tea Party” movement, before alleging that “extremists” were now “driving the Democratic Party.” Later, addressing “cancel culture,” he told supporters, “I know because my family paid the price.” He continued, “This country, our social policies, we are a function of evolution… and we want to encourage, not discourage that debate and that growth.” He said when both political parties stop talking, “it is over for us as a democracy.”

 

Cuomo said he believed crime was the number one issue affecting voters and discussed the 2019 bail reform laws which eliminated cash bail for most misdemeanors and non-violent felony charges. Having supported bail reform at the time, Cuomo said “adjustments” to the law were needed.

 

“It’s not really being debated because the extremists refuse to have a reasonable conversation [about crime],” he said. Lawmakers who opposed adjusting bail reform laws argue that it was not the driver of high crime rates. Cuomo then cited the case of Díaz Sr.’s son, Samuel Díaz, who was stabbed in a 2020 attack, as reported by The NY Daily News, by a man who was later released and went on to murder another victim in 2021.

 

The former governor said, “I believe our new mayor, Eric Adams, understands the reality of the crime problem… The bad news is he can’t do it on his own. If they don’t make the changes in the next two weeks before the State budget is done, it will not get done.”

 

The final State budget approved by Gov. Kathy Hochul in early April did make some changes to bail law, discovery law, pre-arraignment detention, involuntary commitment and more, though not to the degree anticipated by some, as reported by The Gothamist.

 

Moving on to the topic of family, and briefly mentioning that he felt his brother, former CNN anchor, Chris Cuomo, had essentially been scapegoated, the former governor said, “I have gone through a very difficult year, the most difficult year of my life, not just for me, but because it hurt my family.” Chris Cuomo was fired on Dec. 4, 2021, for not disclosing that he had helped with his brother’s defense of the sexual misconduct allegations. Prior to being fired, Chris Cuomo was also hit with a sexual harassment allegation, which he has denied.

 

Meanwhile, the former governor sought to frame the allegations as a hit job, referring again to Democratic extremists who he said saw him as “standing in their way.” He alleged such extremists control Albany, adding, “I was limiting them, so they wanted me out. There are people who wanted to run against me. They wanted my job, and they used this opportunity to help themselves politically.”

 

It is unknown if Cuomo was making a veiled reference to Attorney General Letitia James. The attorney general briefly launched gubernatorial campaign in 2021 before later withdrawing her candidacy. The investigation into the sexual misconduct allegations against Cuomo was overseen by James’ office. Investigators concluded that the former governor did sexually harass at least 11 women — including former and current state employees — by engaging in unwanted groping, kissing, and hugging, and making inappropriate comments.

They also found that he and his senior staff took actions to retaliate against at least one former employee for coming forward with her story. In addition, they said the executive chamber fostered a “toxic” workplace that enabled “harassment to occur and created a hostile work environment.”

 

James referred her office’s report findings to local State prosecutors to litigate. Cuomo denied the allegations, though he apologized to the women involved if, he said, he had ever made them feel uncomfortable or caused offense, framing his behavior as either a cultural proclivity or disputing the interpretation of certain events.

 

Amid Cuomo’s resignation, the State Assembly later suspended an impeachment investigation which had begun to take shape. More recently, four different New York district attorneys (DA) in Nassau, Westchester, Albany, and Oswego decided not to prosecute separate criminal complaints filed with their respective offices regarding the sexual misconduct allegations against Cuomo.

 

The DA office officials were reported to have found the impacted women to be credible but felt their offices lacked sufficient evidence to convince a judge or jury of the allegations in court. Various media later reported that the Manhattan district attorney’s office dropped its inquiry into similar allegations though no public statement was made detailing why.

 

“They come up with a report that said I had 11 cases of sexual harassment,” Cuomo said at the March 17 event. “How can you have a report that says 11 cases, and then it goes to qualified law enforcement, and they find no cases? It was fraud; they wanted me out,” he said.

 

As reported, King was expelled from the City Council on Oct. 5, 2020, over charges he harassed and discriminated against a female employee, took a kickback from another staffer, and failed to pay a fine for previous misconduct.”

In response, King said, in part, at the time, “It is clear to me from the narrative spun by my colleagues today, in casting their vote to remove me, that they did not consult the transcripts of the hearing that was held by the Committee on Standards and Ethics. It is also apparent that they did not review any of the evidence presented against me during the hearing.”

 

He added “[I] have always worked to ensure that woman’s rights are protected, supported and enriched. This case had nothing to do with sexual harassment.” He characterized his ousting as “a high-tech lynching, orchestrated by my political enemies to satisfy their agenda.”

 

Díaz Sr. later asked Cuomo if he was running for governor. Cuomo replied, “What are my political plans? Look, as I’ve said, I’ve been through a very difficult year. I did a lot of soul searching… I served as your governor, and I am so proud of the way I did it. The reason I have political enemies in Albany is because I fought for you, not for them.”

 

The former governor concluded by telling his audience, “I am not going anywhere and I’m going to continue to fight. I have a lot of options and I’m open to all of them.” Part of that fight continues in the form of a recent ad campaign, seemingly aimed at rehabilitating Cuomo’s image and reportedly and legally paid for out of his million-dollar political war chest. Cuomo later joked, “I’m hoping for an offer from the New York Jets, I still think I could play wide receiver.”

 

Outside the church, a crowd had gathered to catch a glimpse of the former governor. As he exited, an unidentified Department of Education employee, standing in front of I.S. 845, was asked her opinion of him. She replied, “He’s got my vote because I believe in him.” Asked if she thought Cuomo was removed unfairly from office, she responded, “Yes, definitely.”

 

Cuomo has also been criticized for his handling of nursing home patients amid the COVID-19 pandemic, while later promoting a book on leadership lessons from the pandemic. In December 2021, The New York Times reported that a State ethics board ordered him to turn over millions of dollars in profits from the pandemic memoir, giving him 30 days to do so. Politico later reported that prosecutors in Manhattan concluded the former governor did not break the law when his administration misled the public about the number of COVID-19 deaths tied to nursing homes.

 

His host, Díaz Sr., has been called “a hoax and a huckster” and “a Trump-supporting republican disguised as a Democrat” by former City Council Speaker Melissa Mark Viverito who ran against Díaz in the 15th congressional district race in 2020. Both candidates ultimately lost to now Rep. Ritchie Torres. Meanwhile, reacting to Cuomo’s Bronx appearance, Ana Maria Archila, a 2022 Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor, tweeted, “Cuomo has refused to accept an ounce of responsibility for his actions, instead opting to gaslight those he victimized, and spend millions of his corporate cronies’ donations on ads to project his grotesque message.” As reported, Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin resigned in recent weeks amid a corruption scandal.

 

In a presumed reference to Díaz Sr., who was widely condemned in 2019 when he said the City Council was “controlled by the homosexual community” and that reporting sexual harassment would make him a “rat”, Archila added, “And now he’s [Cuomo] seeking validation from someone who has made a career of denying the dignity of LGBTQ people and women.”