Andrew Cuomo joins long list of big New York political scandals
With his resignation announcement on Tuesday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo joins a club of scandal-scarred New York politicians that is neither small nor exclusive.
The Democrat said he will step down on Aug. 24 — with more than a year left in his third term — amid threat of impeachment and multiple investigations into the slew of sexual harassment allegations against him, as well as his handling of nursing homes during COVID-19 and his $5.1 million book deal on the pandemic.
He’s not the first, and will likely not be the last, Empire State pol to resign in a whirlwind of controversy.
Here’s a look at some of the major New York political scandals to precede Cuomo — in this century alone:
Alan Hevesi
After four years as State Comptroller, Hevesi stepped down in December 2006, as part of a plea deal with the Albany County Court related to his enlisting of government staffers to chauffer his wife around.
He pleaded guilty to defrauding the government, a felony, and was sentenced to a $5,000 fine. Hevesi was also permanently barred from holding public office.
In 2011, Hevesi, now 81, pleaded guilty to a corruption charge in a “pay to play” scheme involving the state Pension Fund during his time as comptroller. He served 19 months behind bars.
Eliot Spitzer
The Democratic governor announced his resignation in March 2008 after his participation in a prostitution ring was uncovered. Federal investigators alleged that Spitzer had shelled out up to $80,000 on call girls over several years, while he served as state attorney general, and later as governor.
Since leaving office, the disgraced “Luv Guv” had stints as a TV-host and adjunct political-science professor at City College. He’s also dabbled in real-estate and backed a financial start-up.
Spitzer ran for New York City Comptroller in 2013, losing the Democratic nomination to eventual winner Scott Stringer.
David Paterson
As Spitzer’s lieutenant governor, Paterson, a lifelong Democrat, stepped in when the “Luv Guv” resigned.
He had several scandals of his own, including allegations of witness tampering in a domestic abuse case and of soliciting improper gifts of free Yankee tickets.
While Paterson was fined $62,125 after being found guilty of lying under oath in connection with the ticket scandal, he did not resign, instead finishing out Spitzer’s term through 2010.
He withdrew his his bid for a full gubernatorial term in 2010, paving the way for Cuomo to snag the Democratic nomination.
Joseph Bruno
The powerful Republican state Senate majority leader stepped down in July 2008 amid federal corruption charges, including mail and wire fraud.
He was convicted in 2009, but the Supreme Court later overturned his conviction and a retrial ended in his acquittal in 2014.
Bruno died on Oct. 6, 2020, at 91 after a battle with prostate cancer.
Anthony Weiner
The onetime rising star in the Democratic party resigned from Congress after 12 years in June 2011, admitting he sent an X-rated photo to a woman via Twitter and had engaged in inappropriate relationships with women online.
He then tried to mount a comeback when he ran for New York City mayor in 2013 — but his bid was torpedoed by revelations he sexted with another woman under the pseudonym “Carlos Danger.”
Weiner was then hit with yet another sordid scandal when he was busted in 2017 for sexting with a high school girl — despite knowing she was underage.
Huma Abedin, his wife and mother of their young son, filed for divorce just hours after he pleaded guilty but she later withdrew the case to settle matters out of court.
Weiner wept at his sentencing, calling himself a “very sick man,” as he was hit with 21 months behind bars.
Now a registered sex offender, he was freed from prison in February 2019.
Sheldon Silver
The Democratic state Assembly speaker resigned in early 2015 after he was arrested on federal corruption charges related to kickback schemes he ran while in office.
He was convicted that year at trial, but the conviction was later overturned. However, Silver, 77, was found guilty of the same charges during his 2018 retrial, and sentenced to nearly seven years in prison.
The crooked Albany power broker was released on May 4, 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Dean Skelos
The once-powerful Republican state Senate Majority Leader resigned in May 2015, shortly after his arrest of federal corruption charges, including extortion, fraud and bribe solicitation. He was convicted at trial later that year.
However, his conviction was overturned in 2017, but, like Silver, a retrial in 2018 resulted in a second conviction for strong-arming companies into providing do-nothing jobs and consulting gigs to his son, Adam. He was sentenced to four years and three months in prison.
In April 2020, Skelos, 73, was released to home confinement after he tested positive for COVID-19 in prison.
Eric Schneiderman
The state attorney general abruptly stepped down in May 2018 — hours after The New Yorker published a report detailing bombshell allegations of physical abuse and sexual harassment from four women.
He’s since rebounded as a mediation teacher.
