As allegations mount, elite opinion shifts, and tabloids pile on, Gov. Cuomo endangered, which alarms big real estate (plus: an AY flashback)

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has been deeply wounded by allegations of sexual harassment and bullying, some of which are tougher to defend/explain away than others, as well as the charge of underreporting coronavirus deaths in nursing homes, thus goosing his own performance, and allowing him to write a triumphant book about leadership.

Dems calling on Cuomo to resign is the story on 3 NY tab front pages this morning pic.twitter.com/6NusMEblr9

— Azi 👏 Wear your 😷 over your 👃and 👄 (@Azi) March 8, 2021

The New York Times's Gail Collins:

If it had just been the sex part we could have had some interesting conversations about what’s acceptable in an era that combines feminism with a fairly expansive view of what people — at least unmarried people — can and can’t do.
...But the nursing home cover-up is something that could have ruined Cuomo’s career all by itself.

Yesterday, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins joined many others in calling for Cuomo to step down based on the harassment charges, and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie expressed significant doubts about his ability to lead. 

The Albany Times-Union called for him to resign, citing "manipulation of state ethics bodies, multiple allegations of sexual harassment and these latest revelations on nursing home death."

Cuomo, who had a majority of public support as of a poll last week (though that could change), has denied some of the claims and called for an investigation to play out. Meanwhile, other episodes of heavyhanded management, notably his exiling of the innovative MTA leader Andy Byford, have gotten another airing.

An alternative to resignation: a pledge not to run for a fourth term, which reflects that public sentiment as of last week.

Note that it's not just one person, but Albany needs reform, as Rochester activist Rachel Barnhart pointed out: "Enact real independent redistricting, a real ethics panel, public campaign financing, better open records laws."

What it means for real estate

Cuomo’s crisis: What a weakened or departing governor means for real estate, the Real Deal wrote last week, noting that the loss of a "pro-growth pragmatist," to quote Kathryn Wylde, the president of the Partnership for New York City, would be a blow.

Notably, Cuomo holds the keys to the renewal of the Affordable New York tax break, the successor to 421-a, which has supported rental buildings like those at Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park and, more generally, has generated criticism for delivery "affordable" units aimed at the middle-class. The tax break, threatened by some legislators, expires next year.

There's a great quote from an unnamed real estate figure:

“One day he is an ally; one day he’s an enemy. It all depends on his personal calculus,” the source said. “You don’t know if you are going to get the handshake or the knife at any moment with Andrew Cuomo.”

 A supporter from real estate (and Atlantic Yards)

Two week ago, the New York Times published Ex-Aide Details Sexual Harassment Claims Against Gov. Cuomo, which noted:

On Wednesday, The New York Times spoke to three people who worked in the governor’s office during Ms. [Lindsay] Boylan’s time there. The people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that while they could not corroborate her allegations [like an unsolicited kiss], they concurred that the governor would sometimes make inappropriate remarks during work and comment on people’s appearances.

Early Wednesday evening, the governor’s office facilitated a statement to The Times from Ashley Cotton, a former aide to Mr. Cuomo when he was state attorney general, a position he left in 2010.

“I’ve known and spent over 20 years working with Andrew Cuomo — he is the same person in private as he is in public,” Ms. Cotton said. “He can be funny, he can make lousy jokes, he can be tough and direct. But I have never known him to cross the line.”

Cotton previously was Forest City Ratner's/Forest City New York's External Affairs chief, and now serves in a similar role for MAG Partners, the firm run by former Forest City CEO MaryAnne Gilmartin, after doing so for Gilmartin's earlier L&L MAG.

Cotton has only been out of college for 20 years, so "working with" Cuomo includes her stint as Deputy Campaign Manager for his Attorney General race, a stint in that office, two New York City government positions, and then her three positions in real estate.

Which is probably a reasonable way to put it--working in real estate can be "working with" Cuomo, who has been very good to projects like Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park, and surely for other projects with which Cotton has been involved. (She also volunteered for his campaign and wrote a letter supporting convicted Cuomo aide Joe Percoco, as I wrote in 2018.)

Cotton surely can be truthful in her own observation that she has "never known him to cross the line," but she's not in place to refute the other evidence (some of which Cuomo denies), which is subject to further inquiry and/or evaluation.

An AY flashback

Let's acknowledge that sexual harassment allegations, like other radioactive charges, can be weaponized or downplayed depending on circumstance and political advantage. 

Remember, as I wrote in 2017, the "wall of silence after Atlantic Yards- and Barclays Center-related sex harassment episodes that surfaced just two years ago, with a credible, sympathetic witness: a young black woman who'd lived near the project site all her life"?

Neither Public Advocate Letitia James nor Council Member Laurie Cumbo, both of whom presumably would've been sympathetic to the victim, even outraged, spoke out, and Cumbo even offered praise to Cotton for helping to "implement several measures including a color-coded identification system for its workers to improve accountability."

That color-coded system has fallen by the wayside.

And those figures today

Today, the office of state Attorney General James is investigating Cuomo, which James well-positioned to run for governor if Cuomo leaves or chooses not to seek re-election. (So, too, Mayor Bill de Blasio?) As to Cumbo, let's look at the 3/3/21 New York Times:

Indeed, the controversy over Mr. Cuomo’s behavior seemed to be revealing a split in the state party between established Democratic Party loyalists and more ideological, socially conscious members.

Laurie A. Cumbo, the majority leader for the New York City Council, said that it was vital to both “provide a safe space and place for women to come forward” and to allow an independent investigation to run its course.

“Sure we can cancel him, sure we can ask him to resign, sure we can demand that he resign and we move forward, but once we’ve canceled Gov. Cuomo, are we just creating, you know, this cycle?” she said. “How can we do something other than cancel here to really get to the heart of creating a solution and the understanding and the humanity that it takes in a workplace environment to address this issue?”

The latter quote has generated some scorn.