“As I got up to leave and walk toward an open door, he stepped in front of me and kissed me on the lips. I was in shock, but I kept walking,” wrote Lindsey Boylan in a Medium post today. “He” was her boss, New York State governor Andrew Cuomo, and the kiss wasn’t just unwanted. Boylan dodged him for years.
By David Stone
When one of my favorite groups, The Crystals, had a hit with Then He Kissed Me, back in the Sixties, the kiss was a thrilling, welcome surprise. But when it happened to Lindsey Boylan in 2018, it wasn’t. It cost her job after months of reporting for work nauseated.
In her post on Medium on Wednesday, the woman who served as a special advisor to Cuomo, recalled a history of stalking and bullying. That led to her quitting in September 2018. Boylan tweeted a #MeToo style notice in December, but here, she went much farther.
Reader Sylvan Klein sent a note about her post at 11:30, within a couple of hours of its release. By early afternoon, it splashed across the New York tabloids, and it even hit the Times.
As evening arrived, a clear sense of “This ain’t over” came along with it.
Cuomo “kissed me on the lips,” and it ain’t over…
According to news service The Center Square, Albany’s powerful politicians were on high alert.
“Boylan’s post was enough for Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Senate President Andrea Stewart-Cousins to issue statements.”
“These are serious allegations,” Heastie, D-Bronx said. “Harassment in the workplace of any kind should not be tolerated.”
Stewart-Cousins, D-Yonkers, said she found Boylan’s claims “deeply disturbing.”
“Clearly, there is no place for this type of behavior in the workplace or anywhere else,” she said.
And Senator Liz Kreuger chipped in.
Walls tumbling down…
The day before Boylan’s Cuomo “kissed me on the lips” post, research firm Morning Consult reported the governor’s approval slipping. His bumbling, bullying handling of the COVID-19 nursing home scandal got the blame for that.
But here in New YorkCity, a lesser known scandal brewed for months. And this one’s different because alleged racism tinges the scene at the governor’s local plaything, the Roosevelt Island Operating Corp. (RIOC).
In a blistering September lawsuit filing, former RIOC CEO Susan Rosenthal walloped Cuomo and his henchmen for dirty dealing in her dismissal. The state responded with counter charges, this month, and in March, Rosenthal gets her next shot.
Cuomo kissed me and more, a conclusion…
New York’s governor grabbed the nation’s attention, last spring, when he stepped boldly into the gap in leadership for fighting the coronavirus. Daily briefings showed him taking firm control, and he wore empathy on his sleeve.
But for many, it was an aberration, if a welcome one. Cuomo’s bullying and mean-spiritedness hadn’t melted but were merely replaced. His many detractors expected a return, and they weren’t disappointed.
Still, few expected the stature-crumbling fusillade that arrived, this month. His mishandling of nursing home data is under consideration for federal crimes, and when you add sexual harassment and racism among the accusations, the man’s in trouble.
Who knows if it’s enough to really shake down the walls erected around the powerful governor?
But one thing’s for sure. He will not back down because, according to his team, Boylan made it all up and the nursing home scandal? Caused by conspiracy theorists…
Time will tell if that stuff gets him through the rough patch ahead.
Latest from Assorted Ideas, Large & Small
How New York Borough Events Shape Everyday Life on Roosevelt Island
Explore how New York borough events shape everyday life on Roosevelt Island, from community initiatives to city headlines and local culture.
Keep reading
Roosevelt Island and Queens: Public Safety, Infrastructure, and Community Threads
Explore Roosevelt Island and Queens public safety updates, infrastructure efforts, and community threads shaping daily life in our neighborhoods.
Keep reading
How Accountability and Everyday Effort Shape Steadiness on Roosevelt Island
Explore how accountability and everyday effort shape steadiness on Roosevelt Island, connecting local routines with bigger city stories and community trust.
Keep readingSomething went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.
The Meeting That Moved On Without Her
The smoke had thinned by November seventeenth, but it still clung to my coat and the back of my throat. Two nights earlier, fire trucks had crowded the rear of the Landings, their lights bouncing off brick and glass. The flames were gone. The smell remained.
