(Kena Betancur/Getty Images)
By Anthony Payero
(THE BRONX, N.Y.) After more allegations against New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo have amounted this week, members of New York City's Congressional delegation, including two Bronx representatives, spoke out on Friday, according to AM New York.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jamaal Bowman released a joint statement on Friday that called for Gov. Cuomo to leave his post due to the sexual assault and harassment allegations he is currently facing.
The joint statement comes one day after over 59 state legislators penned an open letter asking for Cuomo's resignation, and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie approved the Assembly Judiciary Committee to begin a formal impeachment inquiry.
“This week, the second sexual assault allegation and the sixth harassment allegation was leveled against Governor Cuomo. The fact that this latest report was so recent is alarming, and it raises concerns about the present safety and well-being of the administration’s staff,” Ocasio-Cortez and Bowman wrote in their joint statement.
“Unfortunately, the governor is not only facing the accusation that he engaged in a pattern of sexual harassment and assault. There is also the extensive report from the Attorney General that found the Cuomo administration hid data on COVID-19 nursing home deaths from both the public and the state legislature,” they added.
Ocasio-Cortez and Bowman wrote they believed Cuomo's gubernatorial term was no longer justifiable, and that it would hinder the state government's capacity to operate properly.
“As members of the New York delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives, we believe these women, we believe the reporting, we believe the Attorney general, and we believe the fifty-five members of the New York State legislature, including the state Senate majority leader, who have concluded that Governor Cuomo can no longer effectively lead in the face of so many challenges,” the statement reads.
“After two accounts of sexual assault, four accounts of harassment, the Attorney General’s investigation finding the Governor’s admin hid nursing home data from the legislature & public, we agree with the 55+ members of the New York State legislature that the Governor must resign,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote in a tweet attached to the joint statement.