An eighth woman says New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed her.
Alyssa McGrath, 33, is the first current staffer in the Democrat’s office to level accusations against him while revealing her name.
McGrath told The New York Times that Cuomo has ogled her, commented on how she looks, and made suggestive remarks.
“He has a way of making you feel very comfortable around him, almost like you’re his friend,” McGrath said. “But then you walk away from the encounter or conversation, in your head going, ‘I can’t believe I just had that interaction with the governor of New York.’”
The governor’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment.
A lawyer for the governor told The New York Times that Cuomo “has greeted men and women with hugs and a kiss on the cheek, forehead, or hand.”
“Yes, he has posed for photographs with his arm around them. Yes, he uses Italian phrases like ‘ciao bella.’ None of this is remarkable, although it may be old-fashioned. He has made clear that he has never made inappropriate advances or inappropriately touched anyone,” she added.
The first accusation came from Manhattan Borough President candidate Lindsay Boylan, 36, who said Cuomo touched and kissed her without her consent while she was working for the state government.
Charlotte Bennett, 25, another former aide, then said Cuomo sexually harassed her.
Anna Ruch, 33, Ana Liss, 35, Karen Hinton, 62, reporter Jessica Bakeman, 32, and an unnamed woman also came forward with allegations.
The unnamed woman, said to be a current aide, told The Times Union last week that Cuomo groped her at the governor’s mansion.
McGrath said the aide also described that encounter with her.
“She froze when he started doing that stuff to her,” Ms. McGrath said. “But who are you going to tell?”
Cuomo has denied the accusations, though he apologized last month for interactions that “may have been insensitive or too personal,” as well as comments that “made others feel in ways I never intended.”
“I acknowledge some of the things I have said have been misinterpreted as an unwanted flirtation. To the extent anyone felt that way, I am truly sorry about that,” he also said. “To be clear I never inappropriately touched anybody and I never propositioned anybody and I never intended to make anyone feel uncomfortable, but these are allegations that New Yorkers deserve answers to.”
Investigators appointed by New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, are currently probing the allegations.
Bennett met via Zoom with investigators last week, telling them about her accusations and providing documents to back up her claims, a lawyer said.
