Mayor Bill de Blasio is calling for an independent investigation into what he called the “really disturbing” sexual harassment allegations against Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
De Blasio said Thursday that a probe into claims by former Cuomo aide Lindsey Boylan needed to be conducted by “some individual or entity that is not compromised” or “dominated” by the governor’s office.
“Look, these allegations are really disturbing, let’s be clear about that,” de Blasio said.
“When a woman comes forward with this kind of very specific allegations, we have to take it seriously.”
The mayor added: “This kind of behavior, if true, is unacceptable.”
Actress and #MeToo activist Rose McGowan also has called for an investigation into Cuomo over the Boylan allegations.
Boylan, now a Democratic candidate for Manhattan borough president, initially accused Cuomo of sexual harassment in a series of tweets in December.
At the time, she didn’t detail Cuomo’s alleged conduct, but on Wednesday she posted an essay on the Medium website that claimed he kissed her “on the lips” without warning following a meeting in his Manhattan office in 2018.
Boylan also alleged the Cuomo told her, “Let’s play strip poker,” during an October 2017 flight on his official state jet.
Cuomo denied Boylan’s allegations as “just not true” in December but hasn’t yet addressed them personally.
On Wednesday, his press secretary, Caitlin Girouard, said in a prepared statement, “As we said before, Ms. Boylan’s claims of inappropriate behavior are quite simply false.”
Girouard also released a joint statement from four current and former aides – John Maggiore, Howard Zemsky, Dani Lever and Abbey Fashouer Collins — who she said joined Cuomo for the Oct. 2017 flights on which Boylan was also a passenger.
“We were on each of these October flights and this conversation did not happen,” the statement said.