ALBANY — Gov. Hochul said Thursday she’s made good on her 45-day pledge to clean house.
The governor touted administration appointments, internal overhauls and team-building over the past seven weeks as she replaced top aides to former Gov. Andrew Cuomo implicated in a state attorney general’s probe of her predecessor’s alleged sexual harassment.
“We made changes from day one. You’ve already seen major changes to the second floor,” she said following a bill signing event in Manhattan and referencing the governor’s offices in the State Capitol. “It is unrecognizable to people who are used to seeing individuals who were there in the past. That’s what I promised. The second floor, my executive team would change.”
Hochul’s comments came as word spread that Larry Schwartz, a longtime Cuomo ally, will resign from the board of the Metropolitan Transit Authority.
Schwartz was one of a dozen top aides and associates named in a damning report from Attorney General Letitia James detailing Cuomo’s alleged pattern of sexual harassment that led to his resignation.
Hochul assumed office in late August and changes to top posts in state government have gone well beyond those named in James’ report.
Howard Zucker, the highly criticized state health commissioner under Cuomo, resigned from his position late last month. Opponents have condemned Zucker’s handling of the COVID crisis and how officials responded to nursing home deaths during the pandemic.
Hochul tapped former city health commissioner, Dr. Mary Bassett, to replace Zucker effective Dec. 1.
The governor said Thursday she’s received praise from legislators for appointing Bassett and also noted her picks for secretary, Karen Keogh, and director of state operations, former New York City sanitation commissioner Kathryn Garcia, as she seeks to distance herself from her predecessor.
“The caliber of people who we’ve been able to attract is extraordinary,” she said. “I’m really proud of the individuals I have who are working in the trenches with me all day long, late at night, and they’re an incredible team.”
Other members of Cuomo’s inner circle and cabinet have stepped down since Hochul took over, including Department of Financial Services superintendent Linda Lacewell and Inspector General Letizia Tagliafierro.
However, other close Cuomo confidantes remain, including budget czar Robert Mujica and Port Authority Executive Director Rick Cotton.
“There are others I’ve asked to stay who had been involved in projects… but my position was anybody who was named in that report by the attorney general would no longer be part of my cabinet,” Hochul said.
Mujica’s name did not appear in James’ report, which, in addition to detailing a dozen accounts of sexual harassment, painted the Cuomo administration as a toxic environment.
Mujica’s holdover status rankled some critics who point out that he spent a decade working for Senate Republicans and holds positions on dozens of boards across the state, including at the MTA and CUNY.
“He is one of the engineers of the extreme inequality that is really hurting New York,” said Michael Kink, the executive director of the Strong Economy for All Coalition. “Progressives have concerns about his policies and his politics. I don’t think Mujica is a neutral policy expert.”
Kink argued that keeping Mujica could potentially harm Hochul in a Democratic primary next year.
“If Gov. Hochul wanted to signal, particularly to primary voters, that she was moving in a more progressive direction, she really blew it on this one,” he added.
