Looking Back On What May Be The Legacy Of Andrew Cuomo

By Joyce Davis

Recently we said goodbye to Governor Cuomo. I can only imagine that some are very unhappy to see him go because they see him as a hero to New York. No matter all the good you do it takes one bad misstep to wipe away what was a great legacy. Legacies are what we leave behind once we are gone and unfortunately, we don’t get to decide how we are remembered. Sex scandals are usually one of the things that can wipe out a multitude of great deeds.

I learned watching Rachel Maddow of some of the scandals that took place in New York to eventually lead to Kathy Hochul taking office. Mark Foley resigned in 2006 after it came to light that he sent sexually explicit emails to teenage boys. The number four person in the House at the time was Tom Reynolds who had to apologize publicly, just before reelection, for doing nothing even though he knew about things a year before the scandal broke. Although he won reelection he decided not to rerun and he endorsed Chris Lee to take his seat in the House. Chris Lee won the seat, but only held it for a month after it was found that he had been soliciting women for sex online. A special election was held for the seat and Kathy Hochul won the seat for Congress in a Republican County that usually picked men. Later she was picked by Andrew Cuomo to run with him as his Lt. Governor. Governor Elliot Spitzer resigned after a prostitution scandal, and his Lt. Governor David Patterson became Governor, but was forced to resign because of domestic abuse. Andrew Cuomo was then elected as Governor of New York.

Rachel asked a question that has not left my mind. She asked her guest to diagnose what accounts for all these men behaving badly. I thought that was a great question that I have been pondering ever since. What makes these men behave the way they do? Why do anything that would lead to you leaving in disgrace and ruining your reputation? How is it that so many know about these scandals but do not speak up to expose them? Why is your legacy

There was a time in our society where a husband could rape his wife without going to jail. Women were sexually harassed and assaulted in work places. Speaking up would only result in a woman losing her job. Times have changed. The #METOO movement has changed things. Women are no longer staying silent about what happened to them. Before there was a boy’s club that had a code of silence. “Boys will be boys.” That was the motto to keep us in the dark then, but now women have said times up. No more staying silent. No more taking what has been done and staying silent. Now women have a voice and are people listening to that voice.

Kathy Hochul is about to expand her legacy as Governor. She becomes the first female Governor of New York, in 2021 she is the first. Which says to me, there is still so much work to be done but women are breaking ceilings all over the place.

I am grateful to those who spoke up with #METOO movement. It is making and has made a difference. Women feel empowered to speak out. I can only hope at some point the tides will turn and that these abusers will be afraid of losing their legacies if they did these things. The code of silence is what kept it going. Powerful people knew powerful people were doing unimaginable things and they said nothing. Jefferey Epstein, while not in power but a billionaire, got a thirteen-month sentence for sex trafficking and rape as a deal to keep the information unknown. It is said that he trafficked women to politicians. Making a deal meant he had a lesser charge and the whole thing stayed quiet.

The powerful protected the powerful. U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Alex Acosta, who later became Labor Secretary in the Trump Administration, in my humble opinion was not just looking out for Epstein but politicians who were his friends when he made that deal. Instead of standing up for the women he protected his friends. The women in that case complained about him being Labor Secretary because of the sweetheart deal he gave Epstein. It then led to his resignation but also put a spotlight on the Epstein case and Epstein went back to jail. That is what can happen when women speak out.

It may happen one day men protect their legacy because we are in a new day. Women won’t just be quiet. They will speak up. Speaking out is the catalyst to change.

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