On February 24, Lindsey Boylan, a former advisor to New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo, came forward with details of alleged sexual harassment by the governor, including an unwanted kiss and inappropriate touching. Boylan wrote in a post on Medium that Cuomo had a “crush” on her, and that he “would go out of his way to touch me on my lower back, arms, and legs.” Boylan also alleged that Cuomo’s inappropriate gestures increased in frequency, culminating in him kissing Boylan on the lips after a private meeting. This led Boylan to resign from her position in 2018. A spokeswoman for Cuomo denied the allegations.

On February 27, a former aide of Cuomo’s came forward with more allegations against him in a New York Times article. In the article, she said that, in June, Cuomo asked her a number of questions about her personal life, including if she had been intimate with older men. Cuomo issued an apology on February 28, saying that he might have made jokes in poor taste and that “Sometimes I think I am being playful and make jokes that I think are funny.”

On March 1, a third accuser came forward in a New York Times piece. Anna Ruch, who had not worked for Cuomo, said that Cuomo placed his hands on her bare lower back, and, after Ruch removed them, gripped her cheeks and asked if he could kiss her. Cuomo’s office responded that his actions “have been misinterpreted as an unwanted flirtation.”

With these allegations have come calls for Cuomo to resign, which Cuomo has vehemently shot down. An independent investigation, run by the New York attorney general, is being organized.