Disgraced Gov. Andrew Cuomo doesn’t have a clue what he is going to do next — or where he will live — now that he’s set to leave the Executive Mansion later this month, he said in his first interview since announcing his resignation.
“Uh, I don’t know what I’m gonna do,” Cuomo, 63, told New York Magazine when asked about his immediate plans, including where he was going to reside, in an article published Friday.
The scandal-scarred New York executive announced his intent to step down Tuesday amid bombshell allegations of sexual harassment and looming impeachment proceedings, which have since been suspended.
It’s unclear where Cuomo will move to after his last day on Aug. 24. He does not own any property in his name, according to available public records. His last private residence was the four-bedroom Mount Kisco abode he shared with his ex, Sandra Lee, which was in her name. Cuomo moved out in 2019, and Lee sold the Colonial she called Lily Pond in 2020 for $1.85 million.
Wherever he ends up, Cuomo told the magazine he would maintain his public “voice.”
“I’m not disappearing. I have a voice, I have a perspective and that’s not gonna change,” he said. “And the details aren’t really that important to me to tell you the truth.”
Cuomo previously lived in Mount Kisco with then-girlfriend Sandra Lee.
“You know? I’m a New Yorker, I’ve lived here, I’ve lived in Queens, I’ve lived in the city, I’ve lived upstate, I’ve lived everywhere, I came to Washington, so that’s … I don’t really care about that,” Cuomo continued, “I’ll figure that out.”
The Democrat, who is in his third gubernatorial term, added he believes he “did the right thing” by choosing to resign instead of battling for his political survival following the publication of the bombshell report from state Attorney General Letitia James, which alleges he sexually harassed or groped 11 women, including several state employees, which he has denied.
Cuomo said he felt his resignation was the best choice for the state, as opposed to going through a lengthy public impeachment proceeding — which he thinks he would have won.
“I’m not gonna drag the state through the mud, through a three-month, four-month impeachment, and then win, and have made the State Legislature and the state government look like a ship of fools, when everything I’ve done all my life was for the exact opposite,” he told the mag. “I’m not doing that. I feel good. I’m not a martyr. It’s just, I saw the options, option A, option B.”
“I feel like I did the right thing. I did the right thing for the state,” Cuomo added.
The State assembly decided to “suspend” its impeachment probe into the governor since his resignation, even though it had found evidence of misconduct, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said Friday.
“[T]he Assembly will suspend its impeachment investigation upon the governor’s resignation taking effect on August 25,” Heastie said in a statement released by his office Friday, in a decision that he said was backed by his fellow Democrats, who control the chamber.
Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul will take over for Cuomo, becoming New York’s first female governor.