Former Cuomo staffer details her sexual harassment allegations against the New York governor in a new essay

• A former aide to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has come forward with more allegations of harassment. 
• Lindsey Boylan, who worked for Cuomo until 2018, said that he kissed her without consent in a new Medium post. 
• Cuomo’s office did not respond to Insider’s request for comment. 
• Visit the Business section of Insider for more stories.

A former aide to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has expanded on her allegations of pervasive sexual harassment and abuse in Cuomo’s office in a new essay on Medium.

Lindsey Boylan, who worked at a senior level Cuomo’s office until 2018, said in the Wednesday essay that after years of unwanted sexual advances, including inappropriate touching and comments, Cuomo kissed her without consent in late 2018, leading her to resign that year. 

Boylan, who was Deputy Secretary for Economic Development and Special Advisor to Cuomo at the time she left his administration, ran for Congress in the Democratic primary against Rep. Jerry Nadler in 2020, and is currently a candidate for Manhattan Borough President.

She first came forward with the allegations against Cuomo in a December 2020 Twitter thread, saying that he harassed her and cultivated a “toxic” work environment for years — including the presence of others.

At the time, Boylan also tweeted that she had “no interest in talking to journalists” about her allegations of mistreatment, saying, “My worst fear is that this continues..and my second worst fear is having to talk about and relive this.”

“Telling my truth isn’t about seeking revenge. I was proud to work in the Cuomo Administration. For so long I had looked up to the Governor. But his abusive behavior needs to stop,” she wrote.

Cuomo’s office did not respond to Insider’s request for comment. 

In addition to saying that Cuomo kissed her without consent, Boylan’s Medium post included a screenshot of an email from another top Cuomo aide Stephanie Benton in 2016 where Benton communicated that Cuomo said Boylan should “look up” Lisa Shields, a rumored ex-girlfriend of the governor, adding, “you could be sisters. Except you’re the better-looking sister.”

Boylan also included screenshots of messages with her mother from 2016 where Boylan said she “didn’t trust” Cuomo because he and his staff kept close track of her whereabouts. Boylan’s mother responded: “He is a sexist pig and you should avoid being alone with him!”

Boylan, who is married, wrote that the governor first started to make her feel uncomfortable in 2016, when she learned from her supervisor that he had a “crush” on her. From there, she said, Cuomo would find ways to touch her inappropriately and make other unwanted advances, including joking on a 2017 plane ride that they should play “strip poker.”

In addition to inappropriate comments and advances towards her that made her not want to accept a promotion to be higher up in his administration, Boylan said the governor “made unflattering comments about the weight of female colleagues. He ridiculed them about their romantic relationships and significant others. He said the reasons that men get women were “‘money and power.'”

Boylan wrote that while she put up with the comments for so long, the last straw was when, she said, Cuomo kissed her without her consent while they were walking out of the governor’s New York City office. 

Cuomo is currently facing a firestorm of controversy over both his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York, and allegations of abuse, harassment, and retaliation of others, including most recently, from Democratic Assemblyman Ron Kim, who said Cuomo threatened him.

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