前副州长凯西·霍楚尔周二上午12:01宣誓就任纽约首位女州长。
“很荣幸正式宣誓就任纽约第57任州长，”霍楚尔在推特上写道来自她新的官方州长账户。午夜过后不久，纽约州长的网站也进行了更新。
在奥尔巴尼州议会大厦举行的私人仪式上，霍楚尔由该州首席法官珍妮特·迪菲奥里宣誓就职。周二上午10点，霍楚尔将在州议会大厦的红厅举行公开宣誓就职仪式，尽管她没有浪费时间宣布她政府的前两项任命，而是挑选了希拉里·罗德姆·克林顿的前高级助手卡伦·波斯奇利·基奥担任州长秘书，以及帝国州发展部(纽约州经济发展署)执行副总裁兼总法律顾问伊丽莎白·法恩担任州长顾问。
“我对此感到兴奋，”霍楚尔上周在参观纽约市皇后区时说。“我对这个机会感到兴奋。我对此已经做好了充分的准备。”
在周一对选民发表的激烈告别演说中，现前州长安德鲁·科莫抨击了州司法部长五个月的调查发现他性骚扰了多名女性，称这是一个“政治鞭炮”，引发了对他的“不公平和不公正”的审判。
63岁的科莫随后在周一给参议院多数党领袖安德里亚·斯图尔特-卡曾斯和议长卡尔·希斯蒂的一封信中提交了辞呈，自8月24日上午12点起生效。科莫写道:“我特此递交辞呈，辞去纽约州州长一职。“能和你们两位一起服务是我的荣幸。”
但在一次讲话中，科莫利用这个机会猛击对他的指控吹捧他作为州长的成就。
库莫说:“现在让我说，当政府将指控政治化，头条新闻在没有事实的情况下进行谴责时，你破坏了司法系统，这既不服务于女性，也不服务于男性或社会。“我明白，有些时候，强烈的政治压力和媒体狂热会导致人们匆忙做出判断，但这是不对的。这不公平也不可持续。事实仍然很重要。”
库莫一直坚称自己没有不当接触任何人，他于8月13日宣布辞职，七天前，州检察长莱蒂蒂亚·詹姆斯(Letitia James)公布了一项调查结果，她声称调查发现州长性骚扰了多名女性，包括现任和前任州雇员，并对他的一名原告进行了报复。
“鞭炮会引发踩踏事件，但在某个时刻，每个人都会环顾四周，然后说，‘我们为什么要跑?’库莫说:“真相最终总会被揭露。“司法部长的报告被设计成一个爆炸性话题上的政治爆竹，它奏效了。政治和媒体蜂拥而至，但真相会及时大白。对此我很有信心。"
科莫还试图在导致他下台的指控之外建立一个遗产，他说，“全国没有一个州长通过了比我更进步的措施。”他列举了自己的成就，包括翻新的拉瓜迪亚机场、纽约市新的佩恩车站交通枢纽，以及婚姻平等，这些都是他所谓的“真正有效的新政府范式”的基石
他为这场大流行提供了建议，这使他成为一个全国性的人物，因为他在关于这场危机的每日新闻简报中表现出了同情心和严肃性。他提醒听众，在他的领导下，“我们面对事实，做出了艰难但必要的决定。”
科莫承认霍楚尔将成为州长，并表示，“我相信她会接受挑战。”
但他又回到了导致他戏剧性垮台的丑闻中。
“现在生活中有一些时刻会考验我们的性格，会问我们是我们认为的那个人，还是我们努力做到最好的那个人。你知道我，我是一个斗士，我的本能是与此作斗争，因为这在我心中是不公平和不公正的，”科莫说。
“但你也知道我爱纽约，我为你服务，”他说。“那是我许下的誓言。而此时此刻，我相信正确的做法是，我的服务第一。延长这种情况只会导致政府瘫痪，这不是你的选择，也不是国家的选择，尤其是现在。”
周一，他开始了最后一天的工作，他的最高助手代表他发表了一份声明，称科莫“没有兴趣再次竞选公职。”
州长秘书梅丽莎·德罗萨(Melissa DeRosa)发表了一份声明，阐述了科莫离开10年前他声称的工作时的近期计划，这份工作曾由他已故的父亲马里奥·科莫担任。
德罗萨说，科莫从事公共服务近25年，从20世纪90年代担任克林顿政府住房和城市发展部长，到2006年当选州总检察长，再到2010年以来担任州长。
“他的工作方式是，一周7天，一天24小时，”德罗萨说，他于8月8日辞去州政府中最有权力的非选举官僚的职务，也将于周一晚上生效。“他期待与家人共度时光，还有很多钓鱼的事情要赶。他正在探索多种选择，但对再次竞选公职没有兴趣。”
上周末，科莫在主持热带风暴亨利的简报时，试图表明他一直控制着局面，直到最后。他要求他的应急管理团队留在原地，并表示尽管霍楚尔没有出席新闻发布会，但她已经得到了简报。
为了让记者保持“话题性”，科莫要求问题仅限于风暴。
库莫说:“我们正在处理一个紧急情况，纽约人希望听到一个紧急情况。
他回答的第一个问题是，他是否仍计划在周一辞职。
“是的，我的最后一天是(星期一)，”科莫说。
与依靠父亲磨练政治本能的科莫不同，霍楚尔的政治生涯始于纽约西部的一个镇议会。她曾在国会短暂任职，并担任副州长七年。
霍楚尔的首要任务之一是任命一名新的副州长，她说这将是一个来自纽约市的人。她已经暗示，科莫政府将会出现“人事变动”，尤其是在州总检察长报告中提到的行政会议成员中，这些人是科莫涉嫌骚扰的罪魁祸首。
“我期待着在适当的时候介绍我的政府成员，”霍赫尔说。
另一个优先事项是大流行和重新安置该州卫生部门已经耗尽的人员。
Hochul说，该州有权在全州范围内的学校强制要求戴口罩，并表示她相信“我们需要口罩强制令，让孩子们重返校园……这必须是普遍的，这将是全州范围内的。”
Kathy Hochul sworn in as 1st female New York governor
Former Lt. Gov.Kathy Hochulwas sworn in as New York's first female governor at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday.
"Honored to be officially sworn in as New York's 57th Governor,"Hochul tweetedfrom her new official governor account. The website for the governor of New York was also updated shortly after midnight.
Hochul was sworn in by the state's chief judge, Janet DiFiore, in a private ceremony at the state capitol in Albany. A public swearing-in ceremony will be held for Hochul at 10 a.m. Tuesday in the Red Room of the state capitol building, though she wasted no time in announcing the first two appointments of her administration, picking Karen Persichilli Keogh, a former senior aide to Hillary Rodham Clinton, as secretary to the governor and Elizabeth Fine, executive vice president and general counsel of Empire State Development (New York's economic development agency), as counsel to the governor.
"I'm excited about this," Hochul said last week during a visit to New York City's Queens borough. "I'm excited about this opportunity. I'm very prepared for this."
In a blistering farewell address to constituents on Monday, now former Gov. Andrew Cuomo blasted the state attorney general'sfive-month investigationthat found he sexually harassed multiple women, calling it a "political firecracker" that triggered an "unfair and unjust" rush to judgment against him.
The 63-year-old Cuomo later submitted his resignation in a letter Monday to Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Speaker of the Assembly Carl Heastie, effective at 12 a.m., Aug. 24. “I hereby tender my resignation for the office of Governor of the State of New York," Cuomo wrote. "It has been my pleasure to serve with you both."
But in an address, Cuomo used the opportunity to slamthe allegations against himand tout his accomplishments as governor.
"Let me say now that when government politicizes allegations and the headlines condemn without facts, you undermine the justice system and that doesn't serve women and it doesn't serve men or society," Cuomo said. "I understand that there are moments of intense political pressure and media frenzy that cause a rush to judgment, but that is not right. It's not fair or sustainable. Facts still matter."
Cuomo, who has insisted he did not touch anyone inappropriately, announced his resignation on Aug. 13, seven days after State Attorney General Letitia James made public the results of an investigation she alleged found the governor sexually harassed multiple women, including current and former state employees, and had retaliated against one of his accusers.
"A firecracker can start a stampede, but at one point everyone looks around and says, 'Why are we running?'" The truth is ultimately always revealed," Cuomo said. "The attorney general's report was designed to be a political firecracker on an explosive topic and it worked. There was a political and media stampede but the truth will (come) out in time. Of that I am confident."
Cuomo also sought to establish a legacy beyond the allegations that drove him from office, saying, "No governor in the nation has passed more progressive measures than I have." He listed his accomplishments, including a refurbished LaGuardia Airport, a new Penn Station transportation terminal in New York City and marriage equality as cornerstones to what he called a "new paradigm of government that actually works."
He offered advice for the pandemic that made him a national figure for the empathy and seriousness he showed during his daily press briefings on the crisis. And he reminded listeners that under his leadership, "We faced up to the facts and we made the tough but necessary decisions."
Cuomo acknowledged that Hochul would become governor and said, "I believe she will step up to the challenge."
But he returned to the scandal that has led to his dramatic downfall.
"Now there are moments in life that test our character, that asks us are we the person we believe we are or are we the person we try to be at our best. You know me, I am a fighter and my instinct is to fight this because it is unfair and unjust in my mind," Cuomo said.
"But you also know that I love New York and I serve you," he said. "That is the oath that I took. And in this moment, I believe the right thing is that my service comes first. Prolonging this situation could only cause governmental paralysis and that is just not an option for you and not an option for the state, especially now."
He began his last day on the job Monday with his top aid releasing a statement on his behalf, saying Cuomo "has no interest in running for office again."
Melissa DeRosa, secretary to the governor, issued a statement on Cuomo's immediate plans when he leaves the job he claimed a decade ago, one once held by his late father, Mario Cuomo.
DeRosa said that Cuomo has spent nearly 25 years in public service, from being secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the Clinton administration in the 1990s to getting elected state attorney general in 2006 and serving as governor since 2010.
"And the way he does it, it's 24 hours a day, 7 days a week," said DeRosa, whose resignation on Aug. 8 as the most powerful unelected bureaucrat in state government will also take effect Monday night. "He looks forward to spending time with his family and has a lot of fishing to catch up on. He is exploring a number of options, but has no interest in running for office again."
Over the weekend, Cuomo sought to show he was in control until the end as he presided over briefings on Tropical Storm Henri. He requested his emergency management team remain in place and said Hochul had been briefed despite her absence from the news conferences.
Attempting to keep reporters "on topic," Cuomo asked that questions be limited to the storm.
"We're dealing with an emergency, and New Yorkers want to hear about an emergency," Cuomo said.
The first question he took was whether he still planned to resign on Monday.
"And, yes, my final day is [Monday]," Cuomo said.
Unlike Cuomo, who honed his political instincts at the hip of his father, Hochul's political career began on a town council in Western New York. She briefly served in Congress and has been lieutenant governor for seven years.
Among Hochul's first tasks will be appointing a new lieutenant governor, and she has said it would be someone from a New York City borough. She has signaled there would be "turnover" from the Cuomo administration, particularly among those in the Executive Chamber that were named in the state attorney general's report as enabling Cuomo's alleged harassment.
"I'm looking forward at the right time to introducing the members of my administration," Hochul said.
Another priority is the pandemic and repopulating the depleted ranks of the state's health department.
Hochul said the state has the authority to mandate masks in schools statewide and has said she believes "we will need mask mandates for children to go back to school … and that will have to be universal, it will be statewide."
