I have said repeatedly here ….
Andrew Cuomo had no friend…..
He ruled with a iron fist and took no prisoners. during his 3 terms in office…
He won’t be missed by the state’s lawmakers of both parties….
Now?
One would think they just want him to go away….
The investigations will probably just wrap up out the media sight and go away….
Civil suits might be remainder….
And those beholden to the once powerful governor will now be looking over their shoulder with the loss of power and job security….
The incoming Lt. Governor is no match for the departing Cuomo…
And the future is blurry….
With Attorney General Tish James rising in the distance….
“The king is dead; long live the queen,” state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, a fellow Democrat who was often the target of seemingly random attacks from Cuomo, said in an interview Tuesday. “Everybody’s ready to move forward and not get bogged down in the muck and mire of the present.”
Still, transitioning out of the Cuomo era will not be an easy task. Cuomo, after nearly three fiery terms at the helm, has tentacles that stretch into every corner of state government. Cleaning house would be a difficult task for any incoming governor — let alone one who can only promise potential replacements some 15 months of employment….
…
On the day before Cuomo resigned, Assemblymember Charles Lavine (D-Nassau), who has been leading his house’s investigations, was asked about the possibility of a post-resignation impeachment. He didn’t rule it out.
“We may very well have the authority to do that, and I wouldn’t discount that for a moment,” said Lavine, the chair of the Assembly Judiciary Committee. It would be “moot” and not meaningful, he said, but acknowledged “there would be the opportunity in a court of impeachment to prohibit him from ever again occupying statewide office.”
Beyond the distraction of the investigations, it could well be impossible to quickly remove the governor’s closest allies from everywhere in state government, something that Hochul will presumably be pressured to do by the inevitable future attack ads characterizing her administration as a continuation of Cuomo’s. Hochul will take office in 14 days, when Cuomo plans to officially step down.
“It’s impossible for her to clean house, since the house is so full of Cuomo loyalists that you’re talking about hundreds of appointees and even dozens of crucial employees,” said John Kaehny, the executive director of Reinvent Albany, which advocates for open and transparent government in New York….