Update: Schumer And Cuomo Both Call For Disgraced Assemblyman Vito Lopez’s Resignation
In the wake of Friday’s announcement that longtime Brooklyn Assemblyman Vito Lopez had been censured by an ethics panel for “both verbal and physical sexual abuse” of interns, Senator Charles Schumer and Governor Cuomo both called for his resignation over the weekend.
“Sexual harassment at the workplace cannot be tolerated in any shape or form,” a spokesman for Cuomo said of Lopez, one of the most high powered members of Brooklyn’s democratic party. “These are serious allegations and, if true, the governor believes he should resign.”
Senator Schumer also called for Lopez’s resignation over the weekend, along with nearly every other high profile member of New York’s Democratic party, including City Council speaker Christine Quinn, public advocate Bill de Blasio, and Manhattan borough president Scott Stringer.
For the time being, Lopez has been stripped of legislative perks as well as his position as chariman of the Assembly’s Housing Committee, and will have his payroll reduced over time from $450,000 to $85,000.
Follow Virginia K. Smith on Twitter @vksmith.
