Michael M. Santiago/Pool via AP
- Cuomo complained about a Jewish holiday and used an anti-trans slur, The New York Times reports.
- A spokesman for the governor denied that he had ever made either remark to The Times.
- The embattled governor is coming under scrutiny for his conduct in the workplace toward aides.
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Gov. Andrew Cuomo once complained about a Jewish holiday ritual and used an anti-transgender slur to humiliate a male aide, The New York Times' Matt Flegheimer reported in an extensive profile of the embattled governor published in The Times Magazine.
The Times reported that Cuomo complained about having to attend a ceremony for the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, where observers build huts and shelters out of plants and leaves, called Sukkahs, and dwell in them to commemorate the time Jewish people spent in harsh conditions living in the desert for 40 years after escaping Egypt.
"These people and their f—— tree houses," he said to aides about the Sukkot ritual, one person who was present when Cuomo made the comment and another who was told about it after the fact relayed to The Times.
A spokeswoman denied that Cuomo had ever made the comment, telling The Times: "His two sisters married Jewish men, and he has the highest respect for Jewish traditions."
In another incident in 2019, The Times reported that a male aide to Cuomo was "stunned" when the governor told him, "You'd be a good-looking tranny if you get a good set of tits," according to a person with direct knowledge of the comment.
"No one has done more to advance the rights of transgender New Yorkers than Governor Cuomo," a Cuomo spokesman told The Times in response to the anecdote, saying that "he would never make a comment so vile."
Cuomo's propensity to publicly humiliate, berate, and pit both male and female aides against each other in competition to create a toxic work environment has been widely reported in The Times and other outlets including the Washington Post, New York Magazine, and WNYC.
Cuomo is now embroiled in multiple scandals that threaten his status as the most powerful politician in the state, known for his hard-charging approach to politics and iron fist over those in his orbit.
Over the past two months, 10 women have accused Cuomo of sexually harassing and even assaulting them, including in the workplace, accusations that Cuomo and his team have denied pending investigations.
The sexual misconduct allegations are the subject of an independent investigation by two outside lawyers overseen by Attorney General Letitia James' office and a wide-ranging impeachment probe being pursued by the state Assembly.
A report from the attorney general's office accused Cuomo and his staff of deliberately undercounting and underreporting COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes after pushing nursing homes to accept COVID patients to lessen the burden on hospitals, allegations that are now under federal investigation.
More reporting has revealed that Cuomo diverted then-scarce COVID-19 tests to friends and family members in the early days of the pandemic, and conscripted state employees to help him with his book.