NY’s New Gov., Kathy Hochul, Taking Office August 24

New York’s first female governor, Kathy Hochul, is set to take office on Tuesday, Aug. 24, at the stroke of midnight.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s resignation from office will be effective at 11:59 p.m. Monday, Aug. 23, Hochul’s spokesperson Haley Viccaro said Tuesday.

Details of how the power transfer will take place weren’t immediately available.

It’s likely Hochul, the lieutenant governor, will address the public sometime Tuesday for the first time as the state’s new governor.

Cuomo had announced Aug. 10 that he would resign from office in 14 days, but didn’t specify exactly when he would step down.

Cuomo filed retirement papers last Tuesday, with his retirement effective Sept. 1. It’s unclear how much his pension will be — he has 14.56 years of service credit, according to the state Comptroller’s office.

A strong majority in the state Assembly had said they would impeach Cuomo if he didn’t step down.

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said last week that he was dropping the impeachment drive, but on Monday, facing a bipartisan backlash, he said the body’s Judiciary Committee would still finish its investigation into Cuomo’s conduct and issue a public report.

It’s unclear when that report will come out.

Lawyers hired by the Assembly have been looking into the Cuomo administration’s handling of COVID-19 outbreaks at nursing homes and his use of state resources for his $5 million pandemic book deal.

Evidence gathered during the investigation is being made available to committee members, but under tight security.

Assemblymember Marjorie Byrnes, a Republican on the committee, said Tuesday that she and other committee members are poring over the documents “in a room that is being guarded by the sergeant of arms.”

“If this material is never released to the public, then the people of this state and in my district are never going to know the truth,” she said.

Hochul, a Democrat, spent Tuesday taking meetings in New York City to narrow down her selection for her successor as lieutenant governor.

She’s vowed to depart from the Cuomo administration’s reputation as a “toxic” work environment, and focus on addressing the COVID-19 pandemic and concerns over NY’s eviction protection for renters.