Dear Friend,

Governor Cuomo’s resignation is a victory for the brave women who came forward, at great personal risk, to hold the most powerful person in our state government accountable. Their courage is inspiring, and I want to thank them for sharing these difficult experiences.

We must honor their bravery by continuing this conversation and by continuing to root out this behavior from not only the state government, but all workplaces. All pending investigations must continue to ensure that justice is not delayed and there is full accountability for his actions.

In this morning’s Daily News, I wrote an op-ed about what men owe to the women who were harassed by Governor Cuomo. I touched on the overwhelming exhaustion of women and survivors who shoulder the trauma of this horrifyingly repetitive cycle. To end this cycle, we must not only continue holding Governor Cuomo accountable, but also his loyal aides who kept their silence, and ourselves as a society for perpetuating and fostering sexual harassment.

Cuomo’s resignation is a start -- but we still have a lot of work to do to eliminate the people and systems that perpetuate these behaviors from our workplaces. Sexual harassment, misogyny, and bullying in the workplace still perpetuates economic inequality, as women and vulnerable workers are pushed out of entire careers, lose opportunities for promotions, and must deal with emotional consequences. We must pass legislation to ban the release of personnel records as retaliation, close the Personal Staff Loophole, and fight for other policies that will protect our most vulnerable workers.

I look forward to working with Governor Hochul as we navigate this transition of power during a difficult time for our state. I am ever hopeful for her success and stand ready to help her continue the work of New York State in any way I can.

The sooner we move on, the sooner we can tackle the issues that are most pressing to New Yorkers.

Sincerely,