Cuomo critics react as governor serves out final day in office: 'Good riddance'

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Fight against Cuomo 'not over': NY nursing home victim family member

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has his last day in office. Haydee Pabey, who lost her mother in a New York nursing home due to the coronavirus, on seeking justice.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo bid farewell on Monday as he prepared to step down from office, but his detractors did not let up on their criticism with the governor’s departure.

Assemblyman Ron Kim, a fellow Democrat who had been at odds with the governor, offered a reminder that while Cuomo’s resignation followed a state attorney general’s sexual harassment investigation, he has yet to answer for alleged misdeeds surrounding coronavirus nursing home deaths.

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"On Cuomo’s last day in office, a reminder that we still do not have justice for nursing home victims," Kim tweeted early Monday morning. "He does not deserve the soft landing & gracious exit with ZERO accountability for his misconducts."

Cuomo has been blamed for the deaths of thousands of nursing home residents due to his order requiring nursing homes to accept residents who had tested positive for COVID-19 after they had been released from hospitals. His office has also faced accusations of obstruction of justice after a report that now-former Cuomo aide Melissa DeRosa told Democratic state lawmakers that the numbers were being kept from them to avoid a potential federal investigation.

Kim claims that Cuomo wanted him to say the numbers were kept from state lawmakers because the administration wanted to respond to the Justice Department first and threatened to "destroy" him for not going along with the story.

"This is a man that was willing to say and do anything to dodge accountability," Kim told "Fox & Friends" on Monday.

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The Justice Department announced in July that they were dropping an investigation into the nursing home matter.

Kim’s words bordered on kind in comparison to the statement from Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y.

"Good riddance to the Worst Governor in America," Stefanik said. "Under Andrew Cuomo’s failed leadership, New Yorkers suffered corruption scandal after corruption scalndal, illegal criminal acts committed on the taxpayers’ dime, and unhinged political vengeance and retaliation creating a toxic political culture systemic in Albany."

Stefanik went on to call for Cuomo to be arrested and prosecuted, and for his appointees to be fired.

State Senator Alessandra Biaggi, a frequent Cuomo critic, even pointed to how Cuomo was leaving as supposed evidence of poor character, following a report that the outgoing governor left his dog behind when he moved out of the Executive Mansion and asked staffers if they wanted the pet.

"What archetype of a person leaves behind their dog when they move? The cruelest kind," she said.

Lindsey Boylan, the first woman to come forward and accuse Cuomo of harassment, also pointed to the report.

"Such a symbol of who this guy is underneath it all," she said.

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Cuomo’s top adviser and spokesman Richard Azzopardi was irate at the Times Union report, telling the paper that the arrangement was only "temporary" because the governor is taking a vacation after he officially resigns at 11:59 p.m. Monday.

Fox News' Jessica Chasmar contributed to this report.