ALBANY – The Andrew Cuomo scandals have had a long reach in bringing down not just the disgraced former governor, but advisers and key players around him.
State University of New York Chancellor Jim Malatras is the latest.
Malatras resigned Thursday morning amid rising criticisms and calls for his firings from lawmakers, watchdog groups and others for his role in trying to contain sexual harassment allegations by Cuomo’s first accuser, former economic development aide Lindsey Boylan.
The resignation by Malatras as head of the SUNY campus system, effective Jan. 14, comes after a furious public relations and lobbying campaign by the chancellor and members of the SUNY board, which stuck by him until the end.
On Wednesday, 31 members of the state Assembly, including Western New York Democrats Monica Wallace and Karen McMahon, signed a letter calling for Malatras to resign or be fired. They were the latest seeking his ouster; a SUNY-wide student government organization called for him to resign.
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Among those supporting Malatras were unions representing SUNY employees. Gov. Kathy Hochul sought to stay out of the controversy, saying that the decision was one for the SUNY board, a panel over which her administration exerts sizeable power.
On Thursday, Malatras called it quits. He said “recent events” have “become a distraction” for the work needed to be done by SUNY as it endures another wave of the Covid pandemic.
Documents released recently by Attorney General Letitia James, whose August report on allegations of sexual harassment involving Cuomo led to the governor’s resignation, showed Malatras making disparaging remarks about Boylan, a former senior economic development official in the Cuomo administration who in 2019 first tweeted out about the “toxic” work environment in the governor’s office. The following year, she publicly accused Cuomo of sexual harassment, which Cuomo denied.
At the time of his emails – for which he recently apologized – Malatras was president of Empire State College. He became chancellor despite criticisms that the SUNY board broke with a long tradition and did not conduct a national search for the leadership post at the 64-campus SUNY system.
The Cuomo scandal impact has touched some of his key advisers, both in and out of government. Chris Cuomo, the governor’s brother, lost his job at CNN, as well as a book deal, following release of documents showing his role in trying to contain or control the public relations fallout from the governor’s scandals.
The controversy even helped to implode the leadership at Time’s Up, a sexual harassment victims’ advocacy group, after revelations that some of its top officials advised Cuomo after he was accused of sexual harassment.
Malatras had been an adviser to Cuomo during the first year of the pandemic, often appearing with him in public press briefings that helped raise the former governor's national profile.
On Thursday morning, the SUNY board issued a brief statement, thanking Malatras “for his extraordinary service to the entire SUNY system.”
“He has been a champion for our students, for access, for equity, and for deeper public investment in this great institution. The entire board expresses our gratitude for his dedication and leadership," the statement said.
The pressure on Malatras to resign was mounting each day, culminating with a mass call by nearly one-third of the Assembly Democratic conference for him to leave or be fired. The lawmakers said Malatras “has lost our confidence that he has the credibility or character” to continue leading SUNY.
Besides a key students’ group calling for his resignation, Assemblywoman Deborah Glick, a Manhattan Democrat and the influential chairwoman of the Assembly higher education committee, which has legislative oversight authority over SUNY, earlier this week said Malatras had to go.
Malatras, who went to college at the University of Albany, was the first SUNY graduate to become chancellor of the college system.
"The voices of SUNY students have been heard,'' said the SUNY Student Assembly, which called for Malatras to leave. The system-wide student organization said "it is time for a new beginning at SUNY with enhanced investment in the programs and services critical to our education." It called on the SUNY board to work with students in conducting a national search for a new chancellor.
The SUNY board held a special meeting Thursday just hours after the Malatras announcement. It took no action on any possible interim chancellors or whether it was going to conduct a national search for the job.
