NEW YORK — Lindsey Boylan, one of the women accusing Gov. Andrew Cuomo of sexual harassment, pulled the plug Wednesday on her campaign to become Manhattan’s next borough president after early primary election results showed her trailing far behind front-runners Mark Levine and Brad Hoylman.
Boylan, a former economic adviser to Cuomo who went public with her harassment accusations in February, acknowledged in a statement that she doesn’t have a path to victory after receiving only about 10% of the vote from the first round of counting.
Levine, a city councilman, and Hoylman, a state senator, respectively clinched over 28% and over 25% in the early results, making them clear favorites as the Board of Elections prepares to add ranked choice picks and absentee ballots to the mix.
Thanking the other candidates for a “hard-fought” campaign, Boylan listed off a range of issues that she hopes the eventual borough president prioritizes — including opening more Manhattan streets to pedestrians, fighting for affordable housing and reforming the NYPD to focus solely on violent crime.
“We ran a campaign that focused on elevating the voices of the people who have been the closest to the pain, and I urge the next borough president to ensure that these communities are centered in our recovery,” Boylan said.
Boylan also made a passing reference to Cuomo and signaled she intends to keep working in politics.
“I came to New York more than a decade ago with a dream to become an urban planner like Jane Jacobs, and later found myself challenging the infinite and abject abuse of power by the most powerful man in the state,” she said.
“I look forward to fighting the fights that need to be fought and to continuing to use my voice, experience and skillset to serve the people of this city and this state.”
Boylan alleges that Cuomo subjected her to inappropriate comments and once forcibly kissed her while she worked for him between 2015 and 2018.
She’s among more than half a dozen women who have accused Cuomo of a variety of sexual misconduct. The allegations — which Cuomo has vehemently denied — are the subject of investigations by New York Attorney General Letitia James and the state Assembly.
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