KEY POINTS

  • Boylan was told by her former boss Zemsky that Cuomo had a crush on her
  • Cuomo allegedly had a dartboard with NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio's face on it 
  • Ana Liss described the workplace as a "sexually hostile work environment"

Two women who accused New York Governor Andrew Cuomo of sexual harassment have detailed the treatment they received while working for him, calling the work environment "sexually hostile" and "toxic".

In an interview with The New Yorker's Ronan Farrow, Lindsey Boylan, the first woman to accuse Cuomo of harassment, made a shocking revelation, where she claimed he joked that he would “mount her if he were a dog."

Boylan said he made the comment after Cuomo’s dog — a German Shepherd mix named Captain — jumped up and down near her.

She said she tried to calm the dog, then backed off. Cuomo then joked he would try to “mount” her as well if he were a dog.

“I remember being grossed out but also, like, what a dumb third-grade thing to say,” Boylan said. “I just shrugged it off,” she added.

She said she was told by her former boss in the administration, Howard Zemsky, that Cuomo had a “crush” on her.

Boylan called the workplace extremely toxic, where "aides were reduced to tears and his political opponents were the target of childish games."

She also told Farrow about an occasion when Cuomo allegedly made fun of a female aide’s haircut, leaving her in tears. The governor also made fun of a former male staffer’s weight, Boylan said. “It was toxic, and particularly for women,” she said.

Boylan alleged Cuomo had a dartboard bearing the face of his political nemesis and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. “I couldn’t believe how brazen that was,” Boylan said.

She had earlier spoken about how Cuomo kissed her inside his Manhattan office in 2018 and asked her to play strip poker while on a flight.

Meanwhile, Ana Liss, the third woman to point fingers at Cuomo, appeared before the investigators from the state attorney general's office Thursday.

In a statement provided to CNN, Liss said she answered questions about her time in the governor's office between 2013 and 2015. She said she shared details of "instances of unsolicited attention paid to me by the Governor and the sexually hostile work environment perpetuated by him and senior staff."

"During my time in the Executive Chamber, it was a toxic, verbally abusive, retaliatory workplace, especially for young women like myself," Liss said.

"Sexual harassment on the Governor's behalf is a significant piece of the investigation, but he neither is nor was the only person in the administration responsible for offensive conduct ranging from scatological name-calling to outright objectification of women's bodies," Liss said.

Liss had earlier told about how Cuomo asked her if she had a boyfriend, called her sweetheart, touched her on her lower back at a reception, and once kissed her hand when she rose from her desk.

She had called Cuomo's office a toxic workplace. "I don’t think the average person in New York would like to know that their governor is an absolute monster," she told 13WHAM News Thursday.

Three women have accused New York Governor Andrew Cuomo of harassment, including two former aides
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo AFP / Johannes EISELE