Andrew Cuomo is gone. CNN’s Chris Cuomo is gone. Human Rights Campaign prez Alphonso David is gone. Time’s Up CEO Tina Tchen is gone. Yet SUNY Chancellor James Malatras remains in his job.
Despite clear evidence that Malatras enabled the now-ex-gov’s abuses, Gov. Kathy Hochul has refrained from calling for his ouster, as have other electeds — all apparently persuaded by Merryl Tisch, a huge Democratic donor who chairs the SUNY Board of Trustees.
Malatras, a former top Cuomo aide and confidante, not only allegedly joined in smearing Cuomo accuser Lindsay Boylan, he also reportedly abused his own female staff.
Tisch admits, “I absolutely did” speak to several state legislators on Malatras’ behalf. She even arranged for her own state senator, Malatras critic Liz Krueger, to meet with him, after which Krueger dropped her demands for his ouster.
Hochul, Cuomo, Krueger, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart Cousins and the Assembly Democratic and Senate Democratic campaign committees are among the many beneficiaries of Tisch’s political donations of at least $230,000 over the past 15 years.
Yet some are still repulsed by Malatras’ obscene and enthusiastic involvement in Team Cuomo’s campaign to discredit Boylan. On Wednesday, 30-plus Assembly Democrats signed a letter calling for his firing.
Boylan herself tweeted: “I cannot get over the fact that the largest higher-education system in the country is run by someone who retaliated against & belittled me when I spoke up about the toxic work environment I faced working for the former governor. What message does this send to students?”
The wrong one, of course — and not just to students.
Hochul took office vowing to change the culture in Albany. It’s impossible to square that with letting a mega-donor save an enabler and imitator of Andrew Cuomo’s excesses.