Whoever is elected will serve until the end of December 2021. Within days, Mayor Bill de Blasio scheduled a special election to fill King’s seat Dec. His explanation didn’t appear to change the minds of his colleagues, who cast their votes via videoconference.īefore submitting his “aye” vote, Cohen explained he felt terrible about what King’s staff had been through, and terrible for his constituents, who will be without representation in the council through the end of the year. Politics kick in, and someone doesn’t find favor or flavor with you, then you are at the mercy of those politics.” “That started the whole campaign against me to make my life challenging in the city council,” King said. He said he had been “thrown under the bus” by a former staffer. Both are term-limited - Cohen is leaving his seat early at the end of this year to become a Bronx supreme court judge, while Cabrera is running to succeed Ruben Diaz Jr., as Bronx borough president.īoth voted with the majority this time around to kick King from the council.īefore that vote, King read a statement he said was from a constituent defending his actions - questioning whether someone sitting on the five-member ethics committee had a grudge against the beleaguered councilman. But another move later that day to expel King from the council entirely failed 34-12.Īmong those who voted against expulsion last year were two councilmen representing this part of the Bronx - Andrew Cohen and Fernando Cabrera. The council overwhelmingly approved those measures at the time, which just one vote against. The council said it would assign a monitor to observe his operations for the rest of his time in office, ensuring staff members were being treated fairly. King faced a disciplinary vote last fall where he was suspended for 30 days and levied a $15,000 fine. At least one staffer was allegedly given money by King to attend the wedding. King also reportedly told members of his staff to send invitations and RSVPs for his daughter’s wedding in St. The following year, King was accused of intimidating and retaliating against his staff who cooperated with the first investigation - and of allowing his wife to use her own email and King’s email to give instructions to those who worked for him. He first faced investigation in 2018 after an employee accused him of sexual harassment, which reportedly prompted King to undergo sensitivity training. King’s council seat has been in jeopardy before. For the first time since at least the mid-1980s, the city council voted to expel one of its own.Īndy King, who had represented parts of the east Bronx, was removed from office in a 48-2 vote after the council’s ethics committee released a report detailing his alleged harassment of employees, including telling one who asked to go to the emergency room for polycystic ovarian syndrome to “put a Band-Aid on it” while reportedly asking another staffer for $2,000. It was a historic vote - not in the sense of being over a landmark issue, but instead simply because it was making history.
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