RAPE LAW LOOPHOLE: Gov. Kathy Hochul vowed today to close a loophole embedded in state rape law around voluntary intoxification as she laced into Cornell University police and a local district attorney for their handling of a 2024 gang rape allegation.
Under current law, proving sexual assault is difficult if a victim voluntarily consumed alcohol or drugs. Individuals cannot consent “by reason of being mentally disabled or mentally incapacitated,” which generally applies to involuntary consumption of drugs or alcohol. Hochul said she would work with lawmakers “early” to change the law when they return to Albany in January.
“Voluntary intoxication is not a license for sexual assault or gang rape,” Hochul told reporters at her Midtown Manhattan office. “Period. I support closing this loophole and will work with the New York State Legislature to accomplish this.”
The State Senate has consistently attempted to do just that through legislation, but the Assembly has yet to bring the bill up for a vote.
Hochul also appointed New York Attorney General Letitia James as special prosecutor on the case. Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff has agreed to an independent review.
The plaintiff, a former Cornell student, alleged in a lawsuit that several men raped her at the Chi Phi house after coercing her into consuming drugs. The case attracted national attention after the student-run Cornell Daily Sun broke the story.
The woman, identified in court papers as Jane Doe, told the Cornell campus police that she was “100 percent confident that she had been raped,” according to a transcript of her conversation with investigators.
But that part of her account, Hochul noted, was omitted from the materials Cornell police sent to Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten, who declined to pursue charges without interviewing the woman.
“In what world would the police learn from the victim that she had been literally gang-raped while intoxicated by five men in a fraternity house and not elevate those allegations to the district attorney?” she said. “In what world does the district attorney not even interview her or anyone else involved, or even request the full transcript?”
Earlier this week, James expressed solidarity with Jane Doe on social media. When asked about her decision to affirm the allegation, she declined to comment.
Rebecca Valli, a Cornell spokesperson, said the university agrees with the governor’s decision.
“We fully support the appointment of a special prosecutor and efforts to change New York State’s rape law and are committed to an independent external review of all aspects of how Cornell has handled this case,” Valli said in a statement.
Van Houten, the Tompkins County prosecutor, said in a statement today that “we were not provided the full picture by the university.” — Madina Touré
MARK YOUR CALENDAR: Join POLITICO’s New York Outlook: Affordability, Industry & The Economy on Oct. 14 for live conversations about the business and policy decisions being made today — from City Hall to the State Capitol — that will shape the city’s economic future. The lineup includes New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin, New York City Economic Development Corp. CEO Anthony Shorris, Partnership for NYC CEO Steven Fulop, Citizens Budget Commission President Andrew Rein, Charles H. Revson Foundation President Maria Torres-Springer, and more. Register now to attend in person or watch the livestream.
From the Capitol
SPACE JAM: The fledgling United States Space Force is trying to find a home for its academy.
State Sen. James Skoufis wants to make it so in the Hudson Valley, proposing that the recently formed military branch select Stewart International Airport.
“New York Stewart International Airport would be an exceptional site for this project. It offers existing aerospace infrastructure — including one of the few runways in the country designated for space shuttle landings — alongside significant on-site development opportunities,” Skoufis wrote in a letter to Hochul this week.
The Democratic state lawmaker is seizing on a NASA-led effort seeking input from governors interested in hosting or sponsoring the academy in their state.
Skoufis wants to build interest in having the academy placed in New York, where some officials are trying to encourage growth in the space sector.
“We built the Apollo lunar landers and refined the optics for every major NASA telescope,” said Patrick Chase, co-founder of Empire Space, a non-profit promoting economic opportunities in space. “The Empire State is the best location for the United States Space Academy, continuing our bold legacy as a pioneer of the American Space Age.” — Nick Reisman
BLAKEMAN’S VAGUE VOWS: Republican Bruce Blakeman has spent this year’s gubernatorial campaign focused on attacks — leaving serious questions about what he’d actually do if elected governor.
With a month to go until Election Day, the Nassau County executive doesn’t have a policy section on his website. On the campaign trail, he’s opted against making detailed policy prescriptions in favor of going after Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
When asked in August about his plan to reign in housing costs — a top concern among New York voters — Blakeman pivoted immediately to ideology: “It’s not through socialism.”
“That’s a failed system,” he said at the time. “Mamdani the Commie and Comrade Kathy, they have this completely backwards because wherever they’ve instituted socialism it’s been making people miserable.”
Blakeman’s policy agenda has focused on two major issues — massive tax cuts and an immediate 50 percent reduction in utility bills on his first day in office. But neither plan has been backed up by accounting that might suggest they’re plausible. His campaign declined repeated requests to release a plan detailing the cuts needed for the tax breaks.
“It strikes me as very back-of-the-envelope,” said E.J. McMahon, who helped author former Republican Gov. George Pataki’s tax cut proposal. “A damp, coffee-stained envelope.”
George Marlin, a former Conservative Party mayoral nominee in New York City and ex-director of the Nassau Interim Finance Authority, took such criticism a step further, writing in a Times Union op-ed today that Blakeman’s record on Long Island suggests he is not “fiscally skilled enough to merit a promotion to the state’s top job.”
“As county executive, Blakeman has done nothing to restrain spending,” Marlin wrote. “Despite his misleading campaign rhetoric, he has never cut a penny in county taxes.”
Blakeman’s campaign did not respond to Marlin’s attacks.
Read more from Bill Mahoney in POLITICO here.
TROOPER ONE’S SUIT: A federal judge this week dismissed one of the retaliation claims against ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo in a lawsuit filed by a former member of his State Police security detail.
U.S. District Court Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall determined that because the alleged retaliation occurred in February 2022 — after Cuomo resigned from office — it did not constitute acting “under color of state law.”
The woman, known in court documents as Trooper 1, alleged in the lawsuit that Cuomo sexually harassed her and that his former top aides subsequently retaliated against her. The former governor has denied any wrongdoing.
“We respectfully disagree with the Court’s decision,” said Valdi Licul, Trooper 1’s lawyer. “Multiple federal and state agencies found that Cuomo sexually harassed Trooper 1 and other women. We don’t believe his resignation in response to his proven misconduct permitted him to further violate the law by threatening one of his victims. We intend to appeal as soon as we are able.”
Azzopardi, Cuomo’s spokesperson, responded: “Despite what Trooper 1’s attorneys may think, New Yorkers aren’t stupid, they know Governor Cuomo never harassed nor retaliated against anyone and a simple review of the facts by the courts is why their case continues to crumble, the same way 5 DA’s review of those same ‘agency reviews’ found no there there and the two civil cases against him were ultimately dropped.” — Nick Reisman
FROM CITY HALL
FINAL FRONTIER FEAR: At least one of the artificial intelligence firms set to testify before the City Council is supportive of the lawmakers’ regulatory efforts.
Council Speaker Julie Menin plans to convene the entire body Monday for a hearing where leading AI companies will testify and provide input on a legislative package that would put guardrails around the emerging technology.
In a letter sent Thursday to Menin and her colleagues — and obtained by Playbook — an executive from OpenAI said the firm is broadly behind the Council’s push.
“We appreciate the Council’s focus on frontier safety, including transparency, third-party assessments, reporting of critical incidents and protecting whistleblowers, consumer protection, election-related deepfakes, and other key safety areas,” wrote Chan Park, head of U.S. and Canada policy and partnerships for OpenAI. “We also strongly support the Council’s goal of strengthening the City’s readiness to prevent and respond to AI-related cyber threats and emergencies.”
In his letter, Park noted the ways AI is contributing to advances in science and education, but acknowledged the concerns over frontier AI models raised by Menin and the company’s own executives as part of a broad unease over how rapidly the technology is advancing.
Park did not get into the particulars of each Council bill, but he noted OpenAI is also supportive of a state regulatory framework known as the RAISE Act and has been providing Albany with input on tweaks to the legislation and the state’s cybersecurity efforts.
“Our own safeguards are essential, but voluntary company commitments alone are not enough,” Park wrote. “Enforceable standards, independent scrutiny, and public accountability are necessary to ensure that increasingly capable AI is developed and used responsibly.” — Joe Anuta
IN OTHER NEWS
— FLUSHING’S FACELIFT: As plans for a new “town square” in Flushing move forward, residents have raised concerns about gentrification and displacement. (Gothamist)
— FOSTER CARE: Foster care agencies in New York are facing an unprecedented crisis of rapidly rising insurance costs, and they want state Democrats to approve a relief bill. (Times Union)
— HAMAS HELPERS: The NYPD helped catch two brothers from Louisiana allegedly involved in a Hamas fundraising scheme. (New York Post)
Missed this morning’s New York Playbook? We forgive you. Read it here.