NY: Lopez Says He Will Quit Assembly on Monday

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vito-lopezFacing expulsion from the New York State Legislature over accusations of harassment, a once-powerful assemblyman, Vito J. Lopez, said today that he would resign on Monday morning.

Mr. Lopez, who had said on Friday that he would seek to remain in office for five weeks before resigning and would then run for the New York City Council, announced his new plan in a one-sentence letter to the Assembly speaker, Sheldon Silver.

“I hereby resign the public office of Member of Assembly from the 53rd Assembly District, Kings County, effective 9 a.m. Monday, May 20, 2013,” the letter said, in its entirety.

Mr. Lopez’s lawyer, who has been acting as his spokesman, did not respond to a request for comment on Saturday, and it was not clear whether Mr. Lopez, a Brooklyn Democrat, would continue to pursue his bid for the City Council.

A spokeswoman for Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, a Democrat who on Friday urged the Assembly to proceed with expelling Mr. Lopez if he did not step down at once, called Mr. Lopez’s decision to resign immediately “the best end to this ugly chapter.” “As the governor said, one month was unacceptable, as was one more day,” the spokeswoman, Melissa DeRosa, said. She added, “Now we must do everything we can to ensure this type of behavior is never tolerated or allowed to occur again.”

Source: NY Times

{Matzav.com Newscenter}


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