Facing political crisis, Andrew Cuomo counts on Black leaders for support Watch: Gov. Andrew Cuomo announces new COVID vaccination sites Replay Video ALBANY – The walls were closing in on Gov. Andrew Cuomo. It was the afternoon of March 7 and Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins, a fellow Democrat and the first Black woman to serve as state Senate majority leader, had just called for his resignation. He worked the phones, trying to keep rank-and-file lawmakers from following the senator's lead. Cuomo, facing sexual-misconduct allegations and a looming nursing-home scandal, needed a show of support. And on March 8, he got it. With cameras rolling, more than 20 pastors and reverends from influential Black and Latino churches literally stood behind Cuomo at an event at the Javits Center in Manhattan. He held a similar event near Syracuse the next day, and again Monday on Long Island.