NYC Lawmaker Andy King Accused Of More Ethics Violations

NEW YORK — A committee accused City Council Member Andy King of more shady behavior Thursday ahead of a hearing on his alleged ethics violations.

The council's Standards and Ethics Committee found evidence of additional conflict-of-interest violations and retaliation against staff members by the Bronx lawmaker after it brought four ethics charges against him last month, said Council Member Steven Matteo, the committee's chair.

"Upon learning of this retaliatory conduct as well as apparent additional conflict-of-interest violations, the office of the general counsel, in conjunction with the special counsel, immediately investigated and uncovered corroborating evidence," Matteo, a Staten Island Republican, said at a brief Thursday morning meeting.

The new allegations are not separate charges but will be part of the case that Special Counsel Carrie Cohen will present against King at a closed-door hearing scheduled for Sept. 13, according to Matteo.

King's acting chief of staff, Comy Lewis, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the accusations.

The committee has charged King, a Democrat, with retaliation, harassment, disorderly conduct and conflict-of-interest violations stemming from four years of alleged misconduct.

King has been accused of sexual harassment for the second time in as many years and also allegedly allowed his wife — Neva Shillingford-King, an executive vice president at the 1199 SEIU labor union — to perform council business and harass a council worker, Matteo has said.

King also allegedly let a senior staffer make violent threats and at least once actually commit an act of violence against a subordinate.

The Standards and Ethics Committee ordered King to undergo sensitivity training in February 2018 after finding he made unwanted advances on a staffer.

The panel also voted Wednesday to formally close a sexual harassment case against Council Member Barry Grodenchik. The Queens Democrat paid for his own sexual harassment prevention training after reaching a settlement with the committee over allegations that he paid unwelcome attention to a staffer by kissing her on the cheek and talking about her weight, according to Matteo.