Carl Heastie: The Man Who Would Oversee Cuomo’s Impeachment

The Democratic Assembly speaker, most comfortable behind the scenes, now finds himself in the spotlight, facing the possibility of taking down a governor from his own party.

President Biden’s call for Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York to resign after a state investigation found he had sexually harassed 11 women sparked a flurry of breaking news alerts on Tuesday. But in Albany, the most closely parsed and influential comments were a 72-word statement from Carl E. Heastie, the speaker of the State Assembly. With the governor making it perfectly clear that he has no intention of stepping aside voluntarily, it is Mr. Heastie, a longtime ally of Mr. Cuomo’s, who is now poised to oversee what could be the first impeachment of a New York governor in more than a century.