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<ul class="summary-list"><li>The Baltimore bridge collapse is indicative of the country's struggling infrastructure.</li><li>Approaches to the bridge's rebuilding could help improve other construction projects.</li></ul>A key feature is missing over the Patapsco River in Baltimore. The water still glistens, and cargo ships still pass by on their way in and out of the port. But the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/doj-lawsuit-baltimore-francis-scott-key-bridge-ship-crash-2024-9">Francis Scott Key Bridge</a>, which had spanned the river since 1977, is no longer there.In March, a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-we-know-dali-francis-scott-crash-collapse-maryland-bridge-2024-3">container ship</a> crashed into one of the bridge's piers. The bridge <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/francis-scott-key-bridge-no-chance-against-large-impact-experts-2024-3">collapsed</a>, killing six people. <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/baltimore-bridge-collapse-response-timing-mayday-call-saved-lives-2024-3">Rescue efforts</a> began immediately, and local authorities sprang into action to keep commerce and traffic flowing.Now, six months out, the conversation has shifted from <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wes-moore-interview-baltimore-port-key-bridge-collapse-supply-chains-2024-4">recovery</a> to rebuilding. The Maryland Transportation Authority board <a target="_blank" href="https://mdta.maryland.gov/blog-category/mdta-news-releases/mdta-board-approves-progressive-design-build-contract-francis">approved a $73 million phase-one contract</a> with Kiewit Infrastructure West Co., a firm with a long history of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.kiewit.com/markets/transportation/bridges/">bridge projects</a>. The rebuild is expected to begin next year, with the replacement bridge scheduled to open in fall 2028.James Harkness, the chief engineer for the Maryland Transportation Authority, told Business Insider the phase-one contract was one of the biggest milestones to date on the bridge-rebuilding project."We are beginning to meet the new team, get acquainted, and start design concepts in earnest," Harkness said.As the project gets underway, insights are emerging on how to reconstruct the Francis Scott Key Bridge to best future-proof the roadway for supporting local transportation and global supply chains. Baltimore project teams could draw from US bridge projects in the recent past and consider new risks in today's society.<h2 id="fcb7f918-af82-424b-8798-edfb2bc63ccf">Lessons from bridge to bridge</h2>Baltimore and other bridge tragedies over the years have raised alarms on infrastructure nationwide. For decades, "our nation has sunk into <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/baltimore-bridge-fracture-critical-vulnerable-collapse-2024-3">ignoring the status of its bridges</a>," with maintenance falling by the wayside, said Barry LePatner, a construction attorney, the founder of LePatner &amp; Associates, and the author of "Too Big to Fall: America's Failing Infrastructure and the Way Forward."In its 2021 Report Card for America's Infrastructure, the American Society of Civil Engineers said that about 46,000 of the country's bridges, or 7.5%, were in <a target="_blank" href="https://infrastructurereportcard.org/cat-item/bridges-infrastructure/">poor condition</a> and that 42% of bridges were at least 50 years old.The impact of deteriorating infrastructure extends beyond the initial damage from a collapse, reverberating to surrounding communities. In Baltimore, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-fedex-deliveries-baltimore-could-be-impacted-by-bridge-collapse-2024-3">businesses on either side of the bridge took a hit</a> as traffic was redirected to the city's tunnels and other roads.<div type="image" title="Police car blocking off an entrance to the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland." height="2187" width="3281" msid="113607063" hostid="261" sizebytes="590462"></div>"If there's a diner on either side of the bridge that collapsed, those diners don't have any business," LePatner said, adding that local businesses and communities could face millions of dollars in "economic harm," depending on how long repairs and reconstruction took.The Baltimore bridge collapse reminded many in the industry of a 1980 tragedy in Tampa, Florida, where a freighter struck the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.tampabay.com/news/pinellas/2024/03/28/sunshine-skyway-baltimore-bridge-collapse-dolphins-barriers/">Sunshine Skyway Bridge</a>, causing it to collapse. The incident prompted US government officials to publish requirements for new structures in the 1990s, including the addition of fenders to help bridges withstand a ship collision. But older bridges were grandfathered in."There are many changes since the late '60s, early '70s when Key Bridge was permitted and designed, so we're going to be meeting or exceeding all of the current standards for the new bridge," Harkness said.The Federal Highway Administration classified the Baltimore bridge, along with thousands of others in the US, as "fracture-critical." This term describes bridges with nonredundant components or connections, meaning the structures rely on individual parts to support them."That means if one piece breaks, the entire bridge goes down," LePatner said.LePatner pointed to the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge as a standout example, which replaced the Tappan Zee Bridge, north of New York City, in 2018. The Tappan Zee, built in the '50s, was also fracture-critical and at risk of collapsing.While the bridge isn't near a seaport like the Key Bridge, the new Cuomo bridge was "built with all the redundancies," LePatner said, adding: "It's state of the art."<h2 id="45e9f35a-a748-432f-9497-71eec2ed98fd">An era of new risk</h2>Some experts view the original construction of Baltimore's Key Bridge in the '70s as well done for its time. Vessel traffic was less frequent, and cargo ships were smaller and lighter. Standards didn't require bridges to account for the risk of ship collision, said Michael Shields, an associate professor in the Department of Civil and Systems Engineering at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore."The risk to major bridges today is very different than it was in the 1970s," Shields said.It wasn't until 2016, when an expansion of the Panama Canal opened, that <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-the-increasing-size-of-container-ships-collapsed-baltimore-bridge-2024-3">megaships</a> started to transit the waterways. The newer ships are about 235 feet longer than the older ones, and they can carry <a target="_blank" href="https://www.aapa-ports.org/files/Panamax%20vs%20Post-Panamax%20comparison%20article.pdf">12,000 shipping containers</a>, making them significantly heavier than older vessels transporting 4,500 containers."Nobody ever envisioned the size of the ships today," said Bill Doyle, the CEO of the Dredging Contractors of America and a former executive director of the Port of Baltimore. "The size and the mass and the weight of that ship — it's taking something down" if it collides with a bridge, he added.The change to ships, along with growth in global trade and e-commerce, has driven an increase in cargo tonnage at many US ports, including the Port of Baltimore.Before the bridge collapse, Baltimore's tonnage hovered around <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://opendata.maryland.gov/Transportation/Maryland-Port-Administration-General-Cargo/2ir4-626w/data_preview">700,000 container tons a month</a>, Maryland's Open Data Portal found. Before the Panama Canal expansion, the figures were closer to 500,000. Shields said his research indicated that the Key Bridge was among "the most heavily trafficked bridges for extremely large ships in the US."<h2 id="20eccb2d-ce52-4ab8-8aa0-f8ac93407689">Building for the future</h2>Experts expect the Baltimore rebuild team to consider the risk of ship collision, the construction of redundancies, and ongoing maintenance.With large, heavy cargo ships going under the bridge, LePatner predicts the eventual Key Bridge may be supported from one end of the ground to the other across the waterway, instead of with piers. That way, in the event of a ship collision, there may be damage but not an entire collapse.Doyle hopes to see a holistic approach that focuses on the bridge's engineering and design, as well as the operations of ships passing beneath it. That includes using tugboats to guide massive ships. Doyle said he suspected if tugboats had helped guide the ship in and out of the Port of Baltimore on the day of the crash, the collision may not have happened.Shields advised doing an assessment of ship-collision risk ahead of the Baltimore rebuild and for future bridge projects. Across the US, "we don't currently have a good enough understanding of the risks to make informed decisions about what protections are appropriate for a given bridge — new or existing," Shields said.As the project gets underway, the lessons learned in conducting risk assessments and designing the bridge could serve as a guide for rebuilding other parts of America's infrastructure."Everyone is watching this project," Harkness said. "It's of national and international interest."

6 months after Baltimore's bridge collapse, lessons are emerging for a rebuild

<ul class="summary-list"><li>One of <keyword id="6355838" type="LOCATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="new-york">New York</keyword> Gov. <keyword id="196530" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Andrew-Cuomo">Andrew Cuomo</keyword>'s proudest accomplishments may be undone.</li><li>State and local lawmakers are looking at renaming the Mario Cuomo Bridge.</li><li>Cuomo's impending resignation and multiple scandals prompted the move.</li></ul>New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's father <a href="https://www.lohud.com/story/news/politics/politics-on-the-hudson/2017/06/29/tappan-zee-bridge-mario-cuomo/103289920/">once said</a> the only thing he ever wanted named after him was "a stickball court in a little alley in Queens."Following his son's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gov-andrew-cuomo-resigns-sexual-harassment-scandal-2021-3">resignation announcement</a> and the looming <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/end-of-the-cuomo-era-new-generation-democrats-resignation-ny-2021-8?fbclid=IwAR1o7quuawaFwHnyKYTeiut2mZ7Up4DgkFLpJjP-IV-ZBbzbfPD9PYBjb98">end of the Cuomo era</a> in Albany, the late governor's wish may come true.A bill has been revived in the state legislature that would change the name of the nearly $4 billion Mario Cuomo Bridge back to it its original one, according to <a href="https://nystateofpolitics.com/state-of-politics/new-york/politics/2021/08/16/lawmakers-eye-cuomo-s-pension-and-bridge-?cid=share_twitter">Spectrum News</a>.The <keyword id="3502976" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="tappan-zee-bridge">Tappan Zee Bridge</keyword> was demolished after the completion of the Mario Cuomo Bridge, but right from the start in 2017, lawmakers in the lower Hudson Valley were not pleased with the governor naming the new span after his father.Still referred to by locals as the Tappan Zee, the old name combined the name of the Native American tribe in the region (Tappan) with the Dutch word for sea (Zee).<div type="image" title="The east anchor span of the old Tappan Zee Bridge is demolished by explosives into the Hudson River in front of the new Mario Cuomo Bridge in Tarrytown, New York, U.S., January 15, 2019." height="1249" width="2500" msid="85410189" hostid="261"></div>The bridge was also the subject of one of the scandals plaguing Cuomo's third term, with "structural issues" - including <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mario-cuomo-bridge-safety-issues-structural-problems-governor-tappan-zee-2021-3">snapping bolts</a> - allegedly being covered up by the private contractor in charge of its construction.Amid Cuomo's downfall, there appears to be a renewed and bigger push for the name change, even among Democrats, according to Spectrum News.Republicans have also been eager to bring up some of their longstanding grievances again."If he could have named it the Andrew Cuomo Bridge, he would have, but he couldn't, and so he settled for Mario," Assemblyman Mike Lawler, a Rockland County Republican, told Spectrum. "So I think it's really time to get the Cuomo name off the bridge and revert it back to the Tappan Zee.""Given the governor's conduct and the scandals swirling around him, both the sexual harassment and the nursing home scandal, as well as his $5.1 million blood money book deal, I think now is the right time to change the name back," Lawler added.State Sen. James Skoufis, an Orange County Democrat, introduced a bill alongside the one to rename the bridge that would deny Cuomo the $50,000 per year pension he's set to receive upon leaving office."If it's good enough for the entry level state employee, it should be good enough for the governor of New York state," Skoufis said of the bill, which is technically a constitutional amendment.Back in 2017, <a href="https://www.politico.com/states/new-york/albany/story/2017/06/29/goodbye-tappan-zee-hello-mario-cuomo-bridge-113159">Cuomo defended naming the bridge after his father.</a>"One day this bridge will no longer exist," Cuomo said, "and if they build a new bridge - well this bridge is supposed to last 100 years, or we get a discount - if it comes down then they'll build a new bridge and name it after somebody else."

New York lawmakers mull renaming the Mario Cuomo Bridge following Andrew's resignation announcement

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The bridge named after <keyword id="6355838" type="LOCATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="new-york">New York</keyword> Gov. <keyword id="196530" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Andrew-Cuomo">Andrew Cuomo</keyword>'s father has newly disclosed safety issues.</li><li>A report from the Albany Times Union found that "structural issues" were known for years.</li><li>Opened in 2017 at a cost of $3.9 billion, experts say the bridge could collapse.</li></ul>Amid <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/a-fourth-woman-accuses-cuomo-of-inappropriate-behavior-2021-3">sexual-harassment allegations</a> from five women, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cuomo-refuses-to-resign-amid-growing-allegations-against-him-2021-3">calls for resignation</a>, possible <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-happens-if-cuomo-resigns-is-impeached-removed-from-office-2021-3">impeachment</a>, major <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cuomo-staff-departures-turnover-sexual-harassment-scandal-2021-3">staff departures</a>, and a federal investigation into his administration's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cuomo-coronavirus-nursing-home-deaths-conspiracy-nypost-fox-news-trump-2021-2">undercounting of COVID-19 deaths tied to nursing homes</a>, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is facing a new scandal.The <keyword id="10898708" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="mario-cuomo-bridge">Mario Cuomo Bridge</keyword>, which replaced the rickety and heavily-trafficked Tappan Zee Bridge in 2017, has "structural safety" issues that could lead to its collapse, an <a href="https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/mario-cuomo-bridge-structural-problems-covered-up-15594755.php">Albany Times Union investigation</a> found. Cuomo named the bridge after his father, who was New York's governor from 1983 to 1994.Snapping bolts that are supposed to pin down the bridge's suspension cables were the primary issue, the Times Union reported.The eight-month investigation also found that "Tappan Zee Constructors, the private corporation building the bridge for the state authority, may have committed fraud by concealing the fact that large numbers of bolts had been breaking due to either improper installation techniques, manufacturing defects, or both."In January 2016, an ironworker got hit in the face with part of a bolt that snapped when he was trying to use a torque wrench to tighten it, with the piece of metal ricocheting off an overhang and splitting his lip open when he looked up."When you look at them, bro, the heads of them were like hollow, bad spot, sometimes the shank-lead to the thread has got a hollow spot," one of the ironworkers told James McNall, the project's safety director at the Port of Coeymans, the Times Union reported.McNall, who was fired later in 2016 after problems with the bolts kept happening, secretly recorded conversations with engineers and ironworkers handling the bridge assembly at the port. He played them for a quality-assurance inspector at Alta Vista, a private firm hired by the New York State Thruway Authority.During a meeting at a restaurant in the Albany suburb of Colonie, McNall told the inspector that Tappan Zee Constructors may have committed fraud. A whistleblower later came forward to report the issue, and experts began to worry that the bolt snapping could lead to a collapse of the bridge, which has not even been moored in the Hudson River for a full decade.The Times Union obtained records stemming from a False Claims Act case filed by McNall in the state Supreme Court, but the case has remained under seal since 2017.State Sen. Joseph Griffo, a Republican from Rome, New York, sent a letter to the Senate's Government Operations Committee calling the structural flaws a "clear and present danger," and demanded an investigation. The offices of the New York inspector general and the attorney general have launched investigations into the matter, the Times Union reported. The AG investigation "devolved from seeking an incisive probe of the bolt failures to pursuing an effort to arguably downplay the severity of the allegations, including any potential structural threat to the bridge," Times Union reporter Brendan Lyons wrote.A confidential report from the Thruway Authority put the likelihood of bolts failing at 1%, but also listed a snapping rate as high as 50% as a "worst-case scenario," the Times Union said.Since December 2018, the inspector general's and attorney general's offices have not spoken publicly about the bridge investigations.A spokesperson for the Thruway Authority told Insider "this story has nothing to do with the Governor," and referred to a <a href="https://www.lohud.com/story/news/local/governor-mario-m-cuomo-bridge/2021/03/09/cuomo-bridge-bolts-safe-project-director-says/4642494001/">LoHud story</a> quoting the project director, Jamey Barbas, describing the Times Union report as "misleading and erroneous.""FACT: There was no state cover-up: The Thruway Authority learned of the allegations of bolt failures in 2016 and immediately informed the Inspector General," the spokesperson wrote to Insider in a direct message on Twitter from the Thruway Authority's official account. "We spent more than $1 million and engaged world-renowned subject matter experts, developed a testing program, conducted extensive studies, and examined more than 500 bolts. The tests confirmed that the bolts met or exceeded the requirements set forth by the American Society for Testing and Materials, which sets standards that govern the industry."When asked if the Thruway Authority would be in favor of unsealing the court documents, the spokesperson replied, "As much as we would like to share more information, we are unable to discuss it further at this time."

Andrew Cuomo has a new scandal, and it's the 'structural safety' of a bridge named after his father

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The NY Assembly suspended its <keyword id="84041" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Impeachment">impeachment</keyword> investigation after Gov. <keyword id="513036" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Cuomo">Cuomo</keyword> said he would resign.</li><li>Heastie said on Friday the investigation uncovered evidence of impeachable offenses.</li><li>Without impeachment, Cuomo could run for office in NY again, which he hasn't ruled out.</li></ul><keyword id="6355838" type="LOCATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="new-york">New York</keyword> Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie announced in a Friday press release that the Assembly is suspending its investigation into Gov. <keyword id="196530" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Andrew-Cuomo">Andrew Cuomo</keyword>.Heastie said this move was prompted by the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gov-andrew-cuomo-resigns-sexual-harassment-scandal-2021-3">governor's resignation</a>, which will take effect on August 25. He also said that NY Assembly Judiciary Committee Chair Charles Lavine said that impeachment would be unconstitutional once Cuomo leaves office.But Heastie also noted that the impeachment investigation uncovered evidence of misconduct, including sexual harassment, "the misuse of state resources in relation to the publication of the governor's memoir," and misleading disclosure of data about COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes.All of those, in addition to alleged <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mario-cuomo-bridge-safety-issues-structural-problems-governor-tappan-zee-2021-3">safety concerns with the Mario Cuomo Bridge</a>, were <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/andrew-cuomo-scandals-summary-sexual-harassment-nursing-homes-impeachment-resignation-2021-3">scandals months in the making</a> that had been plaguing Cuomo."The evidence - we believe - could likely have resulted in article of impeachment had he not resigned," said Heastie. The committee will now turn over evidence to law enforcement, per the statement.The decision to suspend the impeachment investigation means Cuomo could run for office in New York in the future, which some suspect the governor may attempt to do. A recent poll found Cuomo with a wide lead over potential challengers in 2022.Heastie was accused by critics in the legislature of dragging his heels on the impeachment investigation, which had minimal developments before <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/new-york-attorney-general-james-investigation-cuomo-sexually-harassed-women-2021-8">New York Attorney General Letitia James' investigation</a> dropped.The constitutional issue did not deter some of Cuomo's strongest opponents on both sides of the aisle from wanting to pursue some sort of sanction measures against the governor with what the impeachment investigation had already uncovered.However, with the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/end-of-the-cuomo-era-new-generation-democrats-resignation-ny-2021-8">Cuomo dynasty ending</a> and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kathy-hochul-will-become-new-york-first-female-governor-2021-8">Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul taking over</a> the week after next, lawmakers in Albany have their first chance in months to get down to business without the shadow of gubernatorial scandals looming over them.

New York Assembly calls off Cuomo impeachment probe, leaving open possibility the disgraced governor could run for office again

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Gov. <keyword id="196530" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Andrew-Cuomo">Andrew Cuomo</keyword> has found himself embroiled in four major <keyword id="143682" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="scandals">scandals</keyword> in the early months of 2021.</li><li>The latest: It was reported Wednesday that Cuomo arranged priority COVID-19 tests for his family.</li><li>The scandals have tarnished Cuomo's image as a political star in the COVID-19 pandemic's early days.</li></ul>Gov. Andrew Cuomo of <keyword id="6355838" type="LOCATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="new-york">New York</keyword> has had a bad year - and the hits just keep coming.Cuomo - after building a national profile by offering a semblance of reassurance during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic - is now watching his image and political career quickly erode.Amid a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/current-aide-ninth-woman-accuses-andrew-cuomo-of-sexual-harassment-2021-3">slew of sexual-misconduct allegations</a>, a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cuomo-coronavirus-nursing-home-deaths-conspiracy-nypost-fox-news-trump-2021-2">federal investigation into his administration's undercounting of nursing-home COVID-19 deaths</a>, and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cuomo-coronavirus-nursing-home-deaths-conspiracy-nypost-fox-news-trump-2021-2">reports of a structurally unsafe bridge named after his father</a>, Cuomo now faces a fourth major controversy.The third-term governor is accused of arranging special access to state-administered coronavirus tests for his family members and other high-profile figures as the pandemic battered New York early last year.<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/andrew-cuomo-family-covid-testing/2021/03/24/e8f6f4a8-8cb8-11eb-aff6-4f720ca2d479_story.html">According to The Washington Post</a>, Cuomo's administration is said to have dispatched a top doctor and other state health officials to his family member's homes, including the Hamptons home of his brother, Chris Cuomo. The CNN anchor was found to have COVID-19 last March.The accusations of coronavirus-testing corruption come on top of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cuomo-refuses-to-resign-amid-growing-allegations-against-him-2021-3">growing calls for his resignation</a>, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-happens-if-cuomo-resigns-is-impeached-removed-from-office-2021-3">possible impeachment</a>, and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cuomo-staff-departures-turnover-sexual-harassment-scandal-2021-3">major staff departures</a> in his administration - all just this month.Cuomo first came under intense scrutiny earlier this year amid reports that his aides had pressured state officials to undercount the nursing-home death toll in a July report. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fbi-investigates-if-cuomo-gave-false-data-on-nursing-home-deaths-nyt-2021-3">The FBI is investigating</a> whether the governor and his advisors provided false numbers. And <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/19/nyregion/cuomo-nursing-homes-covid.html?smtyp=cur&amp;smid=tw-nytmetroetro">The New York Times reported</a> last week that federal investigators had subpoenaed Cuomo's office for documents regarding the data.Next came the allegations of sexual harassment, inappropriate touching, and cultivating a toxic work environment. Since his first accuser came forward, eight additional women have made <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/current-aide-ninth-woman-accuses-andrew-cuomo-of-sexual-harassment-2021-3">accusations against Cuomo</a>, including three former aides to the governor as well as two journalists.Then, two weeks ago, a <a href="https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/mario-cuomo-bridge-structural-problems-covered-up-15594755.php">Times Union report</a> found the Mario Cuomo Bridge had "structural safety" issues that could lead to its collapse and that the state had known about it for years.Cuomo has <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cuomo-refuses-to-resign-amid-growing-allegations-against-him-2021-3">rejected calls to resign</a> even as they come from top New York lawmakers, including his fellow Democrats, saying doing so would be "anti-democratic."The recent wave of events represents a dramatic departure from the status Cuomo enjoyed last year, when many praised his handling of the pandemic and his daily press conferences, especially <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/inside-gov-andrew-cuomos-daily-coronavirus-press-briefings-2020-4">in contrast with those of President Donald Trump</a>.Cuomo even <a href="https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-donald-trump-pandemics-new-york-andrew-cuomo-7a32db5185b86a62d1accfce147f564e">published a book in October</a> called "American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic," praising his own coronavirus response and saying "we have seen how the virus is confronted and defeated."But his self-aggrandizement was premature.New York's <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/new-york-coronavirus-cases.html">highest numbers of reported daily cases ended up coming months later, at the end of 2020,</a> though deaths in the state never again reached the highs of April.And just as that third surge began to wane in February, the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cuomo-faces-federal-investigation-over-handling-of-covid-19-2021-2">tide started to turn for Cuomo</a>. It hasn't turned back since.

Gov. Cuomo is snowed under an avalanche of scandals as new reports claim he offered his family special access to COVID-19 tests at the height of the pandemic

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="6355838" type="LOCATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="new-york">New York</keyword> Gov. <keyword id="196530" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Andrew-Cuomo">Andrew Cuomo</keyword> will have plenty of time to ride out his <keyword id="84041" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Impeachment">impeachment</keyword> investigation.</li><li>The probe will likely take "months, rather than weeks," according Assemblyman Charles Lavine.</li><li>Lavine, who heads the lower chamber's judiciary committee, said the scope puts the timeline in flux.</li></ul>New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's main strategy in the face of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/andrew-cuomo-scandals-summary-sexual-harassment-nursing-homes-impeachment-resignation-2021-3">cascading scandals</a> has been to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/andrew-cuomo-impeachment-resignation-likelihood-sexual-harassment-budget-deadline-2021-3">buy himself more time</a>.On Tuesday, Assembly Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Lavine, a Long Island Democrat, told lawmakers in a preliminary hearing that the probe will take "months, rather than weeks.""At this early stage, it's not possible to say precisely how long this investigation will take," Lavine said.Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, a Bronx Democrat, announced last week that the white shoe law firm Davis, Polk and Wardwell would be handling the investigation. Several lawmakers and Cuomo accusers raised <a href="https://www.cityandstateny.com/articles/politics/new-york-state/assemblys-impeachment-law-firm-raises-concerns.html">concerns that the firm has a potential conflict of interest</a> in the investigation given its connections with the Cuomo administration. The main example cited by critics is how the Davis Polk's head of litigation married to the chief judge Cuomo appointed to the New York Court of Appeals.On the audio stream of the hearing, Lavine promised due process for both the governor and the accusers. Nine women have <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/current-aide-ninth-woman-accuses-andrew-cuomo-of-sexual-harassment-2021-3">come forward</a> in recent weeks to accuse Cuomo of misconduct ranging from sexual harassment to unwanted sexual contact."Due process is not just a preset. It's not just at the heart of what makes New Yorkers tick. It's at the heart of the American democracy as well," he said.The investigation will also involve the Cuomo administration's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cuomo-faces-federal-investigation-over-handling-of-covid-19-2021-2">handling of COVID-19 deaths among nursing home residents</a>, as well as "structural safety" issues involving <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mario-cuomo-bridge-safety-issues-structural-problems-governor-tappan-zee-2021-3">snapping bolts on the Mario Cuomo bridge</a> and whether Cuomo officials watered down a state investigation into the problem.Cuomo has <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/andrew-cuomo-press-conference-refuse-resign-bowing-cancel-culture-2021-3">denied any wrongdoing and refused to resign</a> despite <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/congressional-democrats-aoc-demand-andrew-cuomo-resignation-2021-3">calls from most of New York's congressional delegation</a> to step aside.

Andrew Cuomo impeachment investigation will take 'months, rather than weeks,' according to committee chairman

<ul class="summary-list"><li>New York Gov. <keyword id="196530" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Andrew-Cuomo">Andrew Cuomo</keyword> is facing scandals on multiple fronts.</li><li>Sexual harassment allegations have led to calls for his resignation.</li><li>Other scandals involve COVID-19 nursing home deaths and a $3.9 billion bridge.</li></ul>First came the nursing home scandal, then the sexual harassment allegations, then the bridge safety issues, and then more sexual harassment allegations.As New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo approaches the one-year anniversary of his <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/inside-gov-andrew-cuomos-daily-coronavirus-press-briefings-2020-4">star turn propelled by his internationally acclaimed COVID-19 daily briefings</a>, the third-term Democrat is under siege.Three main scandals have engulfed the Cuomo administration at one of the most consequential junctures in his governorship. Cuomo is set to run for a fourth term in 2022, with the mounting crises potentially imperiling his prospects of surpassing his father's three terms in Albany's corner office. A looming state budget deadline on April 1 also makes things complicated. Cuomo finds himself in a weakened position amid negotiations for the most consequential spending package in recent New York history, particularly with the devastation of the coronavirus pandemic in New York City, where <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-state-and-local-budget-crisis-aid-failed-stimulus-checks-2020-12">subway fares and other sources of tax revenue plummeted</a>.Here's a breakdown of the scandals currently engulfing Cuomo, as well as what a potential resignation or impeachment trial would entail.<h2>Cuomo faces sexual harassment allegations from six women</h2>In the past month, six women have accused Cuomo of sexual harassment, inappropriate workplace behavior, and touching them without their consent both while he was governor and Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the late 1990s to early 2000s. The first accuser, a former deputy secretary for economic development and special advisor Lindsey Boylan, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/former-cuomo-staffer-says-the-new-york-governor-sexually-harassed-her-2020-12">first raised her allegations of harassment in a December 2020 Twitter thread</a>. "Yes, [Cuomo] sexually harassed me for years," she wrote. "Many saw it, and watched. I could never anticipate what to expect: would I be grilled on my work (which was very good) or harassed about my looks. Or would it be both in the same conversation? This was the way for years." Boylan <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/former-cuomo-staffer-describes-sexual-harassment-in-new-essay-2021-2">expanded on her experiences in a February Medium post</a>, writing that after years of the governor making romantic advances in the workplace and inappropriate comments, she finally resigned in late 2018 after Cuomo kissed her on the lips without consent. (At the time, the Cuomo administration denied Boylan's claims to Insider).Shortly after, two other former aides who recently worked in the Cuomo administration, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/2nd-former-aide-accuses-andrew-cuomo-of-sexual-harassment-2021-2">Charlotte Bennett</a> and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/a-fourth-woman-accuses-cuomo-of-inappropriate-behavior-2021-3">Ana Liss</a>, came forward with similar claims of workplace harassment.<div type="image" title="GettyImages NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 17: Lindsey Boylan attends The 9th Annual Elly Awards Hosted By The Women's Forum Of New York on June 17, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images for Women's Forum of New York)" height="1152" width="2304" msid="81436505" hostid="261"></div>Bennett, 25, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/2nd-former-aide-accuses-andrew-cuomo-of-sexual-harassment-2021-2">told The New York Times</a> that Cuomo quizzed her on her sex and dating life, including asking if she had dated older men before, while <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/third-former-andrew-cuomo-aide-describes-inappropriate-workplace-treatment-11615081956">Liss told the Wall Street </a>Journal that Cuomo similarly inquired into her dating life, called her "sweetheart," and kissed her hand at one point. Karen Hinton, a former HUD staffer, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/cuomo-toxic-workplace/2021/03/06/7f7c5b9c-7dd3-11eb-b3d1-9e5aa3d5220c_story.html">told the Washington Post</a> that, while on a work trip to California in 2000, Cuomo invited her to his hotel room and held her into a too-long "intimate embrace" when she was leaving. In response to her claim, a Cuomo spokesman <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/cuomo-toxic-workplace/2021/03/06/7f7c5b9c-7dd3-11eb-b3d1-9e5aa3d5220c_story.html">called Hinton a</a> "known antagonist of the Governor's who is attempting to take advantage of this moment to score cheap points with made up allegations from 21 years ago."And on March 9, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cuomo-sexual-harassment-six-women-new-accuser-governor-mansion-report-2021-3">the Albany Times Union reported</a> that another unnamed female staffer in the executive chamber of the governor's office had filed an internal complaint against Cuomo over an incident that occurred at the governor's mansion, saying that Cuomo touched her inappropriately. The complaint has been referred to the attorney general's office, with Cuomo <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cuomo-sexual-harassment-six-women-new-accuser-governor-mansion-report-2021-3">telling reporters on Monday</a> that he had not heard of it.<a href="https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Female-aide-said-Cuomo-aggressively-groped-her-at-16015863.php">The Albany Times Union published</a> new details about the sixth allegation on March 10, reporting the unnamed female aide said the governor "aggressively groped her in a sexually charged manner" after she had been summoned to the Executive mansion last year under the pretext of helping Cuomo solve a technology issue. Alone in his private residence, Cuomo allegedly closed the door then reached under her shirt and began to fondle her, a person with direct knowledge of the woman's claims told the newspaper. That person said the unnamed accuser also alleged the governor was frequently flirtatious and said the incident in the mansion was not the only time he touched her, the Times Union reported.In addition to the five current and former Cuomo staffers, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/another-woman-accused-gov-cuomo-of-unwanted-advances-2021-3">a woman named Anna Ruch told The New York Times</a> that Cuomo touched her lower back and face and asked to kiss her at a September 2019 wedding, an encounter that a fellow wedding guest captured on camera. Cuomo has denied touching anyone inappropriately, but apologized for any comments that made women feel uncomfortable in the workplace <a href="https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/statement-governor-andrew-m-cuomo-209">in a February 28 statement</a> and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cuomo-sexual-harassment-apology-briefing-2021-3">in a subsequent news conference</a>. He has formally directed the attorney general's office to oversee an official investigation into the claims. "I now understand that I acted in a way that made people feel uncomfortable, and I truly and deeply apologize for it," Cuomo <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cuomo-sexual-harassment-apology-briefing-2021-3">said in a March 3 press conference</a>. "And frankly, I am embarrassed by it. And that's not easy to say, but that's the truth."The governor <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cuomo-sexual-harassment-apology-briefing-2021-3">also said</a> kissing people was his "customary way of greeting" and one that he extended to both men and women.Attorney General Letitia James <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cuomo-sexual-harassment-investigation-lead-lawyers-clark-kim-2021-3">has selected two powerhouse attorneys</a>, former federal prosecutor Joon Kim and civil rights lawyer Anne Clark, who specializes in employment discrimination, to conduct a fully independent investigation of the sexual harassment allegations with subpoena power. <h2>The Cuomo administration's handling of COVID-19 in nursing homes led to the first calls for his resignation</h2><div type="image" title="cuomo resign billboard" height="1244" width="2488" msid="81436510" hostid="261"></div>While reporters in Albany's Legislative Correspondents Association tried to get answers from Cuomo on a peculiar executive order on COVID-positive nursing home patients for months, the floodgates on this scandal did not open until early 2021.The March 25, 2020 executive order - which the Cuomo administration has long insisted was simply the result of them following federal guidance - mandated that nursing home patients who were hospitalized with the coronavirus should be discharged back to nursing homes, as long as the providers could take adequate care of them. Hospital capacity was a primary concern at the time, but the order left nursing home staff in a bind, particularly with the potential for the recently hospitalized residents to spread the virus if they were still within the window of contagiousness. In late January,<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cuomo-nursing-home-covid-deaths-ny-attorney-general-james-report-2021-1"> James accused the Cuomo administration of undercounting nursing home deaths</a> by omitting those who died in a hospital, leaving the overall death total unchanged but undercounting nursing home-related ones by thousands.Then came leaked comments from Cuomo's top aide, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cuomo-nursing-home-deaths-leaked-conversation-melissa-derosa-2021-2">Melissa DeRosa, who told lawmakers that the administration was sitting on the more accurate tally</a> to avoid political issues with the Trump administration.<div type="image" title="melissa derosa briefing" height="1250" width="2500" msid="81436512" hostid="261"></div>Several Republican lawmakers called for Cuomo's resignation, citing a lack of transparency.Cuomo has dismissed lawmakers' criticism on his handling of the situation, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cuomo-coronavirus-nursing-home-deaths-conspiracy-nypost-fox-news-trump-2021-2">accusing Donald Trump, Fox News, and the New York Post of conspiring against him</a>.Democrats began to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cuomo-refuses-to-resign-amid-growing-allegations-against-him-2021-3">join in calls for resignation</a> when Assemblyman Ron Kim, a Queens Democrat who had been critical of Cuomo on the nursing homes front, when he <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ron-kim-the-view-cuomo-abuser-nursing-homes-covid-video-2021-2">went on ABC's "The View" to talk about a threatening phone call</a> he says he received from Cuomo while trying to give his child a bath. And The New York Times reported on March 4 that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cuomos-advisers-altered-report-to-undercount-nursing-home-deaths-2021-3">top Cuomo aides altered a report on nursing home deaths</a> to provide lower numbers.In that first week of March, at least <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cuomo-staff-departures-turnover-sexual-harassment-scandal-2021-3">eight Cuomo aides announced their plans to leave the administration</a> or take jobs elsewhere in the executive branch.<h2>'Structural safety' issues on a bridge named after Cuomo's father added to his 2021 woes</h2><div type="image" title="GettyImages 1217916069" height="2004" width="4009" msid="81436516" hostid="261"></div>The Mario Cuomo Bridge, which replaced the rickety and heavily-trafficked Tappan Zee Bridge in 2017, has "structural safety" issues that could lead to its collapse, according to an <a href="https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/mario-cuomo-bridge-structural-problems-covered-up-15594755.php">Albany Times Union investigation</a> published March 9.Cuomo named the bridge after his father, who served as New York's governor from 1983 to 1994.Snapping bolts that are supposed to pin down the bridge's suspension cables were the primary issue, the Times Union reported.The eight-month investigation also found that Tappan Zee Constructors, the private corporation building the bridge for the state authority, may have committed fraud by concealing the fact that large numbers of bolts had been breaking due to either improper installation techniques, manufacturing defects, or both."Cuomo touted the project as "<a href="https://www.governor.ny.gov/programs/investing-infrastructure">four years ahead of schedule and on budget</a>," but the bolt issues raised alarm bells among the crew assembling the bridge at a port just south of Albany along the Hudson River.Investigations into the issue wound up downplaying the severity of the issues, according to the Times Union, though the New York State Thruway Authority and the project's director disputed that reporting. When asked if the Thruway Authority would be in favor of unsealing court documents pertaining to the structural issues, a spokesman said, "As much as we would like to share more information, we are unable to discuss it further at this time."<h2>What happens now?</h2>Cuomo now faces three paths: stay in office and run again in 2022, resign from office, or be impeached by the state legislature. Democrats now hold supermajorities in both legislative chambers. The governor has so far remained defiant and shown no sign of resigning <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/calls-for-cuomo-to-resign-are-growing-with-impeachment-looming-2021-3">despite calls from dozens of legislators</a> to do so. He <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cuomo-refuses-to-resign-amid-growing-allegations-against-him-2021-3">told reporters recently</a>: "I'm not going to resign because of allegations. The premise of resigning because of allegations is actually anti-democratic." Cuomo is known for the hard-charging and confrontational approach to <keyword id="6358883" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="politics">politics</keyword> that powered his rise to power, but it's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cuomo-refuses-to-resign-amid-growing-allegations-against-him-2021-3">left him with few allies in Albany</a> when he needs them most.In a significant development on Sunday, New York's state Senate President Andrea Stewart-Cousins <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cuomo-refuses-to-resign-amid-growing-allegations-against-him-2021-3">called on Cuomo to resign from office,</a> saying, "we need to govern without daily distraction." New York Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie <a href="https://twitter.com/NickReisman/status/1368658751436230657">followed up with a statement</a> that stopped short of saying that Cuomo should resign but called the allegations of the harassment "deeply disturbing" and said that Cuomo should "seriously consider whether he can effectively meet the needs of the people of New York." If he doesn't resign and more comes to light, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cuomo-resign-impeachment-new-york-lawmakers-debate-2021-3">Cuomo could face impeachment</a>. The impeachment process in New York is similar to how the impeachment of federal officials works in Congress. A simple majority in the state Assembly is required to impeach a governor. If the governor is impeached, a special impeachment court consisting of the members of the state Senate and the associate justices of the New York Court of Appeals, the state's highest court, would hold a trial. A two-thirds majority of the impeachment court is needed to convict and remove the governor. <a href="https://www.cityandstateny.com/articles/opinion/commentary/story-nys-only-gubernatorial-impeachment.html">A New York governor was last impeached over a century ago in 1913</a>, when the legislature impeached and removed former Gov. William Sulzer after he got into a nasty political battle with the Tammany Hall machine. If Cuomo either resigned or was removed through impeachment, the state's Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul would take office and serve out the rest of Cuomo's term until 2023. If either occurred, Hochul would be New York's first female governor.

All the major scandals Andrew Cuomo is facing in his fight for political survival

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">AP Photo/Seth WenigNew York Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks during a ribbon cutting ceremony for the Tappan Zee Bridge replacement near Tarrytown, N.Y., renamed the Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge. Gov. Cuomo says a petition to take his late father's name off a new bridge is "personally hurtful."</div></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>A <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/whistleblower" target="_blank" rel="noopener">whistleblower</a> says engineers have secretly replaced bolts on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/new-york" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New York</a>'s new Mario Cuomo bridge to hide the faults from inspectors, NBC4NY reported Wednesday. </li><li>The state's attorney general is investing the 60 failed bolts (out of more than a million on the entire bridge.)</li><li>The Mario Cuomo Bridge, which cost $3.98 billion, has been mired in controversy ever since it opened last year. </li></ul>A small team of engineers worked under the cover of darkness to replace failing bolts on one of New York's newest bridges, <a href="https://www.nbcnewyork.com/investigations/I-Team-More-Audio-Recordings-Raise-Questions-of-How-Many-Bolts-Broke-Apart-on-New-Mario-Cuomo-Bridge-New-York-503086662.html?_osource=SocialFlowFB_NYBrand&amp;fbclid=IwAR32tVptiivUBLyVWMFydwsyXc_6ZbPXOx8ReBuHGMDMW45_TKNgZWFmrcM">NBC4NY reported Wednesday. </a>Sixty bolts out of more than a million total are known to have failed on the newly opened Mario Cuomo Bridge, located on the Hudson River about 25 miles north of New York City.An <a href="https://www.nbcnewyork.com/investigations/I-Team-More-Audio-Recordings-Raise-Questions-of-How-Many-Bolts-Broke-Apart-on-New-Mario-Cuomo-Bridge-New-York-503086662.html?_osource=SocialFlowFB_NYBrand&amp;fbclid=IwAR32tVptiivUBLyVWMFydwsyXc_6ZbPXOx8ReBuHGMDMW45_TKNgZWFmrcM" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NBC4NY investigation</a> revealed that more failed bolts may have been secretly repaired.According to a safety inspector turned whistleblower, a handful of workers were covertly replacing broken bolts under the cover of darkness before safety inspections could take place, NBC4NY reported. The New York attorney general's office has been <a href="https://newyork.cbslocal.com/video/3995742-controversy-over-bolts-used-on-new-tappan-zee-bridge/">investigating the faulty bolts.</a> The construction company that built the bridge says it's cooperating and that its work is completely safe. One engineering expert told NBC there's likely no chance of collapse - just inflated maintenance costs throughout the bridge's lifespan.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">AP</div></div></div>In a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/14/nyregion/mario-cuomo-bridge-broken-bolts-investigation.html">statement to the New York Times, Tappan Zee Constructors</a> said: "all bolt testing performed by multiple parties indicates there is not an issue with the bolts.""TZC has not been provided with, nor is it aware of, any information that is contrary to these bolt testing results," it continued. "TZC has demonstrated a constant willingness to address any additional issues and will continue to do so."The issue could end up being similar to one which plagued the Bay Bridge across the San Francisco Bay, costing an <a href="http://www.ktvu.com/news/more-controversy-swirls-around-bay-bridge-bolts">additional $4.3 million </a>to replace faulty anchors. The builder, in that case, avoided any legal punishment for the problems.The Mario Cuomo Bridge, which replaced the 50-year-old Tappan Zee Bridge, has been mired in controversy ever since <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ny-to-build-3-billion-tappan-zee-bridge-2012-12">the idea was conceived</a>. Critics were quick to attack Governor Andrew Cuomo for <a href="https://nypost.com/2017/08/29/cuomo-ushers-in-new-mario-cuomo-bridge/">re-naming the new crossing after his father and former governor</a>. Others said the opening of the $3.98 billion bridge was intentionally<a href="https://www.lohud.com/story/news/local/rockland/tappan-zee/2018/09/08/opponents-say-cuomo-bridge-timeline-negligence/1238141002/"> sped up to happen before the primary race</a> in which Cuomo defeated challenger Cynthia Nixon.Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/virgin-hyperloop-one-ceo-jay-walder-interview-2018-12" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Virgin Hyperloop One's new CEO has run subway systems and bike-sharing companies around the world - now he's focused on making Elon Musk's dream a reality</a>.In 2016, a crane collapsed while contracting the new spans, injuring three motorists and adding headaches to "Ninety-percent of the time these things are tracked down and found not to be the big problem someone thought in the beginning," the MIT engineer <a href="https://www.nbcnewyork.com/investigations/I-Team-More-Audio-Recordings-Raise-Questions-of-How-Many-Bolts-Broke-Apart-on-New-Mario-Cuomo-Bridge-New-York-503086662.html?_osource=SocialFlowFB_NYBrand&amp;fbclid=IwAR32tVptiivUBLyVWMFydwsyXc_6ZbPXOx8ReBuHGMDMW45_TKNgZWFmrcM">told NBC4NY</a>. "Ten percent of the time it might end up being a big problem and then it really gets into who is the one who didn't pay attention to what was going on."A thruway spokesperson told the New York Times that "the bridge is completely safe for the traveling public." <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/computer-technician-built-life-size-rc-delorean-knight-rider-corvette-2018-11">How a computer technician turned his sixth-generation Corvette into a fully remote-controllable sports car</a></h3> <div> </div> </div>

New York's new $4 billion bridge is reportedly plagued by dozens of failing bolts and a simmering cover-up scandal

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Federal law-enforcement sources has told <a href="https://twitter.com/GeoffRBennett/status/1323092344053354498">NBC News</a> and <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2020/11/02/politics/white-house-fence-erected-again/index.html">CNN</a> about plans to erect a "non-scalable" fence around the <keyword id="6356037" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="white-house">White House</keyword> on Monday.</li><li>Tensions are high — across Washington, DC, and the rest of the country — ahead of what is expected to be a highly partisan election that could take multiple days to determine a result.</li><li>Two hundred and fifty National Guardsmen have also been put on standby ahead of Election Day on Tuesday, according to Bennett. They are reporting to the Washington, DC, Metropolitan Police.</li><li>There have already been flare-ups between Republicans and Democrats across the country, and businesses have started boarding up their windows in anticipation of possible violence.</li></ul>Federal agents are planning to erect a fence around the White House on Monday, on the eve of Election Day, according to <a href="https://twitter.com/GeoffRBennett/status/1323092344053354498" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NBC News reporter Geoff Bennett</a> and <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2020/11/02/politics/white-house-fence-erected-again/index.html">CNN</a>.A federal law-enforcement source told Bennett that "crews will build a 'non-scalable' fence" on Monday "to secure the [White House] complex, Ellipse, and Lafayette Square," Bennett tweeted late Sunday.Lafayette Square and the Ellipse are the parks to the immediate north and south of the White House. The three spaces take up more than 70 acres in total.<div type="image" title="white house fence" height="1480" width="2000" msid="79000612" hostid="261"></div>Bennett also reported that 250 National Guardsmen have been put on standby in Washington, DC, and are reporting to the city's metro police.Election Day on Tuesday looks to be more charged than usual, with <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/armed-groups-planning-to-monitor-polling-sites-on-election-day-2020-10">far-right groups threatening to come out to the polls armed</a>, and <a href="https://www.insider.com/cities-hit-by-protest-violence-are-bracing-as-election-nears-2020-10">law-enforcement agencies in several cities planning for unrest</a> and possible clashes in the street.Stores in major cities like New York and Washington, DC, have also been <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/corporate-america-getting-ready-for-unrest-after-election-day-2020-10">boarding up their windows</a> in anticipation of possible Election Day violence.President <keyword id="6354484" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Donald-Trump">Donald Trump</keyword> was criticized after failing, in his first presidential debate with Democratic opponent Joe Biden, to condemn far-right groups like the Proud Boys and telling them instead to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/proud-boys-respond-to-trumps-comment-in-presidential-debate-2020-9">"stand back and stand by."</a> Trump later claimed he was not familiar with the group. Already there have been flare-ups between Republicans and Democrats across the country. In Topeka, Kansas, on Saturday, police said a man shot three people he believed stole Trump signs from his lawn, according to <a href="https://www.cjonline.com/news/20201101/man-thought-people-were-stealing-donald-trump-signs-three-shot" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Topeka Capital-Journal.</a>Trump supporters took part in caravans across the country over the weekend, even shutting down traffic over the <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-election-2020/trump-supporters-shut-mario-cuomo-bridge-new-york-b1514537.html">Mario Cuomo bridge in New York State</a>.<div type="image" title="saks fifth avenue new york boarded up" height="1314" width="2000" msid="79000613" hostid="261"></div>The election has been amplified by the coronavirus pandemic, leading many to cast their votes early this year in <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/early-voting-turnout-poised-to-break-previous-general-election-records-2020-10">record numbers</a>.And since many states won't start opening absentee or mail-in ballots until Election Day, it's likely that it could take multiple days to learn the winner, putting the country even more on edge while waiting for a result. Last week, the <a href="https://www.crisisgroup.org/united-states/004-us-presidential-election-managing-risks-violence" target="_blank" rel="noopener">International Crisis Group,</a> a threat-tracking organization, released a 30-page report, saying that Americans faced an "unfamiliar danger" in the coming days."While Americans have grown used to a certain level of rancor in these quadrennial campaigns, they have not in living memory faced the realistic prospect that the incumbent may reject the outcome or that armed violence may result," the group wrote.When reached for comment Monday, the White House referred Business Insider to the Secret Service. Neither the Secret Service nor the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia responded to requests for comment. <ul class="read-more-links"><li>Read more:</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-supporters-surrounded-biden-bus-did-nothing-wrong-2020-11">Trump said supporters who surrounded a Biden campaign bus 'did nothing wrong' as the FBI investigates the incident</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chris-wallace-pissed-off-about-trumps-removing-masks-at-debate-2020-11">Chris Wallace said he was 'pissed off' when he found out that the Trump family did not have their masks on during the presidential debate</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-supporters-traffic-on-the-garden-state-parkway-2020-11">Videos show Trump supporters slow and shut down traffic on a portion of the Garden State Parkway in New Jersey</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-presidential-election-night-voting-ballots-2010-11">Trump will reportedly declare victory if he's 'ahead' on Election Night but his claims will carry no legal weight and the remaining ballots will still be counted</a></li></ul>

Federal agents are erecting a 'non-scalable' fence around the White House in apparent anticipation of Election Day unrest

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Justice <keyword id="315543" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Ruth-Bader-Ginsburg">Ruth Bader Ginsburg</keyword> has died at the age of 87.</li><li>Her death was announced Friday evening. She had multiple types of cancer in the past 20 years.</li><li>Even before President Bill Clinton nominated her to the <keyword id="6354977" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Supreme-Court">Supreme Court</keyword> in 1993, Ginsburg was a champion for women's issues as a lawyer at the ACLU.</li></ul>Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has died at the age of 87.She died Friday evening at her home in Washington, DC. Her death was due to complications from metastatic pancreatic cancer, according to an <a href="https://twitter.com/jaketapper/status/1307100704935424002">announcement</a> from the Supreme Court."Our Nation has lost a jurist of historic stature. We at the Supreme Court have lost a cherished colleague," Chief Justice John Roberts said in the statement. "Today we mourn, but with confidence that future generations will remember Ruth Bader Ginsburg as we knew her — a tireless and resolute champion of justice."Ginsburg's death gives President Donald Trump a third opportunity to nominate a lifetime appointee to the nation's highest court, which would secure a conservative majority for decades to come.Only the second woman to serve on the Supreme Court, Ginsburg had the rare opportunity to see herself become a feminist icon in her own time. Books and movies were made about her <keyword id="6360041" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="life">life</keyword>. Dolls and action figures were created in her likeness, down to the trademark collars she wore over her black robes.She was one of the most prominent Supreme Court justices in history, rising to a level of fame and historic achievement that seemed unlikely for a girl born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1933. It was a time that, as she told <a href="https://law.duke.edu/features/2005/ginsburg/">Duke Law</a> students in 2005, "the most important degree" for girls to get "was not your B.A. but your M.R.S."<div type="image" title="rbg as a child and young woman" height="1500" width="2000" msid="78197650" hostid="261"></div><h2>A trailblazer</h2>But Ginsburg's parents, Jewish émigrés from Europe, instilled the importance of getting a good education in their daughter. Her seriousness in school took her to the Ivy League. At Cornell, she met her future husband, Martin Ginsburg, whom she married just one month after graduating in 1954.When her husband was accepted to study law at Harvard in 1955, Ginsburg applied too, becoming one of just nine women in the law school at the time, which had a student population of about 500.Like most ambitious women of her age, Ginsburg faced challenges getting an advanced degree and entering the workforce in a patriarchal society where most women were expected to stay home and raise children.<div type="image" title="1993 167 2" height="1499" width="1999" msid="78197651" hostid="261"></div>An anecdote she often retold throughout her career was about a dinner she had in law school where the dean invited all of the female students. At the end of the meal, Ginsburg said the dean had them go around the table and explain why they deserved to take a place at the school that normally would have gone to a man.<h2>Fighting for gender equality </h2>Even though she graduated top of her class (at Columbia, where she transferred after her husband got a job in New York City), Ginsburg found it impossible to get a job at a law firm or a Supreme Court clerkship because she was a woman. It was only after one of her professors threatened to stop sending clerk candidates to Judge Edmund L. Palmieri — a judge in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York — that she finally found a position. But after that job was over, she faced troubles again and decided to give up a career practicing law to teach it instead — at Rutgers University.When her second child, James, entered preschool, Ginsburg began volunteering at the American Civil Liberties Union. That began the rise of her career, which helped propel the women's liberation movement.<div type="image" title="1993 173 1" height="1337" width="2000" msid="78197652" hostid="261"></div>Ginsburg's career has been most closely compared to that of Thurgood Marshall, a champion for civil rights who also served on the Supreme Court. Where Marshall fought for racial equality, Ginsburg set her sights on gender equality.Before serving on the Supreme Court, Ginsburg argued many cases in front of it. She was known to cleverly deploy a strategy for convincing the then all-male court of the existence of gender inequality. Instead of taking on cases involving women, she took on cases where men had been the victim of gender inequality. For example, in Weinberger v. Wiesenfeld, Stephen Wiesenfeld, a widower, sued after he couldn't collect Social Security benefits when his wife — who had been the breadwinner — died in childbirth. At the time, such benefits were given to a widow if her husband died, but not the other way around. The Supreme Court unanimously sided with Wiesenfeld.Her career took another turn in 1980, when she was nominated for a federal judgeship by then-President Jimmy Carter, serving on the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, one of the most prestigious courts in the country. Thirteen years later, she was promoted to the Supreme Court by President Bill Clinton, with the Senate confirming her to the position in a nearly unanimous floor vote.<div type="image" title="ruth bader ginsburg swearing in" height="1380" width="2000" msid="78197653" hostid="261"></div><h2>An unlikely friendship </h2>In was on the DC appeals court that she met one of her closest friends — future fellow Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Scalia was her polar opposite ideologically, but the two bridged their differences to create one of the deepest and oddest Supreme Court friendships, frequently going to the opera together and on vacations with their spouses.When Scalia died in 2016, Ginsburg gave a eulogy at his funeral and recalled how Scalia had a hand in helping her get on the court in the first place."When President Clinton was mulling over his first nomination to the Supreme Court, Justice Scalia was asked: 'If you were stranded on a desert island with your new Court colleague, who would you prefer, Larry Tribe or Mario Cuomo?' Scalia answered quickly and distinctly: 'Ruth Bader Ginsburg.' And within days, the president chose me," Ginsburg said.<div type="image" title="ginsburg scalia at the opera" height="1510" width="2000" msid="78197654" hostid="261"></div><h2>The great dissenter</h2>While she was one of the more moderate justices when she first started on the Supreme Court, over the past two and a half decades Republican presidents have had more opportunities to fill vacancies, turning the court decidedly more conservative. As such, Ginsburg became one of the most liberal judges on the court and a frequent dissenter.One of her most fiery dissents came in 2013 when the Supreme Court voted 5-4 to strike down a provision of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which insured that states had to get approval from the Justice Department before changing voting laws in their states. Ginsburg said "<a href="https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/06/25/us/annotated-supreme-court-decision-on-voting-rights-act.html">the sad irony of today's decision lies in its utter failure to grasp why the VRA has proven effective</a>," and she added that "history repeats itself."Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-saving-ruth-bader-ginsburg-seat-for-amy-barrett-2019-4">Trump is reportedly 'saving' a seat on the Supreme Court for conservative Amy Barrett in place of Ruth Bader Ginsburg</a>It was this dissent that earned her the nickname "The Notorious R.B.G" (a reference to the late rapper The Notorious B.I.G.) from a Tumblr fan account in 2013, a nickname that she heartily accepted."It seems altogether natural because we have one very important thing in common, the Notorious B.I.G. and me, we were both born and bred in Brooklyn, New York," <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQKebo5gewI">she said during a talk with Charlie Rose in 2017</a>.<div type="image" title="ruth bader ginsburg first group photo" height="1335" width="2000" msid="78197655" hostid="261"></div>While Ginsburg's frequent dissents indicated she hadn't had much influence on setting precedent, experts say her opinions helped activists frame their messages to push forward reproductive and civil rights, among other issues.Linda Hirshman, the author of "Sisters in Law" — a book about both Ginsburg and Sandra Day O'Connor — was quoted in Mental Floss as saying <a href="http://mentalfloss.com/article/76804/15-things-you-should-know-about-ruth-bader-ginsburg">Ginsburg's dissents plant the "seeds" of change</a>.The death of Ginsburg's husband in 2010, coupled with her own health issues, led to many calls for the aging justice to retire so that President Barack Obama could appoint a similarly left-leaning justice. But Ginsburg refused, telling <a href="http://archive.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2010/08/03/ginsburg_says_no_plans_to_leave_supreme_court/">The Associated Press</a> in August of that year that the work was helping her cope with the loss.<div type="image" title="the four justices" height="1832" width="2000" msid="78197658" hostid="261"></div>Ginsburg told <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/29/politics/ruth-bader-ginsburg-scalia-new-york/index.html">CNN</a> in July 2018 that she had "at least five more years" left in her before retiring. With much public scrutiny on her physical fitness, Ginsburg in March 2018 invited <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oBodJHX1Vg">Stephen Colbert of "The Late Show" to one of her twice-weekly workouts with her personal trainer</a>.<h2>The court turns solidly conservative </h2>But Ginsburg's death opens yet another seat on the nation's highest court for Trump to fill, making him the most influential Supreme Court president since President Ronald Reagan appointed four justices during his two administrations. The court has turned solidly conservative since Trump assumed office in 2017, with the appointments of Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh.Though the left may despair at Ginsburg's death leading to an even more solidly conservative court, Ginsburg herself was optimistic about the tides of change.Speaking about the cases in which she's dissented, Ginsburg told <a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?162787-1/conversation-justice-ginsburg">ABC's Lynn Sherr in a 2000 interview</a> she got "dejected" by such losses "but only momentarily.""You go on to the next challenge and you give it your all. You know that these important issues are not going to go away. They are going to come back again and again. There'll be another time, another day," she said.Ginsburg is survived by her two children and four grandchildren.<ul class="read-more-links"><li>Read more:</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ruth-bader-ginsberg-clarence-thomas-abortion-2019-5">Ruth Bader Ginsburg went head-to-head against Clarence Thomas over his antiabortion stance</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ruth-bader-ginsburg-opposes-adding-supreme-court-justices-2019-7">Ruth Bader Ginsburg said she doesn't agree with some Democratic presidential candidates' ideas to pack the Supreme Court with more justices</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ruth-bader-ginsburg-makes-first-appearance-since-cancer-surgery-2019-2">Ruth Bader Ginsburg made her first public appearance since cancer surgery at a concert in her honor, where she was called 'epic and notorious'</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ruth-bader-ginsburg-lipstick-shade-2019-1">A beauty brand is selling a Ruth Bader Ginsburg lipstick that already has thousands of people ordering it</a></li></ul>

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