New York’s first female governor Kathy Hochul was sworn into office, encouraging to change the state’s political culture and work to guarantee that New Yorkers “believe in their government again.”

Hochul takes over the governor’s office amid a sexual harassment scandal that drove her predecessor, Andrew Cuomo, from power.

Cuomo made his final public remarks on Monday in which he expressed the unfairness of the state investigation that found him guilty of sexually harassing women he previously employed.

Simultaneously, Hochul, a Democrat from Buffalo who turns 63 this week, officially became New York state’s 57th governor.

On August 10, Cuomo announced his resignation, following a scathing report from the state's attorney general that detailed multiple allegations of sexual harassment against 11 women. 

At the time, Cuomo said, "given the circumstances, the best way I can help now is if I step aside and let the government get back to the government, and therefore that is what I'll do, because I work for you, and doing the right thing, is doing the right thing for you".