A reckoning in Albany as victims of lawmakers' sex harassment tell their stories

“Today is the first hearing in nearly three decades to address a subject that is not merely overlooked, but actively avoided – kept hidden by unstated rules about what we do and don’t talk about, and what we do and don’t listen to,'' said Senator Alessandra Biaggi, a Bronx Democrat.

Biaggi last fall unseated a powerful lawmaker, Jeff Klein, who was accused by a Senate staffer of sexual misconduct. That woman, Erica Vladimer, who accused Klein of forcibly kissing her outside an Albany bar in 2015, was among those testifying before lawmakers on Wednesday. “I chose to leave state government without reporting what happened," she said of concerns that sexual harassment cases aren’t treated fairly in Albany. The incident involving Klein came to light in 2018.