Cuomo the accused sex harasser targets comptroller foe over dog-neutering, smoking-ban suits

Accused serial sex harasser and mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo has tried to make hay of city lawsuits involving Comptroller foe Brad Lander over issues such as dog-neutering.Cuomo leveled his attack against Lander during Wednesday’s mayoral debate, and the 15 lawsuits he tied to the city moneyman were later listed in a Thursday social-media post by his campaign.But in all but one of the lawsuits, Lander was only a nominally listed defendant, with many of the suits filed against the City Council, a review by The Post found.And none of the suits accused Lander of personal wrongdoing, unlike some of the accusations levied at Cuomo.The suits tangentially involving Lander span three mayoral administrations and include legal fights over a pro-smoking group fighting smoking bans, dog-neutering laws and a pair of shelter residents filing pro-se lawsuits over asbestos allegations.Cuomo rep Rich Azzopardi told The Post that his boss’s comments on the debate stage were about Lander taking issue with the state footing the former governor’s legal bills, pointing out that taxpayers have paid for suits against the comptroller, too.Cuomo — who resigned as governor in August 2021 over sex-harassment and COVID nursing-home controversies — has denied all of the accusations against him.“Lander has amnesia,” Azzopardi said, adding that the substance of the suits was irrelevant and that the accusations against Cuomo have faced difficulties in court.But Lander rep Dora Pekec said substance is the issue.“While Brad Lander got sued by the cigarette lobby for protecting our children from secondary smoke, predator Andrew Cuomo got sued by numerous employees for sexual abuse, faced looming impeachment, and forced taxpayers to spend $60 million trying to make these scandals go away,” Pekec said in a statement.“No wonder Cuomo keeps lying about both of their records,” Pekec said.Lindsey Boylan, one of the first of a dozen women who have accused Cuomo of sexual harassment,...