A Democratic state lawmaker from East Harlem has been sanctioned for “sexually explicit remarks” he gave on the chamber floor earlier in the year, Speaker Carl Heastie announced Friday.
Assemblymember Eddie Gibbs received a warning letter and was ordered to undergo counseling “to address the use of sexually explicit remarks and the use of professional communication,” Heastie’s office said.
The statement in question came during a speech Gibbs gave in May after the death of former Rep. Charlie Rangel.
Gibbs said on the floor that his late mother was enamored with both Rangel and Rangel's predecessor, Adam Clayton Powell Jr.
“My mother was a big fan of Adam Clayton Powell, the congressmember, and she would tell me often that Adam Powell made her moist,” Gibbs said, according to an official transcript. “And then when Charlie won the seat — had the seat, she said Charlie made her wetter. I don't know what that means, but that's the way she felt about Charlie.”
Gibbs said in an interview that he didn’t mean to offend anybody.
“I understand that in Albany – it’s robotic there. I have different language, I don’t talk their language,” he said. “In my community, this is how we speak and talk to each other – and my mother would have said the same thing to you if she was alive today.”
He said his mother was a “celebrated cocaine addict” and that something about Rangel “put her head over heels.”
The state Assembly’s ethics committee determined that Gibbs violated the chamber’s anti-harassment policy.
Gibbs assumed office in 2022 after he won a special election to replace Robert Rodriguez, whom Gov. Kathy Hochul appointed as secretary of state. Gibbs says he is the first formerly incarcerated person to serve in the state Legislature and credits his time in prison with turning his life around.
At the Capitol, Gibbs has been a staunch advocate of prison reform and sponsors numerous bills to help incarcerated people, including one that would increase the amount of “gate money” given to prisoners upon release.
Gibbs was arrested in 2024 after police said he interfered with a traffic stop involving the assemblymember’s brother. He was charged with disorderly conduct.
One bill Gibbs sponsored was signed by Hochul this year: a measure to extend requirements that college students with disabilities be given instructional materials electronically.
