A prominent Westchester attorney is under fire after sending out a tweet suggesting Republican gubernatorial candidate Rob Astorino’s black running mate was mulling offers “to be the new spokesmodel for either Cream of Wheat, or Uncle Ben’s Rice.”
Andrew Barovick, a partner at the Alegria & Barovick law firm and an outspoken Democratic Party supporter, sent the tweet Monday night, about a day before Astorino and lieutenant governor candidate Chris Moss conceded the race to Gov. Cuomo.
“In light of election loss, @SheriffMoss mulling offers to be new spokesmodel for either Cream of Wheat, or Uncle Ben's Rice,” the now-deleted tweet, apparently pushed out in anticipation of the Republicans' loss, read.
The tweet sparked immediate uproar from members of the community and has the group Westchester Citizens Against Racism calling for Barovick to be fired from Cardozo Law School, where it was initially believed he was an adjunct professor.
A spokesman for Cardozo said Thursday that Barovick has never worked at the school or taught any classes.
The group also called for him to be stripped of a committee chairmanship from the New York City Bar Association. It's not clear if he is a member of that group either.
Moss, who is also the sheriff in Chemung County in western New York, lambasted the tweet Tuesday, calling it a “blatant racist smear.”
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Barovick initially defended the tweet but apologized in a message posted Wednesday morning.
“What I tweeted earlier about .@SherrifMoss was dumb & insensitive, and I apologize for it,” he said.
