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Five women who worked for Vito J. Lopez, the assemblyman at the center of a broadening sexual harassment scandal, described in interviews an atmosphere of sexual pressure and crude language in his office, with frequent unwanted advances by him and others, requests for provocative dress, personal questions about their boyfriends and fears of reprisals if they complained.

Stephanie M. Friot, a former employee of Assemblyman Vito J. Lopez, said that Mr. Lopez never harassed her but that his office contained a “culture where behaviors like that were permissible.”

By their accounts, Mr. Lopez, 71, a Brooklyn Democrat, told some women not to wear bras to work. He requested they wear short skirts and high heels. He gave them cash to buy jewelry and complimented them on their figures, giving special attention to those he called “well endowed.”

He asked about their personal lives, urging them to break up with boyfriends, and berated those women — all of whom were new to politics — who did not compliment him effusively enough, according to several of the women interviewed.

One of the women, Stephanie M. Friot, spoke on the record, while the other four spoke on the condition their names not be used. Ms. Friot, 28, said that Mr. Lopez never directly harassed her but that “there was a certain culture where behaviors like that were permissible.”

Another woman described “an atmosphere of intimidation,” an environment where she and other former staff members said Mr. Lopez veered between crude jokes and fierce tirades.

“He would comment on a shirt I was wearing and say ‘I’d like it better if you didn’t have a bra on,’ ” said one of the former staff members. “That was something he brought up quite a bit.”

The sexual harassment scandal that has been roiling New York’s political world began last Friday, when the Assembly’s ethics committee substantiated claims that Mr. Lopez harassed two women. The Assembly released a letter censuring Mr. Lopez, one of the city’s last powerful political bosses, taking away his committee chairmanship and barred him from employing interns or anyone under the age of 21. The letter described “pervasive unwelcome verbal conduct” and found that Mr. Lopez verbally harassed, groped and kissed two of his staff members without their consent.

Over the next few days, The New York Times reported that Sheldon Silver, the Assembly speaker and one of the state’s most powerful Democrats, authorized a secret payment of $103,080 in June to settle prior allegations against Mr. Lopez from two other women — allegations that were never referred to the ethics committee. The settlement has sparked numerous calls for investigation into the Assembly’s handling of the matter. Mr. Silver has conceded he made a mistake.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and other elected officials have called on Mr. Lopez to resign, but he has resisted. Mr. Lopez did say on Tuesday, however, that he would not seek another term as Brooklyn Democratic Party chairman next month, a decision that will greatly diminish his power.

The five women’s accounts suggest that the harassment accusations substantiated last week by the ethics committee were part of a longstanding pattern.

Mr. Lopez and his aides did not respond Wednesday to phone calls and e-mails requesting comment about the women’s accounts, but Mr. Lopez has vigorously denied the previous allegations, saying: “The charges made against me are unfair and untrue. Never did I intentionally touch or attempt to kiss either of the complainants. I have never forced myself on anyone, nor would I.”

Mr. Lopez’s lawyer, Gerald B. Lefcourt, declined to comment.

Mr. Lopez is a holdover from an era when party leaders could lavishly reward friends and exile enemies to the wilderness. He has served in the Assembly since being elected in 1984 and has headed the Brooklyn Democratic Party since 2005, a post that came with tremendous influence and gave him unrivaled power in selecting the borough’s judges, and filling vacant political seats.

He was also the founder of the Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council, one of Brooklyn’s largest nonprofit organizations and a reliable well of votes, support and government contracts.

William K. Rashbaum contributed reporting.

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Mr. Lopez, 71, said he planned to keep his seat in the State Assembly, despite calls from many city and state officials for his resignation. And new questions have been raised about how the State Assembly handled the sexual harassment claims, including a secret payment of more than $100,000 to settle one case involving Mr. Lopez.

On Tuesday, Gloria Allred, the prominent Los Angeles lawyer, who represented at least one woman in a claim against Mr. Lopez this year, said her office would never have discouraged a formal investigation by the State Legislature. Her comment rebutted claims by the Assembly that it keeps such cases secret only if employees insist on preserving their privacy.

“In any sex harassment case that our firm or our New York co-counsel and her firm, Mariann Wang of Cuti Hecker Wang, has ever been involved in,” Ms. Allred said, “we have never requested or insisted that a legislative committee or other body not proceed with an investigation.”

“To the contrary,” she said. “We believe that it is in the interest of good government and working women that there is full accountability and transparency about workplace sex harassment and that there should be full investigations of accusations of workplace harassment.”

A spokesman for the Assembly speaker, Sheldon Silver, the Legislature’s most prominent Democrat, did not immediately return calls for comment.

On Tuesday, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, who has called on Mr. Lopez to resign, said the Assembly’s handling of the sexual harassment claims should be investigated by the state ethics commission, which overees ethics enforcement of both the executive and legislative branches.

The Assembly censured Mr. Lopez on Friday after an internal investigation by the Assembly’s bipartisan ethics committee substantiated allegations of harassment brought by two female employees in his office.

The New York Times reported over the weekend that the Assembly had authorized a secret payment to settle prior allegations against Mr. Lopez — allegations that were never referred to the ethics committee. Documents released by the Assembly on Monday showed that it paid $103,080 in June to settle the earlier case, which is said to have involved claims brought by two other women.

On Monday, a spokesman for the Assembly, Michael Whyland, said: “The only instance in which a complaint would not be handled by the ethics committee would be if a victim insisted for reasons of personal privacy that it not go before the committee. The Assembly would only keep such a matter confidential at the express insistence of the victim.”

Mr. Lopez continued on Tuesday to maintain his innocence.

“The onslaught of character attacks has put enormous emotional pressures on my family and close friends,” Mr. Lopez he said in a statement issued to explain his decision not to seek to continue as the leader of the Brooklyn Democratic Party. “I cannot sit by and allow that to continue.”

“My political history has been to fight through challenges and political conflicts,” he said, “but for the sake of loved ones and the Democratic Party, it is important that I take this action.”

The vote on the leadership of the Brooklyn Democratic Party has been scheduled for next month, and before the revelations contained in the censure, Mr. Lopez, who has been the chairman since 2005, would have easily won again.

Kevin Mintzer, a lawyer for the two women whose complaints led to Mr. Lopez’s censure, issued a blistering statement on Tuesday, saying that relinquishing a party leadership position was “wholly insufficient.”

“The notion that Mr. Lopez will be continue to be in a position to sexually harass other Assembly employees is intolerable,” he continued.

Mr. Lopez, in his statement, again denied that he had sexually harassed his staff members and characterized those claims as politically motivated. “I hope and intend to prove in the coming months the political nature of these accusations,” he wrote.

But Mr. Mintzer scoffed at Mr. Lopez’s denial, saying the censure was a product of a thorough investigation by the ethics committee, which is “comprised entirely of Mr. Lopez’ longtime colleagues in the Assembly and, as such, is the most favorable forum Mr. Lopez will ever have in this matter.”

Mr. Mintzer also said Mr. Lopez never offered any testimony or evidence during the investigation. “He apparently offered nothing but a lawyer’s denial,” he said.

As for Mr. Lopez’s statement regarding the emotional pressures he has faced as a result of the allegations, Mr. Mintzer said, “Mr. Lopez would do well to consider the considerable emotional distress he caused the victims.”

State Senator Liz Krueger, a Manhattan Democrat, said she was “delighted” to hear about Mr. Lopez’s decision, saying his continuation as chairman “would have been a black eye on the Brooklyn Democratic Party.”

But she joined other elected officials, including United States Senator Charles E. Schumer, in urging Mr. Lopez to relinquish his Assembly seat as well.

Some advocates for women’s rights also expanded their criticism to include Mr. Silver, who approved the secret payment to settle sexual harassment claims.

“This is a bombshell,” said Sonia Ossorio, president of the National Organization for Women of New York City. “Sheldon Silver is now in the hot seat with Lopez and he has a lot of explaining to do.”

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