ALBANY, N.Y. — She finally saw the light.
Gov. Kathy Hochul was forced to make a major acknowledgment of subway crime and mental illness Tuesday in her policy-setting annual State of the State address, but critics said her proposals were largely “symbolic.” It was criticized as such.
Mr. Hochul, politically unstable, has also sought to address the economic problems that will hurt Democrats in 2024 by offering tax cuts and lump-sum payments to the middle class (many critics say the imperial state actually has no The government played an advantageous role for the political center by promoting the following: election.
The governor's 57-minute speech left his proposals largely empty, including his brilliant idea to make the city's subways safer with a promise to install LED lighting at every station.
But Hochul announced big plans to address subway safety. It's a promise to put an NYPD officer on every night train.
“We want uniformed police officers on platforms, but more importantly, we want police officers on every train at night (9pm to 5am) for the next six months. The state will financially support these efforts,” she said. However, details of the cost were not disclosed.
“The chaos must end.”
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said in a later statement that there would be two officers on each train.
Hochul's powerful vow to end subway chaos comes amid weeks of high-profile random attacks, including one where a homeless woman was burned to death.
Despite the governor's controversial decision to deploy the National Guard to the subways, he tweeted within hours of the horrific arson attack that he was celebrating that subway crime was “going down.”
The perhaps tone-deafness Hochul displayed at the time was largely absent from her State of the Union address, in which she appeared to be trying to reshape her public image.
Only 33% of New York voters surveyed in a recent poll said they would vote for Hochul.
Hank Sheinkoff, a Democratic consultant, said the entire speech inside The Egg, a performing arts center in Albany's landmark Empire State Plaza, was more akin to Hochul's 2026 than a typical statehouse. He said it often looked like the opening salvo of a gubernatorial race.
He said that when Hochul previewed some of her policy proposals in recent weeks, she focused on fundamental economic issues, which she dubbed the “affordability agenda.”
“Democrats are not doing well in New York right now, either,” he said. She is trying to address economic issues that Democrats did not address during the presidential campaign.
“She's trying to walk downtown with Congressional Democrats. Will it work? That remains to be seen.”
The audience, made up mostly of Hochul's fellow Democrats who control majorities in both the state Senate and Assembly, enthusiastically delivered the governor's speech throughout, interrupting it with applause more than 40 times.
When Hochul mentioned assistance to make it easier for mentally ill people to commit involuntary crimes, she said she has long called on the city of Albany to take action on this issue as a way to curb indiscriminate violence on subways and on the streets. Mayor Eric Adams was the first to speak out. feet.
But Hochul's proposal (teased nearly two weeks ago with ambiguous language) would require involuntary involvement for people who do not have the mental capacity to care for food, clothing, clothing, and medical care. It lacked details other than zooming in.
The brief released by his office includes aligning New York's mental health laws with standards in other states, allowing involuntary commitments for clinicians and certified professionals, and requiring psychiatric nurses to do so. It contains only the minimum amount of additional information that is proposed to be provided.
The plan also includes a parallel effort to strengthen Kendra Law to help people with serious mental health problems access long-term treatment.
Mr. Hochul's ambiguity extended during his speech, which included everything from middle-class tax cuts to a $500 “inflation rebate” for households earning less than $300,000 a year, which included a previously teased statewide package. measures were included.
She also vowed:
- Amend the state's “discovery” laws to make it harder for criminal cases to be dismissed on technicalities.
- New York State has strong existing protections for abortion, despite the recent passage of the Equal Rights Amendment in the state constitution, which “protects the identity of doctors who prescribe abortion pills.”
- Critics argue that the plan would lead to a 22 cents per gallon increase in gas prices by moving slowly through a “cap-and-invest” program that forces oil companies to pay for greenhouse gases.
- Whether New York will require Medicaid to cover the cost of prescription diabetes drugs and weight loss drugs like Ozempic, as other states such as North Carolina and South Carolina have begun covering obesity treatments. Please consider.
- Outlines detailed proposals for a much-touted effort to curb or ban phone use in public schools.
The focus on “affordability” has drawn criticism from Republicans such as Rep. Mike Lawler, a potential 2026 gubernatorial candidate. They thought it was hypocritical and cynical for Mr. Hochul to cast himself as a friend of hard-working New Yorkers, even though he imposed additional costs such as: A $9 congestion charge applies.
Even the progressive Working Families Party denounced Hochul's tax cut proposal as lip service to the wealthy without concrete funding, hinting at upcoming battles in Congress. It's a possible position.
“Proposed tax cuts for low- and middle-income households that do not generate new revenues are unsustainable and could lead to cuts in services and programs,” WFP said in a statement. “The good news is we know exactly how to pay for these meaningful investments. It’s past time to raise taxes on the ultra-wealthy to invest in working families. ”
Another left-wing group, Invest In Our New York, said Mr. Hochul's plan for “minimum state funding” for working-class-focused programs relies on federal funding and that Mr.・He claimed that it could soon disappear under President-elect Trump.
“Any cuts to the $86 billion in federal funding we rely on, which could happen as early as March, will be a huge relief to New York, which is already struggling to find slots in early childhood education. Families in low-income New York may face an even larger child care desert. “Carrs will have no health insurance and public hospitals may close. Public transport infrastructure projects could be delayed again and straphangers could be forced to pay even more fare increases,” said Carolyn, the group's campaign manager. Martinez-Klass said in a statement.
Many of the safety-related proposals for Hochul's subway, particularly the installation of “brighter LED lighting” at all stations and the installation of fencing at an additional 100 stations, have been modernized to deter fare evaders. Adding gates and such were shrugged off.
The proposed barrier is not fully funded and will be rolled out over the next five years. The system has 472 stations, meaning only one-fifth of the stations are covered.
Both are part of the MTA's proposed five-year, $68 billion capital plan, which Hochul said Tuesday he supports without specifying how he would finance the $33 billion in outstanding funds. said.
House Speaker Carl Heastie and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins rejected the plan, saying recently that new taxes “must be on the table” to fill the billion-dollar hole. I admitted it.
State Senate Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris (D-Queens) said Tuesday that some of Hochul's transportation proposals appear “symbolic,” such as updating ticket gates at just a few stations.
Gianaris also agreed that Hochul's proposals on affordability and crime seem to be a reaction to the last election, but that he thought the governor was right to respond this way.
“That's how democracy works,” he said. “We hear people's voices through their voices at the polls, and we take action. I don't blame her for that. I think she's being polite.”
Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay (R-Oswego) said it appears Hochul is finally listening to New Yorkers.
“I can't be mad at the points she made,” he said. “What Republicans have been talking about is affordability, crime and people being able to stay and live in the state.
“I wonder where she's been for a few years.”
It remains to be seen whether Hochul's apparent change in direction will appeal to voters.
Lee Miringoff, a pollster at Marist College, said that although Hochul has been governor for three years, people still don't understand what she and her administration stand for. He pointed out that she was playing ping-pong with both sides of the congestion pricing debate.
“She doesn't have a clear political identity,” he says. “She needs to work to get ahead of the curve on some of these important issues. She needs to stand firm.”
Scheinkopf said Hochul should not be left out.
“I wouldn't call her dead because she has more life than anyone else. It's like congestion pricing,” he said. “She's tough as nails.”
