NEW YORK — It has been one yr since Kathy Hochul stepped into the governor’s office, and since then, she has confronted lots of unanticipated crises — Hurricane Ida that left 16 lifeless in New York Metropolis, the Brooklyn subway shooting, the Buffalo supermarket massacre and, after all, the duty of proving herself as the primary girl to ever function governor of New York.
CBS2 political reporter Marcia Kramer sat down with the governor Thursday to speak in regards to the previous 12 months and, after all, the elephant within the room, the person she changed.
Hochul was Andrew Cuomo‘s lieutenant governor for almost seven years. The 2 had been by no means shut, however when a sexual harassment scandal forced Cuomo out of office, Hochul confronted many challenges, not the least of which was to show she was the “un-Cuomo” and will rule Albany with out the bombast and Machiavellian scheming of her predecessor.
Watch the complete interview
“I’m wondering if it was exhausting to step into Andrew Cuomo’s footwear,” Kramer stated.
“I knew I needed to change a complete tradition, high to backside,” Hochul stated. “I had lots of work to do, so I by no means thought in regards to the shadow of another person as a result of this was what I used to be referred to as to do … I knew precisely what was required, and we simply rolled up our sleeves and set to work.”
“What did you consider him?” Kramer requested.
“I assumed that he was a robust chief at a time when we would have liked a robust chief, but in addition had lots of private points that now there’s penalties,” Hochul stated.
Hochul is an excessive amount of of a girl to speak about Cuomo’s legendary bullying of the legislature and his virtually pathological have to stomp throughout New York Metropolis Mayor Invoice de Blasio, however in an interview to mark her first yr in workplace, she did say she would have dealt with COVID in a different way — not solely nursing dwelling sufferers, however the resolution to shut colleges.
“Would you shut down colleges once more? I believe the resounding reply is not any. You must work out how you can maintain these youngsters in a studying atmosphere. Defend them, however my God, we’re nonetheless coping with the fallout for a technology of youngsters who misplaced two years of progress,” Hochul stated.
To mark her first 12 months on the job, the governor’s workplace put out an extended record of accomplishments, together with her efforts to cope with the 2 Supreme Courtroom rulings that affected New York — the overturning of Roe v. Wade and the decision allowing New Yorkers to carry concealed weapons. She received the legislature to cross payments moderating the selections and in addition received lawmakers to change bail reform.
She says it is as a result of she likes to work behind the scenes, not interact in public forehead beating.
“I’ve had lots of robust battles, however what you do not see is them performed out in epic style the place there’s this clashing happening as a result of you realize what that does? It makes individuals anxious,” Hochul stated. “I haven’t got to have a headline saying I received that battle.”
Kramer additionally requested the governor about congestion pricing and the pushback she’s getting from New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and the chance that New Jersey drivers who take the Holland and Lincoln Tunnels will not pay a congestion payment.
“I’ve not handled that particular query. I do know that is on his thoughts, and we’ve got a dialog that is forthcoming,” Hochul stated.
The governor advised Kramer that her greatest day in workplace was day one, and the worst was when her then-lieutenant governor Brian Benjamin was indicted on the identical day because the Sunset Park subway shooting.
In the meantime, her Republican gubernatorial opponent, Lee Zeldin, put out his personal record of Hochul’s worst days, which included the indictment of Benjamin.
