Hochul Makes History as First Woman NY Governor

Newly minted Gov. Kathy Hochul said on her first day in office Aug. 24 that her number one goal is for New Yorkers to believe in their government again, after she took over as the first woman in the state’s highest office, following former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s resignation due to a barrage of sexual harassment allegations.

“I want people to believe in their government again, it’s important to me that people have faith,” said Hochul during her first press conference as governor at the State Capitol in Albany.

Hochul officially became New York’s 57th Governor and was sworn into office one minute past midnight after Cuomo handed in his letter of resignation Monday night. Hochul said she’s prepared for the manifold challenges of bringing the Empire State back from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I’m looking forward to a fresh collaborative approach,” she told reporters. “That’s how I’ve always conducted myself, it’ll be nothing new for me, but it’s something I’m planning on introducing to the State Capitol.”

When asked about holding Cuomo accountable for the sexual misconduct allegations by 11 women, revealed by State Attorney General Letitia James’s bombshell report, along with ethics investigations into his $5 million COVID book deal and miscounting the death toll in nursing homes, Hochul said she will leave that up to the State Legislature, which dropped its impeachment probe but still plans to issue a report of its findings.

One of the new chief executive’s top priorities is getting federal rent relief to tenants faster, after the state was slow to deliver the funds as New York’s eviction moratorium is set to expire at the end of August.

She added that she will get money for workers who lost income during the pandemic but weren’t eligible to existing governmental relief, known as the Excluded Workers Fund program “with the same intensity” as rental assistance.

-Via amNY Metro