ALBANY, N.Y. — Kathy Hochul grew to become the primary feminine governor of New York on the stroke of midnight Tuesday, taking management of a state authorities determined to get again to enterprise after months of distractions over sexual harassment allegations in opposition to Andrew Cuomo.
The Democrat from western New York was being sworn in as governor in a short, personal ceremony overseen by the state’s chief choose, Janet DiFiore.
Her ascent to the highest job was a history-making second in a capital the place girls have solely just lately begun chipping away at a notoriously male-dominated political tradition.
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Cuomo left workplace at 12:00 a.m, two weeks after he introduced he would resign relatively than face a possible impeachment battle. He submitted his resignation letter late Monday to the leaders of the state Meeting and Senate.
On his closing day in workplace, Cuomo launched a pre-recorded farewell handle during which he defended his report over a decade as New York’s governor and portrayed himself because the sufferer of a “media frenzy.”
Kathy Hochul grew to become the primary feminine governor of New York on the stroke of midnight Tuesday, taking management of a state authorities determined to get again to enterprise after months of distractions over sexual harassment allegations in opposition to Andrew Cuomo.
Hochul was scheduled to have a ceremonial swearing-in occasion Tuesday morning on the New York State Capitol. She deliberate to fulfill with legislative leaders later within the morning and make a public handle at three p.m.
For the primary time, a majority of probably the most highly effective figures in New York state authorities will probably be girls, together with state Senate Majority Chief Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Lawyer Normal Letitia James and the chief choose, DiFiore. The state Meeting is led by a person, Speaker Carl Heastie.
Hochul will inherit immense challenges as she takes over an administration dealing with criticism for inaction in Cuomo’s closing months.
COVID-19 has made a comeback, with new circumstances up almost 1,370% since late June. Hospitalizations are climbing at the same time as faculties put together to return into session.
Large choices lay forward on whether or not to mandate masks or vaccines for sure teams, or whether or not to reinstate social distancing restrictions if the state’s newest wave of infections worsens. Hochul has mentioned she favors making masks necessary for schoolchildren, a distinction with Cuomo, who mentioned he lacked that authority.
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The financial system stays unsettled. Jobs misplaced in the course of the pandemic have been coming again, however unemployment stays double what it was two years in the past.
New York has additionally struggled to get federal aid cash into the arms of tenants behind on their hire due to the pandemic, releasing simply 6% of the budgeted $2 billion to date. 1000’s of households face the potential of dropping their properties if the state permits eviction protections to run out.
Hochul additionally faces questions on whether or not she’ll change the tradition of governance in New York, following a Cuomo administration that favored power over attraction.
Cuomo’s resignation comes after an impartial investigation overseen by state Lawyer Normal Letitia James concluded there was credible proof he’d sexually harassed at the very least 11 girls.
In his farewell remarks, Cuomo struck a defiant tone, saying the legal professional normal’s report that triggered his resignation was designed to be “a political firecracker on an explosive matter, and it did work.”
“There was a political and media stampede,” he mentioned.
Cuomo additionally touted himself as a bulwark in opposition to his social gathering’s left wing, which he mentioned needs to defund the police and demonize companies, and boasted of creating authorities efficient in his years in workplace. He cited his work battling the COVID-19 pandemic, legalizing same-sex marriage and climbing the minimal wage to $15.
“I attempted my finest to ship for you,” Cuomo mentioned.
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Some critics jumped on Cuomo’s remarks as self-serving.
Assemblymember Yuh-Line Niou, a fellow Democrat, tweeted he had 100 million alternatives to enhance as a pacesetter and “Selected himself each time. Goodbye, Governor Cuomo.”
Cuomo’s prime aide, Melissa DeRosa, launched a press release saying the governor was exploring his choices for his post-gubernatorial life however had “little interest in operating for workplace once more.”
Cuomo’s resignation gained’t finish his authorized issues.
An aide who mentioned Cuomo groped her breast has filed a grievance with the Albany County Sheriff’s Workplace. Individually, Cuomo was dealing with a legislative investigation into whether or not he misled the general public about COVD-19 deaths in nursing properties to guard his status as a pandemic chief and improperly acquired assist from state staff in writing a e book that will web him $5 million.
The swap in management was taking place within the aftermath of Tropical Storm Henri, which narrowly missed Lengthy Island on Sunday however dumped rain over the Catskill Mountains and Hudson Valley.
Hochul might want to shortly construct her personal workforce of advisers to steer the administration for at the very least the following 16 months.
Hochul, who mentioned she didn’t work carefully with Cuomo and wasn’t conscious of the harassment allegations earlier than they grew to become public, has vowed nobody will ever name her office “poisonous.”
“I’ve a distinct strategy to governing,” Hochul mentioned Wednesday in Queens, including, “I get the job completed as a result of I don’t have time for distractions, significantly coming into this place.”
She introduced the deliberate appointments Monday of two prime aides: Karen Persichilli Keogh will develop into Secretary to the Governor and Elizabeth Tremendous will probably be Hochul’s chief authorized counselor.
She plans to maintain on Cuomo-era staff for 45 days to permit her time to interview new hires, however mentioned she won’t preserve anybody discovered to have behaved unethically.
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Hochul, who has already mentioned she plans to run for a full time period subsequent yr, is anticipated to choose a left-leaning New York Metropolis politician as her lieutenant governor. Hochul as soon as represented a conservative Western New York district in Congress for a yr and has a status as a average.
State Democratic Occasion Chair Jay Jacobs praised Hochul as “formidable.”
“She’s very skilled and I believe she’ll be a refreshing and thrilling new governor,” he mentioned.
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