Northeast

GOP eyes fresh shot at NY governor’s seat after latest Dem scandal

Published

3 years ago

April 14, 2022

GOP eyes fresh shot at NY governor’s seat after latest Dem scandal

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With one other Democrat embroiled in scandal, New York Republicans are feeling extra optimistic they’ll flip the traditionally blue state in November and win management of the governor’s workplace.

Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin resigned Tuesday after being charged with bribery in an alleged public corruption scheme, lower than a 12 months after Gov. Andrew Cuomo resigned amid sexual harassment allegations.

“I actually do consider that New York is poised to elect a Republican governor this 12 months,” Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., advised Fox Information Digital. “And I do know it sounds loopy as a result of we’re an overwhelmingly Democratic state, however look what occurred in Virginia. Look what occurred in New Jersey — nearly.”

WHAT ARE THE CAMPAIGN FINANCE CHARGES THAT FORCED NY LT GOV BENJAMIN TO RESIGN?

Republican Gov. Glen Youngkin pulled off an upset win in opposition to former Democratic Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe in November, buoyed by mobilized dad and mom involved about training points. And Democratic New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy had a too-close-for-comfort win over Republican Jack Ciattarelli final 12 months that wasn’t even on the nationwide radar as being aggressive.

FILE — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, accompanied by Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin, left, speaks throughout ceremonies within the governor’s workplace, in New York, Sept. 17, 2021. Benjamin, whose seven months in that function has been overshadowed by probes right into a earlier marketing campaign, was arrested Tuesday, April 12, 2022 in a federal corruption investigation. (AP Photograph/Richard Drew, File)

Republicans have argued the bottom is ripe for change in New York, following a string of scandals in Albany, financial fallout from COVID-19, against the law spike, mass outbound migration and excessive inflation.

“How rather more will it take for New Yorkers to alter course?” Malliotakis stated.

“[With] the destruction that we have seen underneath one celebration rule of our metropolis and our state – I really feel this election is our final likelihood to actually save our state.”

Benjamin, 45, was the most recent New York politician to be hit with a scandal. Federal authorities allege that he struck a corrupt cut price with an actual property developer and directed a $50,000 state grant to a nonprofit group the developer managed. In trade, the developer funneled tens of 1000’s of {dollars} to Benjamin’s marketing campaign accounts.

“It is a easy story of corruption,” Damian Williams, america Legal professional for the Southern District of New York, stated Tuesday.

WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 19: Rep. Nicole Malliotakis speaks (R-NY) during a House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis hearing in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill May 19, 2021 in Washington, D.C.

WASHINGTON, DC – MAY 19: Rep. Nicole Malliotakis speaks (R-NY) throughout a Home Choose Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Disaster listening to within the Rayburn Home Workplace Constructing on Capitol Hill Might 19, 2021 in Washington, D.C.
(Susan Walsh-Pool/Getty Pictures)

Benjamin, by means of his attorneys, has denied the fees and pledged to show in courtroom “why his actions have been laudable, not prison.”

“There has by no means been a federal case like this in America,” attorneys James D. Gatta and William J. Harrington stated in an announcement. “Brian supported a $50,000 grant to Pals of Public Faculty Harlem. Each greenback was to purchase provides for public faculty college students in Harlem. There was nothing inappropriate about this grant.”

Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul accepted Benjamin’s resignation after his arrest. She selected Benjamin, then a state lawmaker, to function her second-in-command when she turned governor, taking up for Cuomo.

BROOKLYN SUBWAY SHOOTING SUSPECT FRANK JAMES IN CUSTODY, ENDING 24+ HOUR MANHUNT; ‘WE GOT HIM’

“Whereas the authorized course of performs out, it’s clear to each of us that he can not proceed to function lieutenant governor,” Hochul stated in an announcement Tuesday. “New Yorkers deserve absolute confidence of their authorities, and I’ll proceed working each day to ship for them.”

Hochul’s opponents forged her as having unhealthy judgement –– being sandwiched between two Democratic scandals.

GOP Rep. Lee Zeldin, who’s operating for governor, stated Hochul has been both been “complicit or out to lunch” with scandals surrounding her companions in workplace. He stated Hochul ought to have by no means chosen Benjamin within the first place.

WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 20: Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) attends a press conference on the current conflict between Israel and the Palestinians on May 20, 2021 in Washington, DC. The Republicans voiced their support for Israel and urged the Biden Administration to intervene.

WASHINGTON, DC – MAY 20: Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) attends a press convention on the present battle between Israel and the Palestinians on Might 20, 2021 in Washington, DC. The Republicans voiced their assist for Israel and urged the Biden Administration to intervene.
(Kevin Dietsch/Getty Pictures)

“I consider that his assist for the defund the police agenda ought to have disqualified him final summer season,” Zeldin advised Fox Information Digital of the Harlem politician. “And quick ahead to most lately, it was very telling that when Kathy Hochul was requested final week about all of those reported investigations and scandal [surrounding Benjamin] … that Hochul’s play name was to triple down and to cowl for him. And that was simply final week.”

The final Republican to win governor in New York was George Pataki who served from 1995 to 2006. Along with Zeldin, different Republicans operating for governor are Rob Astorino, Andrew Giuliani, Harry Wilson, Michael Carpinelli, Derrick Gibson and Kris Lord. Current polling had Zeldin forward. The first election is June 28.

Benjamin is simply the most recent statewide elected Democrat in New York to resign or not search reelection amid scandal.

New York State Comptroller Alan Hevesi resigned in 2006 and finally served 20 months in jail for his function in a pay-to-play pension scandal. In 2008, Gov. Eliot Spitzer resigned within the wake of revelations that he patronized prostitutes whereas touring on official enterprise.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul speaks to reporters after a ceremonial swearing-in ceremony at the state Capitol, Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2021, in Albany, N.Y.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul speaks to reporters after a ceremonial swearing-in ceremony on the state Capitol, Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2021, in Albany, N.Y.
(AP Photograph)

Spitzer ceded energy to Lt. Gov. David Paterson, making him the state’s first Black governor. However Paterson ended his bid for election to a full time period as governor in 2010 amid scandal over whether or not he and his troopers intimidated a girl who’d reported home violence in opposition to certainly one of his high authorities aides.

Then got here Cuomo who resigned in 2021 after a barrage of sexual harassment allegations which he denied. Cuomo additionally confronted backlash for misrepresenting what number of nursing house residents died of COVID-19.

Now, eight months later, one other New York Democrat is compelled to resign.

March 12, 2008: former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer is seen announcing his resignation.

March 12, 2008: former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer is seen saying his resignation.
(AP)

“If the Republicans ever had an opportunity to win a statewide workplace, proper now could be the time,” Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., advised Fox Information Digital. Tenney, a former state lawmaker, has lengthy decried corruption in Albany and summed up the Benjamin scandal as the most recent chapter within the “capital of corruption.”

Hochul already had challengers in fellow Democrats Rep. Tom Suozzi, New York Metropolis Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and legal professional Paul Nichols. The Democratic major can also be June 28, the place Benjamin should have to look on the poll with Hochul due to election guidelines.

Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., in an official headshot supplied by her workplace.
(Congresswoman Claudia Tenney)

Spencer Kimball, govt director of Emerson Faculty Polling, says there’s a gap for Republicans in November.

“In our March state-wide ballot of New York voters, we discovered Gov. Kathy Hochul with a 41% job disapproval and 40% job approval,” Kimball advised Fox Information Digital. “Extra particularly, her approval is at 57% with Democrats and solely 24% with Independents, indicating a possible for a aggressive common election if the Republican candidate can courtroom Impartial New York voters.”

The largest wildcard within the race continues to be whether or not Cuomo may launch an unbiased run for governor, which might additional fracture the Democratic base.

Zeldin stated he already felt the political grounds shifting in New York, as voters wish to really feel protected on their streets and their subways, have extra management over their kids’s training, increase the economic system and cut back the excessive value of residing in New York. Plus, with President Biden’s low approval rankings nationally, Republicans are eyeing a pink wave within the congressional midterm elections.

“There’s a terrific alternative right here on Nov. 8 for New Yorkers to take management of their future,” Zeldin stated Wednesday. “And the event of Brian Benjamin being arrested and indicted and resigning, I am positive will solely simply proceed the momentum that we already had going into yesterday.”

“I am not on this race to come back in second,” he added.

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Vermont

The 7 Best Vermont Events This Week: January 8-15, 2025 | Seven Days

Published

12 minutes ago

January 7, 2025

Press Room

The 7 Best Vermont Events This Week: January 8-15, 2025 | Seven Days

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DragonBoot Quartet

Take a Bow

Courtesy of Hall Art Foundation
“Group of Trees near Rutschwil, Nr. 25, Winterthur” by Thomas Struth

Acclaimed German artist Thomas Struth‘s exhibition of large-scale color photographs at Hall Art Foundation in Reading showcases the rural landscapes of Northern Switzerland. Struth’s soft, unidealized shots were taken in the early 1990s and began as a commissioned project for a private hospital in Winterthur — the works serving as a portal for patients to the outside world.

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Northeast

NY governor touts increased surveillance amid MTA mayhem: Cameras in 'every single subway car'

Published

3 hours ago

January 7, 2025

Press Room

NY governor touts increased surveillance amid MTA mayhem: Cameras in 'every single subway car'

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After a surge in violence on the New York City subway in the last few weeks, New York Governor Kathy Hochul said that security cameras have been installed in “every single subway car” in the city, which she said will help police fight and “solve crimes even faster.”

This comes amid a wave of violent crime incidents in the New York City subway system, including a homeless woman being burned alive by an illegal immigrant and a man being pushed in front of an approaching subway.

It also follows the high-profile trial of former Marine Daniel Penny, who was charged but later cleared of homicide for his actions defending subway passengers from a mentally unstable homeless man named Jordan Neely.

Hochul, a Democrat, touted her deployment of 1,000 National Guard members to patrol the New York City subway, saying: “Public safety is my top priority.” She also claimed credit for directing the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to install cameras in subway cars, which she said has now been completed.

HOCHUL SLAMMED FOR SAYING SHE’S MADE SUBWAYS SAFER ON SAME DAY WOMAN BURNED ALIVE ON TRAIN

Kathy Hochul on Wednesday announced new plans to address rising crime in New York City subways. (Getty Images)

“The recent surge in violent crimes in our public transit system cannot continue — and we need to tackle this crisis head-on,” she said. “I directed the MTA to install security cameras in every single subway car, and now that the project is complete, these cameras are helping police solve crimes even faster.”

Hochul went on to emphasize that “many of these horrific incidents have involved people with serious untreated mental illness,” which she said is “the result of a failure to get treatment to people who are living on the streets and are disconnected from our mental health care system.”

She blamed weak state laws and “nearly half a century of disinvestment in mental health care and supportive housing,” which she said “directly contributed to the crisis we see on our streets and subways.”

HOCHUL DEPLOYS HUNDREDS OF NATIONAL GUARD MEMBERS TO NYC SUBWAY SYSTEM

Police investigate at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue Station in Brooklyn after a woman aboard a subway car was set on fire and died in New York, on December 22, 2024. Police believe the woman had been sleeping aboard the train when a man approached her and set her on fire. She was pronounced dead at the scene. (Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Hochul said she would introduce legislation to change New York’s laws governing the involuntary commitment of dangerous mentally unstable individuals to improve the process through which a court can order certain individuals to participate in assisted outpatient treatment.

“We can’t fully address this problem without changes to state law,” she said. “Currently, hospitals are able to commit individuals whose mental illness puts themselves or others at risk of serious harm, and this legislation will expand that definition to ensure more people receive the care they need.”

Despite these commitments, Hochul is being criticized for not being stronger on protecting New Yorkers traveling on the subway.

“The Governor is all talk and no action,” said Curtis Sliwa, an activist and founder of the “Guardian Angels,” a citizen law enforcement group known for patrolling and offering assistance to subway passengers.

‘GUARDIAN ANGELS’ FOUNDER SLAMS NEW YORK SANCTUARY CITY POLICIES AFTER WOMAN SET ON FIRE

Members of the Guardian Angels participate in a safety patrol at a subway stop for preventing crime on June 11, 2021, in New York, New York. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Sliwa told Fox News Digital that Hochul should “lever her power” and call out individual members of the state legislature who refuse to support legislation to commit the emotionally disturbed to state psychiatric hospitals.

“She has to tell them she will not sign any of their initiatives into law until they support her signature subway initiative,” said Sliwa.

He also claimed that the MTA further spurred on violent crime by allowing fare evasion to “explode to the point where 30% of subway riders don’t pay their fare.”

“The governor must get control back of who comes in and out of the system,” he said. “Without control of who comes in then all of the other gubernatorial initiatives will result in more tax money spent with little if any results. Everything will change when you restrict who comes into the subway.”

CRITICS WARN OF ‘DANIEL PENNY EFFECT’ AFTER WOMAN BURNED ALIVE ON NYC SUBWAY CAR AS BYSTANDERS WATCHED

Police investigate at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue Station in Brooklyn after a woman aboard a subway car was set on fire and died in New York on December 22, 2024. Police believe the woman had been sleeping aboard the train when a man approached her and set her on fire. She was pronounced dead at the scene. (Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images)

New York Council member Joe Borelli, a Republican, meanwhile, blamed Democrats for instituting soft-on-crime policies that have resulted in more violence in New York.

“Successive Democratic governors have closed mental health facilities and eroded the very same system she is now saying we need,” Borelli told Fox News Digital. “What we really need to do is look at the bail reform and ‘raise the age’ laws her party put into effect in 2019 and see how the trajectory of criminal behavior increased thereafter.”

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New York

N.Y. Families Could Receive Tax Credit of Up to $1,000 Under Hochul Plan

Published

4 hours ago

January 7, 2025

Press Room

N.Y. Families Could Receive Tax Credit of Up to ,000 Under Hochul Plan

Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York on Monday proposed an expansion of the state’s child tax credit that would more than double what some families currently receive.

The plan, the second in a series of recent proposals the governor has made toward addressing the state’s affordability crisis, would give eligible families a tax credit of up to $1,000 per child under the age of 4. Each child from the age of 4 to 16 will qualify families to receive up to a $500 tax break per child.

In recent years, the state has offered up to $330 per child for the poorest New York families. Ms. Hochul will include the proposal in her State of the State address next week and push to include it in her executive budget.

Frustration with the high cost of living surfaced among voters in the 2024 elections, and many Democrats, amid soul searching about Republican victories, said they should have talked more about addressing affordability.

Both Ms. Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams of New York City have already announced tax cuts or refunds they want the Legislature to adopt this year. Mr. Adams’s proposal would eliminate New York City income taxes for more than 400,000 of the lowest-wage earners. Ms. Hochul announced in December that she wants to spend about $3 billion to send checks between $300 and $500 to roughly 8.6 million New Yorkers, using money from sales tax revenue.

In a news conference Monday, Ms. Hochul said she has long focused on affordability, adding that proposals like increasing the child tax credit are partly shaped by raising her own children and seeing the financial strain that experience can have on a household.

“I will continue doing this,” she said. “I’ll do it independent of elections. It’s the right thing to do.”

“People are hurting right now,” she added, “and we cannot be tone deaf as a party, as a nation or as a state to those cries for help. This is how to respond to them.”

The state has spent billions in recent years on child care and to make more families eligible for subsidies. Tax credits like the one Ms. Hochul proposed have proved popular and effective. During the early years of the coronavirus pandemic, an expansion of the federal child tax credit led to dramatic reductions in adolescent poverty. This expansion then expired, and bipartisan efforts to bring it back failed.

Ms. Hochul’s proposal would apply to more than 2.75 million children in the state; families earning up to $200,000 a year would be eligible for the credit. In a news release, Ms. Hochul’s team said the average credit for families would double to nearly $950 under her proposal.

Legislative leaders, who have suggested similar proposals in past budget negotiations, appeared receptive.

“We are very glad the governor is supporting these important tax credits, which we have long championed in the Assembly majority,” said Mike Whyland, a spokesman for Assembly Speaker Carl E. Heastie.

State Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins, the majority leader, noted in a statement that she, like Ms. Hochul, is both the first mother and grandmother to serve in her role. Funding child care would remain a focus this legislative session, she said.

“I know firsthand how expensive raising children has become in this great state,” she said. “We look forward to discussing this proposal further. But we also know we have to deal with the rising cost of child care. The cost of child care is a burden that can overwhelm families, and we need to take steps to make affordable child care available to all New Yorkers.”

Even some Albany Republicans were open to the proposal. State Senator Jacob Ashby, a Republican from Rensselaer County, said that the state needs to do more “to make structural changes to our state economy” like lowering taxes across the board. Many of his colleagues have criticized Ms. Hochul, arguing that her administration has not done enough to lower costs for New York families.

“As someone who’s sponsored bipartisan legislation to provide new parents with targeted relief and pushed to increase the child tax credit across the board, I’m really optimistic about this proposal,” Mr. Ashby said in a statement.

If enacted, Ms Hochul’s proposal would be among the most generous child tax credits nationwide, according to researchers at the Center on Poverty and Social Policy at Columbia University. In 2023, New York and 15 other states had some form of this credit, ranging in the amount given to families and the income threshold when it phases out. When the proposal is fully up and running in several years, these Columbia researchers estimate the tax cut could drop child poverty by about 9 percent.

“When the federal child tax credit was expanded during the pandemic, we saw child poverty plummet to historic lows,” said Richard Buery Jr., the chief executive of the Robin Hood Foundation, a nonprofit in New York City that works to reduce poverty.

“With more money in your pocket, as a parent, you are less stressed, you can be more present, you can be much better and more effective at parenting children,” Mr. Buery added. “But when those federal credits expired, we saw our local poverty rate reach a 10-year high. So we know what to do. We just need the political leadership to do it.”