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A26 u.s. news
Dialuna 9 augustus 2021

Hochul moves into spotlight as scandal roils Cuomo's reign

next in the line of succession, it would role.
not be appropriate to comment fur- A steelworker’s daughter, Hochul, a
ther on the process at this moment,” lawyer, worked in Washington as an An upstate candidate running for any
she wrote. aide to former U.S. Rep. John La- statewide office in New York faces a
Falce and later, Sen. Daniel Patrick daunting challenge, but even more so
To many New Yorkers, Hochul is an Moynihan, both from New York, for the governor’s office, which has
unknown quantity, serving since 2015 before holding her first public office, historically drawn from New York
in a job that is mostly ceremonial. A on the town board in Hamburg, near City.
typical afternoon in late July had her Buffalo.
announcing job training funding in Neiheisel said given her record, it is
Utica, discussing manufacturing in From there, she became Erie County difficult to predict what a “distinctly
Rome and touring downtown Caze- Clerk, where she made some news in Hochul agenda” might look like, es-
novia with the small town’s mayor. 2007 for resistance to a plan by then- pecially when faced with the state’s
(AP) — As New York’s lieutenant Gov. Eliot Spitzer to allow unauthor- still-active pandemic response and a
governor, Kathy Hochul has spent That has been nothing like the atten- ized immigrants get driver’s licenses. recovery that will involve billions of
years on the road as the friendly tion-demanding appearances of the Hochul and another western New dollars in federal aid.
face of the administration, vis- determinedly high-profile Cuomo, York clerk explored a plan to have
iting the far-flung coffee shops who does most of his business in Al- police arrest immigrants who tried to “Given how little she’s historically
and factory floors of each of the bany and New York City and whose apply. been in the news cycle, I really don’t
state’s 62 counties for countless daily coronavirus briefings were na- think she has the kind of name rec-
ribbon-cutting ceremonies and tional events at the height of the “It will be a deterrent, and that’s what ognition that you would expect of
civic cheerleading events. coronavirus. I’m looking for,” Hochul told The somebody who is suddenly being
Buffalo News at the time. thrust into a position of maybe being
Now, with Gov. Andrew Cuomo fac- Hochul has not been part of Cuomo’s governor,” Neiheisel said “She’s go-
ing possible impeachment over sexual inner circle of aides and allies. Her Her next move was to Congress, ing to have to do an awful lot, really
harassment allegations, her next stop name wasn’t mentioned in the inves- where in 2011 she had a surprising fast, in order for there to be a serious
may be the state Capitol of Albany. tigative report, released by Attorney win in a special election in a district conversation for keeping that job.”
General Letitia James, that detailed that had been in Republican hands for
Hochul would become the state’s not only the harassment allegations decades. She lost a bid for reelection At a news briefing Wednesday, New
first woman governor if Cuomo were against Cuomo but also efforts by his a year later to Republican Chris Col- York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who
removed from office. staff to discredit some of his accusers. lins, despite an endorsement by the has a famously contentious relation-
National Rifle Association. Collins ship with Cuomo, said he’s gotten to
A centrist Democrat from western But at 62, Hochul is an experienced later resigned from the U.S. House know Hochul over the last few years
New York, she has worked deep in politician, a veteran of 11 campaigns and pleaded guilty to insider trading. and “she strikes me as a very reason-
Cuomo’s shadow for her two terms that have taken her from town board able person.”
in office, but this week joined the to Congress, the latter representing a Hochul moved to the left, politically,
chorus of politicians denouncing the conservative western New York dis- when Cuomo tapped her as his run- “I believe if Kathy Hochul becomes
governor after an independent inves- trict after a surprising 2011 win in a ning mate in 2014 after his first lieu- governor, she’ll be an honest bro-
tigation concluded he had sexually special election to fill a vacancy in the tenant governor, former Rochester ker,” he said. “We’ll be able to work
harassed 11 women while in office. U.S. House. Mayor Robert Duffy, decided not to together.”
run for reelection.
“I believe these brave women,” Ho- “Pragmatic would be a good way to In Buffalo, Erie County Executive
chul wrote, calling Cuomo’s behav- describe her,” said Jacob Neiheisel, an She backed New York’s SAFE Act, Mark Poloncarz worked alongside
ior “repulsive and unlawful” in a associate political science professor at one of the nation’s toughest gun con- Hochul when he was county comp-
statement Tuesday. the University at Buffalo. “Someone trol laws, as well as the state’s Green troller and she was Erie County
who is pretty good at reading the tea Light Law, which let unauthorized Clerk. He said he saw Hochul easily
She also acknowledged what has been leaves and coming around to where immigrants get driver’s licenses. stepping into the governor’s office.
simmering for months: The possibil- her constituency is.”
ity she will become governor. Hochul has not publicly expressed “I think it’s fair to say that if that did
Hochul’s office declined an interview whether she would pursue a full term happen, we certainly would have a
“Because lieutenant governors stand request. in 2022 if she were to step into the friend in Albany,” he said.

Weary US businesses confront new round of mask mandates

(AP) - Businesses large vaccine rules like his will be stance, recently began requir- Many business owners didn’t
and small, from McDon- “We’ve already been through commonplace. Next month, ing masks for employees __ wait for the CDC or their lo-
ald’s and Home Depot the worst of the challenges New York City will start re- but not customers __ in ar- cal governments before act-
to local yoga studios, are when we shut down the in- quiring vaccinations to enter eas where virus transmission ing. In mid-July, Tamra Pat-
reinstituting mask man- doors last year,” said Brack restaurants, gyms and the- rates are high. McDonald’s terson reinstituted a mask
dates as U.S. coronavirus May, the chef and owner of aters. is requiring masks for both mandate and reduced seat-
cases rise. Bars, gyms and Cowbell, a New Orleans employees and customers. ing capacity from 200 to 65
restaurants across the burger joint. “Let’s just get But for now, customers are Home Depot’s mask man- at Chef Tam’s Underground
country are requiring vac- ahead of the curve here.” far more likely to encounter date is nationwide. Cafe, the restaurant she owns
cines to get inside. mask mandates. After lift- in Memphis, Tennessee.
May recently began requir- ing mask recommendations
After a largely mask-free ing customers to show their for fully vaccinated people
summer, it’s a reversal no one vaccine cards for indoor in May, the CDC reversed
wanted to see, brought on by dining. He said he wants to course in late July, recom-
the fast-spreading delta vari- protect his workers, who are mending masks for both
ant and new guidance from required to be vaccinated vaccinated and unvaccinat-
the U.S. Centers for Disease but have young children at ed people in areas of higher
Control. But business own- home, as well as his neigh- transmission.
ers and workers say they will borhood, where some musi-
do what they can to keep their cians recently contracted the The shifting guidance has
doors open and not slow the coronavirus. caused confusion over which
economic gains of the last rules to enforce and how.
few months. May expects that eventually, Walmart and Target, for in-