Analysis: It gets harder for Hochul | Columnists

A long and contentious budget process left her a bit bruised and battered. And she lost some of the goodwill her congeniality brought to the Governor’s Mansion following her predecessor’s imperial reign.

But passing a budget ranks as the main function of state government. Deep divisions are inevitable. Life goes on.

Hochul’s determination to build a new stadium for the Buffalo Bills – featuring $850 million in public funds – added to her woes, even though many New Yorkers cheered. A cadre of influential progressives in the Legislature say the money could be used for different purposes (not to mention left-leaning gubernatorial opponents like New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams). Those battle lines remain.

Conservatives say she failed to sufficiently back off from criminal justice reforms enacted by the Legislature’s new Democratic majority in 2019, which she must confront in this election year.

And last week, Hochul had to acknowledge that her most important political appointment of her young administration – former State Sen. Brian Benjamin as lieutenant governor – ranked as a colossal mistake. That’s about the only thing you can say when the state’s second-in-command gets arrested for bribery and other charges.

Williams, during one of his frequent Buffalo appearances, asked on Wednesday how the new governor had erred so badly in vetting such a key appointment. He rejected her “I didn’t know” explanation.

“That says to me she was embarrassingly out of the loop of what’s going on,” he told reporters, “or embarrassingly unable to do the job.”

While Williams and his running mate – Ana Maria Archila – staged their Wednesday press event in front of a Starbucks shop on Delaware Avenue to support unionization efforts, they found the massive headquarters of Delaware North Cos. conveniently located across the street.

Last week, the Politics Column noted that other Democratic primary rivals like Rep. Tom Suozzi of Nassau County raised conflict of interest questions because the firm maintains concession contracts at the current Bills stadium while employing the governor’s husband, Bill, in a top legal position.

The column also pointed out that the governor and her husband signed promises that their careers would not improperly intersect, and that all ethical safeguards would be maintained.

That didn’t stop Suozzi. He highlighted what he calls a conflict, and didn’t let up last week.

“Let’s look at the four Bs: Benjamin, budget, bail reform and Buffalo Bills,” he said. “She has failed at every one.”

Last week’s calamity aboard a Brooklyn subway train only compounded Hochul’s tough week. At least 29 people were injured when a gunman opened fire, on the same day that Benjamin was arrested in Manhattan. Nobody pegged the governor with responsibility, but the story combo played across the New York City tabloids and upstate front pages, too.

Williams pounced. The state should “celebrate” the Buffalo Bills, he said, but suggested other priorities.

“New Yorkers are increasingly concerned about public safety, from Brooklyn to Buffalo, about gun violence,” the candidate said. “Our 10-point plan … put in place $1 billion for gun violence prevention and victims’ services. We didn’t get that. Not even close. But we got almost $1 billion for the Buffalo Bills.”

Hochul offered an explanation for her Benjamin problem last week during an interview with WNYC Radio in New York.

“I made the best decision I could with the information I had at the time,” she said.

But the point remains – just like the Delaware North situation, and despite explanations, Hochul’s opponents will not hesitate to pile on to her problems via millions of dollars in damning TV ads. And watch for Hochul, by the way, to play by the same rules when her ads air.

This is politics in New York. And as the late Judge Tom McMahon used to say: “It ain’t beanbag.”