New York Gov. Kathy Hochul ticked off a well-chosen list of priorities on her first day: clarifying mask mandates and upping vaccination rates to slow COVID-19’s spread, whipping a lame bureaucracy to get emergency rent aid out the door and prevent evictions, doing the same with cash for excluded immigrant workers, and improving the culture in state government, with more transparency and a fresh focus on preventing sexual harassment. She said her tenure will be characterized by far more collaboration with legislative leaders, and “no blindsiding” of New York City, in stark contrast to that imperious fellow who undermined Mayor Bill de Blasio seemingly for sport.
We can’t argue with any of it in theory, but Hochul must understand in practice that her ambitious goals may well come into tension with her professed leadership style. To get the right things done, sometimes a governor must stand alone.
The COVID-19 crisis requires a chief executive to process the best advice of experts, make swift decisions and communicate them clearly. Her strong mask mandate for all public schools and switching to the higher CDC death count was wise.
Working with public employee unions is a must, but tension and confrontation are healthy too. For instance, a governor needs to push for strict vaccination requirements. Out of the gate, Hochul is settling for telling state public school staffers they must get their shots or must get tested weekly, a weak mandate.
On infrastructure projects like the Gateway boondoggle, going along and getting along with the transit-industrial complex, the New York congressional delegation and others will mean wasting years and tens of billions of dollars. Pain-in-the-rear Gov. Andrew Cuomo aggravated the establishment when he shredded L-train tunnel repair plans and demanded a smarter fix for Hudson River tubes. But that was best for the state.
Hochul cited Teddy Roosevelt’s great “Man in the Arena” speech, in which the 33rd New York governor and 26th president said “It is not the critic who counts” but the man “whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood.” There will be blood.
