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Disgraced ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, D-N.Y., wrote in a Monday column for the New York Daily News that New York Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin's resignation and indictment "raises troubling questions." Cuomo, who resigned as governor in August 2021 following several sexual misconduct allegations, said that his administration "reformed the insidious pork-barrel member-item process" after several scandals. Benjamin was forced to resign last week over federal charges of bribery and other offenses.

New York Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin, whose seven months in that role has been overshadowed by probes into a previous campaign, was arrested Tuesday in a federal corruption investigation. The U.S. Attorney's office said Benjamin was arrested on charges of bribery, honest services wire fraud, and falsification of records. Benjamin, formerly a state senator from Harlem, had joined the administration of Gov. Kathy Hochul, D-N.Y., in September, chosen by her to fill her former job a couple of weeks after she stepped into the governorship following the resignation of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, D-N.Y., over sexual harassment allegations.

Embattled Lieutenant Gov. Brian Benjamin resigned Tuesday evening just hours after he was indicted by federal prosecutors in Manhattan on a five corruption-related charges that alleged he attempted to trade a state grant for campaign contributions. “I have accepted Brian Benjamin’s resignation effective immediately. While the legal process plays out, it is clear to both of us that he cannot continue to serve as Lieutenant Governor,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said. SNIP Hochul — who picked Benjamin as her running mate last year — announced his departure after spending much of the day dodging questions about his arrest Tuesday morning.

New York Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin surrendered to authorities early Tuesday morning to face fraud-related charges in connection with a previous political campaign, two people with knowledge of the situation told The Daily Beast. Benjamin, 45, was arrested on several charges, including bribery, in connection with his alleged participation in a scheme to obtain campaign contributions in exchange for securing a state grant. The U.S. Southern District of New York is expected to hold a noon press conference about Benjamin’s arrest. He is expected to appear in Manhattan federal court on Tuesday afternoon. More to come..

Despite claiming that officials in her administration don’t support defunding police, Gov. Kathy Hochul has tapped a second person who does to a key post — a failed New York City Council candidate who wants to slash the NYPD budget by $3 billion. On Friday, Hochul appointed Amit Bagga to be her deputy secretary for intergovernmental affairs. He lost the City Council primary in June for Queens’ District 26 seat despite support from Democratic socialist and defund proponent Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez’s political action committee. Bagga’s archived campaign website, which was taken down last week, says he wants to cut...

In a press conference Monday afternoon, Governor Hochul confirmed that she would sign an executive order giving her the emergency power to deploy the National Guard to cover staffing shortages caused by the midnight deadline for anyone who remains unvaccinated in violation of her state's Wuhan coronavirus vaccine mandate. "I will be signing an executive order to give me the emergency powers necessary to address these shortages where they occur," Hochul declared. "That's going to allow me to deploy the National Guard who are medically trained, deploy people who've been retired who may have had a license lapse, [and] bring...

On September 21, the Biden Administration filed an amicus brief in the pending U.S. Supreme Court case of New York Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, supporting New York’s draconian and unconstitutional restrictions on the right to bear firearms in public for self-defense.This NRA-supported challenge to New York’s “may-issue” licensing scheme for public handgun carry is the first Second Amendment challenge to a firearm law to reach the high court since 2010.New York’s law presumptively denies the right to bear arms for self-defense unless a license applicant can demonstrate a special need for self-protection that distinguishes the person from the...

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) is considering deploying the medically trained members of the National Guard ahead of an anticipated shortage of health care workers. Hochul released a comprehensive plan to address staff shortages in New York facilities Saturday, amid concerns that a large number of health care employees will not meet Monday's vaccine deadline.

Frontline healthcare workers were heroes last year. Today, the radical left is making them unemployed.When disgraced former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo finally resigned, many in and out of his state rejoiced. But lopping off one Democrat in this manner only yields a new one to take their place, and in this case Cuomo’s successor is authoritarian globalist Kathy Hochul.The new Governor flexed her Neo-Marxist muscles today by calling on medical organizations to fire unvaccinated employees on Monday. Those with medical exemptions are allowed to stay, but those with religious exemptions must wait to hear their fate on October 12...

Gov. Kathy Hochul on Friday said she was ordering the immediate release of 191 inmates who are locked up on Rikers Island for what she called “technical” violations of their parole from state prison. Hochul made the announcement before signing into law the “Less Is More Act” that will stop the state from putting ex-cons back behind bars for missing appointments with their parole officers, violating curfew or testing positive for drugs or alcohol. The measure is set to go into effect on March 1, but Hochul said the ongoing crisis at Rikers meant there was no time to wait,...

Police are stepping up patrols across New York as the city prepares to commemorate 20 years since the September 11 terrorist attacks. New York's new Governor Kathy Hochul held a press conference in Manhattan on Friday announcing the beefed-up security measures, saying the city was 'vulnerable' to threats over the coming weekend. You'll see individuals with long-arms, you'll see them looking a little bit militarized. But the idea is to let anyone know that you mess with New York, there will be consequences,' Hochul vowed. She also appeared to take a swipe at recently ousted Gov. Andrew Cuomo, vowing that...

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul Signs Law Requiring Zero-Emission Vehicles By 2035 Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed legislation Wednesday requiring all new passenger cars and trucks sold in the state to be zero-emissions by 2035. Under the new law, new off-road vehicles and equipment sold in New York are also targeted to be zero-emissions by 2035, and new medium-duty and heavy-duty vehicles by 2045. The law further requires the state’s Energy Research and Development Authority to create a zero-emissions vehicle development strategy by 2023.

Hochul announces deal to renew N.Y. eviction freeze, secure more rental relief: ‘We have to take this action’ Gov. Hochul announced late Tuesday that she’s summoning legislators for a rare special session to extend New York’s expiring eviction moratorium and allocate more financial relief for renters in a bid to stave off an avalanche of evictions at a time when the coronavirus is resurging in the state. The special session, set for noon Wednesday in both the state Senate and Assembly, will feature two legislative items to counteract the feared “eviction crisis,” Hochul said from the Capitol in Albany. First,...

Gov. to call special session to address expiring ban after Supreme Court voided federal moratorium. House Democrats representing the five boroughs are pressing Gov. Kathy Hochul to extend the state’s eviction moratorium. The newly sworn-in governor received a letter Saturday by Rep. Hakeem Jeffries and co-signed by a dozen lawmakers, including Reps. Nydia Velazquez, Carolyn Maloney, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jerry Nadler, urging her to prolong the state-level ban, which is set to expire Tuesday.

Republicans panned Hochul's decision to appoint Benjamin as lieutenant governor. The critics include state Sen. Peter Oberacker, an Otsego County Republican. Oberacker highlighted his differences with Benjamin on criminal justice issues. But he expressed willingness to work with the incoming lieutenant governor. "While I disagree with his stance on these and other policies, I stand ready to educate Senator Benjamin about issues important to constituents of the 51st Senate District in hopes we can find some common ground," he said.

New York’s first female governor, Kathy Hochul, is set to take office on Tuesday, Aug. 24, at the stroke of midnight. Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s resignation from office will be effective at 11:59 p.m. Monday, Aug. 23, Hochul’s office said Tuesday. Details of how the power transfer will take place weren’t immediately available, but Hochul, now the state’s lieutenant governor, is expected to make a public address sometime Tuesday, according to a spokesperson, Haley Viccaro. Cuomo had announced Aug. 10 that he would resign from office in 14 days, but didn’t specify exactly when he would step down. […] Cuomo filed...

Before Lt. Governor Kathy Hochul was repulsed by outgoing Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s treatment of female staffers, she helped prop him up as a leading protector of women in the workplace. Hochul called Cuomo’s behavior “repulsive and unlawful” shortly after James released her findings last week. “New York State has zero tolerance when it comes to sexual assault in the workplace,” Hochul said in a 2018 press release from Cuomo’s office about a bill that would end mandatory arbitration for sexual harassment victims. That same year, the governor allegedly kissed his special adviser, Lindsey Boylan, without her consent.

Governor Andrew Cuomo was praised by his lieutenant governor as a “real leader” on electronic records preservation as she attacked legislators for not being transparent.

Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul of Buffalo has had very little to say about the sexual harassment allegations against Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo – which could, in a worst-case scenario for Cuomo, make the former congresswoman from Buffalo the state's first female governor. But Hochul has had plenty to say about sexual harassment and assault over the years, with most of it revolving around the theme: "Enough is enough." That's the name of landmark 2015 legislation that the Cuomo administration pushed to try to end sexual assaults on college campuses. Hochul has been the law's chief evangelist for years, traveling to...

In 2007, New York Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul – who will take over as governor when Cuomo resigns in two weeks – said she was vehemently against illegal immigrants getting driver's licenses. Hochul, who was the Erie County clerk at the time, even went so far as to proclaim that she would arrest any illegal immigrants who applied for licenses at one of the offices she oversaw for the Empire State. By 2018, however, Hochul had reversed on the issue. She blasted a county clerk that year for vowing to deny driver's licenses to illegal immigrants despite changes to state...