By Carol Tannenhauser
On Wednesday, Governor Kathy Hochul became the first woman to deliver a State of the State address in New York, speaking for about a half hour in the Assembly Chamber of the State Legislature in Albany.
“As the first woman to present a State of the State address in New York, I want to make it clear I am not just here to make history – I am here to make a difference,” she began. “The time has come for a new American Dream. Today, we start building a better, fairer, more inclusive version that I call the New York Dream.”
Part of the dream that caused a buzz was the Governor’s proposal to once again allow the sale of “to-go cocktails” — an initiative that helped bars and restaurants survive during the height of the pandemic, but must be renewed by the state legislature. Governor Hochul herself highlighted the proposal in a Tweet.
Cheers, New York!
We're going to once again allow the sale of to-go drinks – a critical revenue stream during the lean times last year. pic.twitter.com/WctvtA0HXz
— Kathy Hochul (@GovKathyHochul) January 5, 2022
But that was just one of the more than 220 proposals that make up Governor Hochul’s “vision of a whole new era for New York,” set forth in a State of the State “book,” which you can read in its entirety here. Proposals range from term limits for governors, to a state ethics commission overhaul, to funds to curb gun violence and climate change, to “spending $10 billion to bolster the state’s health care work force, which has been devastated by the pandemic,” The New York Times reported. “She also pushed initiatives to support small businesses and to lure new investments, vowing to position New York as the most ‘business-friendly and worker-friendly state in the nation.’”
Notably, the Governor did not mention the moratorium on evictions, or bail reform.
You can read an overview of the Governor’s speech in THE CITY. But first, watch her deliver the 2022 State of the State address (below). “I have heard 52 State of the State addresses in my career,” Upper West Side Assemblymember Richard Gottfried tweeted afterward. “The one delivered today by Gov. Kathy Hochul is the best of them all.”
