New York Chief Justice Janet DiFiore, on the left, swears to Kathy Hochul, on the right, as the first woman to be governor of New York while her husband Bill Hochul holds a bible during a swearing-in ceremony. the red hall of the State Capitol, in Albany. , New York, USA, early August 24, 2021.
Hans Pennink | Reuters
Kathy Hochul became New York’s first female governor on Tuesday, inheriting immense challenges when she takes over an administration that faces criticism for inaction during Andrew Cuomo’s distractions in recent months.
Hochul, a Democrat and former member of the Western New York Congress, was sworn in just after midnight at a brief private ceremony overseen by Chief Justice Janet DiFiore.
A ceremonial oath was scheduled at the New York State Capitol on Tuesday morning, with more pomp than the briefly legally required overnight event. Hochul planned a public speech at 3 p.m.
“I feel the weight of responsibility on my shoulders and I will tell New Yorkers that I am up to the job. And I am very proud to be able to serve as governor and I will not let them down,” Hochul told a from his Buffalo TV stations, WGRZ, when he left the Capitol Tuesday morning.
Over the next few months, Hochul, who was a little-known figure as lieutenant governor, will have the opportunity to reshape the way power works in Albany, where Cuomo dominated decision-making for years before being shot down in a scandal. of sexual harassment.
For generations, it has been said that all real decisions of the state government were made by “three men in one room,” the governor and the leaders of the Senate and State Assembly.
Now, for the first time in state history, two of those three, Hochul and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, are women. Only the State Assembly is headed by one man, President Carl Heastie.
Cuomo left office at 12:00 a.m., two weeks after announcing he would resign instead of facing a battle of dismissal that seemed inevitable after a report by independent investigators, overseen by Attorney General Letitia James , concluded that he had sexually harassed 11 women.
On his last day in office, Cuomo launched a pre-recorded farewell speech in which he said he was innocent and portrayed himself as the victim of a “media frenzy.”
Katie Hochul, Matt Gloudeman, Bill Hochul, Will Hochul and Christina Hochul watch as Kathy Hochul, New York’s first female governor, signs documents during an swearing-in ceremony at the Red Room of the State Capitol in Albany, New York , USA, early August 24, 2021.
Hans Pennink | Reuters
Hochul takes over with the state still dealing with the continuing crises caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
In the coming weeks, he is expected to make decisions on whether masks will be requested for children returning to school, which he has already said he favors.
It will be under pressure for tenants to obtain federal rent relief money. Little of the $ 2 billion set aside by the federal government to help New Yorkers pay off rent debt has so far been distributed to the state and thousands are facing the possibility of eviction if the state allows protections to expire.
And Hochul faces questions about whether he will change the culture of governance in New York, where many other top Democrats have complained for years about being excluded from key decisions and harassed by Cuomo.
Former Gov. David Paterson, who, like Hochul, unexpectedly became governor when his predecessor resigned, said he will have to restore faith in office.
“There will be pressure on Governor Hochul, as I did on myself, to restore values and restore the conduct and decorum that speaks of a governor,” Paterson said.
You will also need to work quickly. Hochul has already said he intends to run for a full term next year and will only have months to consolidate as the favorite before a spring Democratic primary.
In the meantime, he will build an administration, a task that began early Tuesday with the oath of office.
DiFiore administered the oath in front of a stone fireplace in a room in the Capitol, at the top of which family photographs were placed.
Hochul, her husband, Bill Hochul and DiFiore entered the room with masks and took them off when the ceremony began. Hochul got her hands on a bible from her smiling husband, a former federal prosecutor and current attorney general for the Buffalo, Delaware North-based restaurant and hospitality company.
Hochul signed a stack of papers, including the oath, with a set of ten pens dated “August 24, 2021,” while her family was behind her watching. He then thanked his staff members and told them he would see them tomorrow before leaving the room.