ALBANY — Gov. Hochul claimed she would "have to be vague" about her plans to execute affordable public transit policy as Republicans in Congress threaten the state's federal funding.
Following Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani's win, Hochul has been clear about what parts of his platform she will and will not support. But Mamdani's promise to make buses free seems to fall somewhere in the middle.
Hochul has said she would neither support a plan that would deprive the MTA of a key revenue stream — fares — nor would she raise taxes to make up for the missing swipes.
She has suggested she wants to do something, but, alas, the public just can't be clued in at this stage ... because House Republicans keep threatening funding.
"We can do quite a few things without any source of additional revenue based on the revenue coming in at the moment," Hochul told reporters on Monday at the Capitol in response to a question from Streetsblog. "But I don't know what Washington is going to do, you know. They try and jam us up for another $3 billion in Medicaid costs, and this is the uncertainty, which makes it challenging to do what we're doing."
Hochul added that she was having discussions with Mamdani on the topic, but wouldn't go into detail, even as she claimed that affordability — the mayor-elect's campaign theme — is a core tenet of her administration's platform.
The governor is facing election challengers on the right and left, and doesn't want to give an opening to opponents with even the appearance of committing to a policy that would likely be funded with a tax hike. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-North Country) has consistently attempted to tie Hochul to Mamdani and his Democratic Socialist affiliation in an attempt to drum up support in more moderate parts of the state during her nascent gubernatorial bid.
Hochul, for her part, has been clear about what she thinks is good policy for the state ... and where that differs from Mamdani's vision for the city. For now, on buses, though, she isn't about where that middle ground is.
"I'm not throwing cold water on any plans, but I just met with the mayor [elect] and we're having really important collegial conversations about his agenda, and so I don't want to disclose anything," she said.
Mamdani takes office as the city's 117th mayor on Jan. 1. Gov. Hochul's preliminary executive budget is expected shortly after the new year.
