Gov. Hochul falls short on governing skills, but there is one area where she’s the absolute top of the heap: No politician shrinks faster in the face of big problems than she does.
Exhibit A is her sudden decision to hold showy meetings Tuesday about whether to remove Mayor Adams.
It was a strange move to start with, topped only by her belatedly punting the decision to another day.
It ranks as one of the most bizarre political stunts New York has ever seen.
She injects herself into a no-win volatile situation yet offers no solutions.
Her unsteady hand in a moment of crisis adds to the swirling doubts about the city’s immediate future.
Hochul could have reasonably and fairly said that while she didn’t like the messy way President Trump’s Department of Justice was moving to drop the criminal charges against Adams, she would let the process play out before making any decisions.
Instead, in an apparent surrender to the noisy anti-Adams, anti-Trump crowds in Albany and the city, she called the meetings with the clear suggestion she was ready to show Adams the door.
Which is odd because she’s had the power to remove him all along, but his indictment back in September didn’t lead her to use that power.
She had him shuffle the deck of some suspect aides and presto, they were good to go.
That was the right decision because the charges are not nearly strong enough to justify bringing down a mayor or even tipping the balance against him in his re-election year.
Yet all of Hochul’s harmony with Adams disappeared the instant the mayor pledged to work with ICE detention officials.
Four of his eight deputy mayors suddenly resigned and other lefty Dems piled on, including top legislators.
It was apparently not a problem for them either when the mayor was charged with crimes.
But working with Trump to make New York safer — that’s a bridge too far.
Naturally, Hochul panicked and decided to feed the bonfire of the idiots with her public call for Tuesday’s meetings.
She started the gathering in her Manhattan office by bringing in Al Sharpton.
Brilliant!
If he’s her brain trust, heaven help New York.
Even her decision to put off a decision until a judge decides whether to allow the feds to drop the case against the mayor is strange.
If Adams’ criminal case goes forward, why would Hochul reach her decision about him before a jury does?
And if the judge allows the charges to be dropped, why would she then remove the mayor?
The larger point is that if she removes Adams, it effectively means she, too, opposes working with the federal government to arrest and remove criminal aliens.
And that she’s happy with every jot and tittle of the sanctuary laws that make New York a haven for the worst of the worst and impose ridiculous costs on state taxpayers.
If that’s Hochul’s message, it represents a dramatic reversal from her recent efforts to work with Trump to get big things done for New York.
Handing over City Hall
Indeed, booting Adams would mean handing City Hall to the most radical mob ever to rule New York.
The old chiefs of Tammany Hall will look like a band of do-gooders by comparison.
Adams has been a serial disappointer, but the city could do worse — and certainly would do worse with interim replacement Jumaane Williams.
As public advocate, he holds a do-nothing job, which is a perfect fit for Williams because his sole accomplishment is keeping himself on the public payroll.
Removing Adams will also kill the illusion Hochul maintains of being a moderating force in Albany and align her completely with the party’s far left.
And that will only embolden the radicals and before long Hochul will be their next target because there’s no satisfying them.
That will mark yet another betrayal for center-left Dems who, along with Republicans and most independents, repeatedly tell pollsters the state has gone too far left in matters of criminal justice, taxes and spending.
Those policies are making the city and much of the state unsafe while also driving up the cost of living.
The exorbitant cost of energy, for example, is owing largely to restrictions and taxes Albany has slapped on fossil fuels.
The results include the record levels of out-migration, with New York leading the nation in driving its residents to flee to safer, saner and lower-cost states.
Hochul alternatively acknowledges those problems, pledges to fix them — and then adds to them with new spending and taxes.
It’s as if she wants to change the state’s direction but doesn’t know how and lacks the courage to take on the progressive mob.
And so she retreats into the comforts of the status quo.
As I’ve written, the $252 billion state budget she proposed represents an astounding increase of $100 billion over a decade.
That’s unsustainable, and she has to know it, but is unable or unwilling to slam on the brakes.
Few accomplishments
As for accomplishments, she has few that would change the destructive pattern.
She has gotten next to zero changes in the absurd justice system, which too often treats criminals better than their victims.
How can she not spend every waking moment trying to fix a system failing its honest citizens?
By removing Adams, Hochul also would effectively be declaring war with Trump.
He has made it clear in their discussions that he wants to help New York do big things on capital infrastructure and favors raising the limit from $10,000 on state and local tax deductions.
Because the White House is investing so much in saving Adams and working with him on navigating the insane sanctuary laws, she would have to pay a price for resisting.
The first item on Trump’s chopping block likely would be congestion pricing, which the president sees as a final nail in New York’s coffin.
He’s itching to see it disappear and Hochul will have no hope of persuading him to leave it if she fights him on the sanctuary issue.
If all else fails, eliminating the $9 daily tax would still be good news for the hardworking New Yorkers Hochul has forgotten.
by Michael Goodwin NYP
2 comments:
Adams was a darling of the Left until he defended Israel.
Any friend of Israel is my friend.
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