Oh, New York leftists, you were sooo close! But “close” doesn’t count as a win.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has been accused of being a closet conservative. (And if anyone believes that, I have a bridge in Brooklyn I can let go for super-cheap.) A group named Housing Justice for All recently sponsored a strategy session with its members. One goal of the organization is to push for legislation to create a voucher program to house homeless people and assist tenants who could be evicted. Another goal is to limit rent hikes in the Empire State. One thing that emerged from the meeting is that everyone is fed up with the governor. Hochul is facing accusations of racism, harboring hatred for immigrants and the poor, and, yes — gasp — being a conservative! At least part of the angst is the fact that Hochul is ignoring the issues raised by housing groups and favoring her own plan to create 800,000 affordable housing units in the state.
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The New York Post had reactions from people at the meeting. Ritti Singh, who works for Housing Justice for All, was recorded stating, “Governor Hochul doesn’t like [Housing Justice For All] because she doesn’t want everyone who’s included in this program to be included. That includes people who are undocumented, (and) people with felony convictions. We know Governor Hochul is, like, really conservative and that she really, you know, she’s racist. She does not like immigrants. She does not like people who’ve been, you know, in jail. So she’s, like, really, really been fighting against it.” Another said, “She hates immigrants, and she hates poor people. And that’s, like, demonstrated, like, through, like, you know, how she has, like, run her career, the things that she has done.”
I’m sure that Hochul does not consider herself a racist and would probably rather eat a cockroach from the streets of the Big Apple than become a conservative. But the housing advocates are seeing for themselves what many conservatives have been saying: Democrats love the poor and minorities because these people can be leveraged for power and money. But once those things are secured, those people are no longer useful. Others at the meeting seemed to be piecing things together. One man from the Bronx said Hochul was no better than Cuomo, adding that she depended on the progressive vote to hold on to her seat. He also accused Hochul of taking a donation from the Seneca Nation and giving it to Bills owner Terry Pegula to build a new stadium. Still other housing advocates have taken issue with Hochul prioritizing the housing needs of immigrants by giving them vouchers while refusing to do the same for citizens.
Of course, you already read the punchline above that Hochul is “really, like, conservative.” No, Hochul is only doing what Democrats have been doing for years: gaming the system and the people. And New York, if you keep electing them, they’ll keep doing it.
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