ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) 鈥� Kathy Hochul on Tuesday and in her first hours on the job sought to bring a new sense of urgency to immense problems that went unaddressed during Andrew Cuomo鈥檚 distracted final months in office.
In an afternoon address, she said she would make masks mandatory for anyone entering public schools and wanted to implement a requirement that all school staff either be vaccinated or undergo weekly COVID-19 testing.
鈥淣one of us want a rerun of last year鈥檚 horrors with COVID-19,鈥� Hochul said. 鈥淭herefore we will take proactive steps to prevent that from happening.鈥�
She also pledged quick action to unstick an application bottleneck that has kept federal aid money from flowing to renters who suffered financially because of the pandemic.
Hochul, a Democrat and former member of Congress from western New York, took the oath of office just after midnight in a brief, private event overseen by the state鈥檚 chief judge, Janet DiFiore.
At a ceremonial swearing-in later Tuesday morning at the State Capitol, Hochul promised a 鈥渇resh, collaborative approach鈥� in state government.
鈥淚 want people to believe in their government again," she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 important to me that people have faith.鈥�
She noted that she had already begun speaking with other Democratic leaders who have, for years, complained about being shut out of key decisions and of being bullied by Cuomo, including New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.
鈥淭here鈥檒l be no blindsiding; there鈥檒l just be full cooperation,鈥� Hochul said.
Hochul also thanked her 鈥渂ig Irish Catholic鈥� family, including her two children and Bill Hochul, her husband of over 30 years. Her immediate family sat in the front row, wearing masks and spaced slightly apart. Hochul, her daughter and daughter-in law wore white to honor suffragists.
Over the next few months, Hochul, who was , will have an opportunity to reshape Albany, where Cuomo dominated decision-making for years before being felled in .
For generations, it's been said that all of the real decisions in the state government were made by 鈥渢hree men in a room" 鈥� the governor and the leaders of the state Senate and Assembly.
Now, for the first time, two of those three 鈥� Hochul and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins 鈥� are women. Only the state Assembly is led by a man, Speaker Carl Heastie.
Hochul met with those two leaders Tuesday morning before a planned public address at 3 p.m. Both Stewart-Cousins and Heastie emerged saying that they appreciated her 鈥渃ollaborative鈥� tone, and that they were ready to work with her to get COVID-19 relief funds to New Yorkers in need more quickly.
Cuomo left office at midnight, two weeks after he announced he would resign rather than face an impeachment battle that appeared inevitable after a report by independent investigators 鈥� overseen by state Attorney General Letitia James 鈥� concluded he had sexually harassed 11 women.
On his final day in office, Cuomo released a recorded farewell address in which he again said he was innocent and portrayed himself as the victim of a 鈥渕edia frenzy.鈥�
Hochul takes over a state still dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.
She will be under pressure to get federal rent relief money into the hands of tenants. Little of the $2 billion set aside by the federal government to help New Yorkers pay off rent debt has been distributed. Thousands face the possibility of eviction after state and federal protections expire.
Hochul promised Tuesday to make getting that money out a top priority, saying people shouldn't have to 鈥渨ait one second longer." She also pledged quick action to distribute money from a new $2 billion state fund intended to benefit unauthorized immigrants who didn't qualify for other types of federal pandemic relief aid.
鈥淭he money鈥檚 there," Hochul said. 鈥淭hese people are not eligible for other forms of assistance, and they鈥檙e hurting and they're part of the New York family.鈥�
Former Gov. David Paterson, who, like Hochul, unexpectedly became governor when his predecessor resigned, said she will need to restore faith.
鈥淭here鈥檚 going to be some pressure on Gov. Hochul, as there was on me, to kind of restore the values and to restore the conduct and the decorum that bespeaks a governor," Paterson said.
She'll also have to work quickly. Hochul has already said she intends to run for a full term next year and will have just months to establish herself as the favorite before a spring Democratic primary.
In the meantime, she'll be building an administration 鈥� a task that began in the first minutes of Tuesday with the oath of office, hours ahead of the restaging of the event for television cameras in mid-morning.
DiFiore administered the oath in the Capitol in front of a stone fireplace, atop which were placed family pictures.
Hochul, her husband and DiFiore entered the room wearing masks, taking them off when the ceremony began. Hochul placed her hand on a Bible held by her husband, a former federal prosecutor and current general counsel for Buffalo-based food service and hospitality company Delaware North.
Hochul signed a pile of papers, including the oath, using a set of 10 pens dated 鈥淎ugust 24, 2021,鈥� while her family stood behind her, looking on. She then thanked members of her staff and told them she鈥檇 see them tomorrow, then left the room.
Marina Villeneuve, The Associated Press
