Free Republic

Gov. Kathy Hochul has spent $66 million of taxpayer money on grants to radical left-wing groups that conduct overt political operations to defund the police, close prisons, abolish ICE, decriminalize prostitution, promote open borders, target minors with transgender ideology, promote anti-Israel extremism, impose crippling climate mandates on new housing — and increase taxation to pay for it all. An examination of 13,000 grants since Hochul took office in 2021 shows a massive investment in far-left causes, with $66 million paid so far and almost $50 million promised for a total contract value of $113 million. “Our tax dollars should go...

ALBANY, N.Y. — Governor Kathy Hochul is calling on President Donald Trump to release $400 million in federal funds for the Home Energy Assistance Program. Governor Hochul said 1.5 million New Yorkers will rely on HEAP to help them heat their homes this winter. Hochul noted that, despite the government shutdown ending after 43 days, the longest hiatus in history, the Trump Administration has yet to release the funds. New York State will begin accepting HEAP applications on Nov. 24, but Hochul said that this will only be possible if the funding is provided. CNY Central spoke to one local...

Gov. Hochul is reportedly open to raising taxes on corporations in the Empire State to help fund socialist Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s freebie-filled agenda for New York City. Hochul, who is up for re-election in 2026, is sticking to her vow to not hit high-earners with higher taxes — but has had preliminary conversations about raising revenue by upping the corporate tax rate, according to Politico, which first reported the story. The hike would help fill the more than $4 billion budget gap facing the state next year and cover some of the costs associated with Mamdani’s socialist dream in the...

Zohran Mamdani campaigned to become the mayor of New York City by promising a series of expensive plans including free child care, rent freezes and free buses. As I pointed out here, the cost of these proposals is unknown but is expected to be wildly expensive. The free child care element could cost the city around $6 billion per year, equal to the entire NYPD budget. His plan for free buses is expected to cost another $800 million, but again it could be more.So where is he going to get the money to pay for all of this? Well, most...

A former top aide to New York Governor Kathy Hochul enjoyed a life of luxury because she was an undeclared agent for China, federal prosecutors have claimed. Linda Sun, 41, is accused of acting as an unregistered operative for the Chinese Communist Party and using her position to influence Hochul and ex-Governor Andrew Cuomo into actions favorable to Beijing. Sun earned a government salary of $145,000, but was also receiving millions of dollars from side deals arranged by Chinese officials, prosecutors told her trial Monday. She and her husband Chris Hu used cash to purchase a $3.6 million mansion in...

Zohran Mamdani’s victory-lap speech Tuesday night reeked of Vladimir Lenin after Russia’s 1917 communist revolution. But instead of commanding a Red Army, the mayor-elect should be aware he will be facing lots of red ink. That’s on top of some very strict and sensible financial rules put in place some 50 years ago — just in case a deranged Marxist ended up running New York City. Yes, socialism can sound rousing when it’s pitched by a skilled orator.... But NYC — with plenty of welfare statism already on the books — will never go full-on Soviet ­Union. That’s because laws...

NEW YORK (WABC) -- New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik, a top ally of President Donald Trump's on Capitol Hill, announced she is running for governor to challenge Gov. Kathy Hochul next year. Stefanik made the announcement in a video her campaign posted on YouTube early Friday morning. She released a statement saying: "Kathy Hochul is the Worst Governor in America. Under Kathy Hochul's failed leadership, New York is the most unaffordable state in the nation with the highest taxes, highest energy, utilities, rent, and grocery prices crushing hardworking families. Hochul has created a crime crisis with failed bail reform...

Those aren’t the bills they’re looking for. Gov. Kathy Hochul bizarrely tried to run interference on the embarrassing “tax the rich” chants she was heckled with at Zohran Mamdani‘s rally — claiming Monday she thought it was a pro-Buffalo Bills chorus. “I thought they were saying ‘Let’s go Bills,’” she said when pressed by a Post reporter over the anti-fat cat chant.“I wasn’t sure… I heard some noise, I heard a lot of cheers. But later on it became clear to me, I know there is a passion for that.” The Democratic governor’s appearance Sunday at the “New York is...

Mayoral front-runner Zohran Mamdani fundraised for an infamous United Nations relief agency with well-documented ties to Hamas over the weekend — drawing outrage from Republican North Country Rep. Elise Stefanik. Stefanik, who has said she’ll run in next year’s gubernatorial election, also tore into Gov. Kathy Hochul over her support for the Democratic mayoral nominee, Mamdani, as she denounced him as an “antisemite.” “On the eve of all the living hostages held by Hamas terrorists finally returning home, @KathyHochul endorsed Antisemite Communist NYC Mayor candidate is raising funds for an organization that participated in the October 7th terrorist attacks and...

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul was booed multiple times at the 2025 Ryder Cup on Long Island Wednesday – and even a joke from talk show host Carson Daly couldn’t quell the jeers. Golf fans attending the opening ceremony ahead of the US’s matchup against Europe unleashed on the Democratic leader as she walked on stage at the Bethpage State Park in Farmingdale, according to social media footage. “You’re the worst,” one attendee shouted. Daly, who brought Hochul out, tried to quiet the crowd by joking she isn’t NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, but it didn’t help much, according to the...

In a bid to get front-running New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani to endorse her campaign for reelection, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced her endorsement of Mamdani, saying "this bright young star of the Democratic Party is showing us how to win the hearts and minds of the working classes. I enthusiastically urge the voters of New York City to make him their next mayor. I hope we can both work together to keep the fascist Republicans from thwarting the people's revolution we both support." Mamdani responded saying "I'm excited to have the governor's support in my battle to become...

Sometimes I wish we could use emojis in headlines, because I would have used the "laughing guy" one for this story.Some news just makes me laugh out loud, you see, especially ones that involve Democrat infighting. Especially during a dark time like this, when so many are acting like soulless ghouls in the wake of the tragic murder of Charlie Kirk.Whenever I read about a Dem internal spat, I smile because I think, “You guys deserve each other. And all your toxicity.”In New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul took the risk of endorsing democrat socialist Zohran Mamdani for mayor, even though...

No freebies for Kathy. Gov. Kathy Hochul seemingly got little-to-nothing in exchange for her bombshell endorsement Sunday of socialist mayoral hopeful Zohran Mamdani — except to appease the far-left in a desperate attempt to stave off a real primary challenge next year, insiders said. Hochul likely will have Mamdani’s endorsement in the Democratic primary, where she faces a challenge from her estranged Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado, sources said. One Democratic operative called Hochul’s endorsement — which failed to sway some prominent Dem holdouts and took some business leaders by surprise — “inevitable” given the political calculus. “It’s a calculated political...

Gov. Kathy Hochul endorsed lefty Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani for mayor in a bombshell Sunday guest essay — after her camp tried to keep the candidate at arm’s length through the campaign. “The question of who will be the next mayor is one I take extremely seriously and to which I have devoted a great deal of thought,” Hochul wrote in a New York Times Opinion piece published Sunday night. “Tonight I am endorsing Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani,” she said. Hochul’s likely endorsement of Mamdani was first reported by The Post earlier Sunday evening. Before her official endorsement was announced, the...

Keep your tip-sy to yourself! Gov. Kathy Hochul is in hot water for telling parishioners at a largely black church not to buy booze with their incoming state “inflation refund” checks — with fellow pols slamming her comments as tone-deaf and “demeaning.” “It reduces whole communities to harmful stereotypes and strips away the dignity of parents and children alike,” said her estranged Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado, who, along with Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), blasted Hochul as racially insensitive. Hochul was speaking about rebate checks — which will be sent to eligible residents starting later this month through November — at...

New York Governor Kathy Hochul has outdone herself. At a time when violent crime, illegal immigration, and public safety dominate national concerns, the governor of New York decided her top priority was granting clemency to an illegal immigrant with a manslaughter conviction. ...... Dem Governor Literally Pardoned a Convicted Killer to Protect Him from Deportation Matt Margolis | 1:15 PM on August 17, 2025 AP Photo/Hans Pennink New York Governor Kathy Hochul has outdone herself. At a time when violent crime, illegal immigration, and public safety dominate national concerns, the governor of New York decided her top priority was granting...

Hochul pardoned an illegal migrant who was convicted of manslaughter as a teenager, according to a report from The New York Times. The Homeland Security Department criticized New York Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul for pardoning an illegal migrant to keep him from being deported. "@GovKathyHochul, your shameful secret is out," the DHS wrote in a social media post on X. "Rather than putting New Yorkers first, you’re protecting a criminal illegal alien KILLER with a rap sheet including convictions for manslaughter and criminal possession of a firearm."Hochul pardoned an illegal migrant who was convicted of manslaughter as a teenager,...

Gov. Kathy Hochul has been quietly pardoning migrants with decades-old criminal histories — including at least one who killed another man. The Dem governor recently granted the extreme act of clemency to 13 migrants, including Somchith Vatthanavong, a 52-year-old Laotian man who entered the US illegally and was convicted of manslaughter in 1990, the New York Times first reported. Vatthanavong, who fled to the US after the Vietnam War, claimed to the outlet that he was defending himself during an altercation outside a pool hall when he fatally shot a man. “They’ve paid their debt, and I’ll be damned if...

Hochul: "Democrats always follow the rules" Is she serious?

As New Yorkers mourned the victims of a mass shooting last week in a midtown Manhattan office building, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, inserted himself into the discourse. His comments concerned a photo taken Thursday of Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York, a Democrat, sitting on a folding chair inside a mosque, next to Mayor Eric Adams. To her left, men in kurtas and police uniforms kneel on a carpeted floor. Hochul wears a dark pantsuit, a somber expression and, on her head, a black scarf looped over her hair. After an anonymous social media user posted the photo and asked...