By GREGORY ZELLER //
Governor Kathy Hochul visited King’s Park Thursday to detail a king’s ransom in state funding – and throw a few political jabs (or, more to the point, not throw).
Marking her “first rollout” since she delivered her 2024-25 Executive Budget to the State Legislature earlier this week, the governor spoke less about specific Long Island initiatives than her statewide spending plan, which she touched on during her Jan. 9 State of the State address and detailed Tuesday in her official budget presentation.
But Thursday’s appearance at King’s Park High School certainly had a distinct Long Island flavor. Hochul made consistent references to Island weather, Island potholes and Island aesthetics and was joined by a court of Island leaders – including lawmakers from both sides of the political aisle, university presidents, organizational leaders (Association for a Better Long Island Executive Director Kyle Strober, Long Island Association Vice President Stacey Sikes, Discover Long Island President/CEO Kristen Reynolds and others) and local union heads.
She spoke frequently about prior Long Island spending initiatives – and while she largely riffed on the greatest statewide hits from her 2024-25 budget plan, the governor did note several specific line items earmarked for Nassau and Suffolk counties.
Noting there’s “no better place to talk about New York’s future” than the Island – and pausing to compliment the “extraordinarily beautiful North Shore” – Hochul first shouted out Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine and other local leaders in attendance.
She made no refence, however, to bombastic Nassau County boss Bruce Blakeman, who was openly hostile toward Hochul when they shared the stage at the LIA’s Jan. 5 State of the Region Breakfast, telling the state’s chief executive to “stay out of Long Island.”
Bipartisan buddies: Gov. Hochul (left) and Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine exchange pleasantries Thursday.
Democrat Hochul did, however, thank Republican Romaine for his bipartisan governing approach, noting “collaboration will bear many fruits for this part of the state.”
Later in the proceedings, Romaine responded in kind.
“When you’re in government, at whatever level … you have to work together to make things go,” the Suffolk executive told the audience. “I will certainly work with the governor when possible, with our town supervisors and 31 village mayors in Suffolk County, to try to get this agenda done.
“Long Island is one of the major economic engines of this state,” Romaine added. “If you invest here, we will work with you to make sure it does pay dividends … in a rising economy.”
Political one-upmanship aside, Thursday’s presentation focused on 2024-25 spending initiatives – and how Long Island factors into Hochul’s $233 billion plan.
The governor dubbed it “a balanced budget” that includes no state income-tax increases and promotes an overall strategy to “do what you can afford [and] live within your means, without any additional burdens.”
Balancing act: The governor trumpets her $233 billion spending plan — less hefty than some prior proposals — as a “balanced budget.”
Among the highlights: A $147 million increase for Long Island school funding in the coming year (following a $1.4 billion increase in the two years since Hochul took office) and a $211 million investment in capital-improvement projects at Long Island higher-education institutions (including $91.5 million worth of upgrades at SUNY Old Westbury).
The governor also highlighted $435 million in planned coastal-resiliency efforts, including a $250 million buyout program for waterfront homeowners, with a state plan to buy up at-risk properties and turn them into “resilient natural habitats.”
About $100 million worth of improvements for the Jones Beach State Park West Bathhouse are also on tap, while Hochul trumpeted a $160 million stipend to hire Long Island lifeguards and build new public swimming pools around the region – plus a cool million for additional shark-spotting drones to be deployed along Island beaches this summer.
While reminding listeners that 208 lane-miles have been repaved on Long Island highways over the last two years, Hochul referenced another $72 million for Island road and bridge repair in the 2024-25 budget plan. And lamenting that the opioid epidemic has “hit Long Island really hard,” the governor noted a fresh $67 million investment for statewide reduction and prevention programs.
Public safety also played large in Thursday’s speech – though the governor only referenced statewide funding initiatives against hate crimes, retail thefts and domestic violence – and so did housing initiatives, on Long Island and elsewhere.
Again, Hochul teetered on the edge of party politics, noting her 2023-24 housing proposals – including local mandates that proved exceedingly unpopular with lawmakers across the state – were “weaponized” by Republican rivals.
Park place: King’s Park is Long Island’s big winner in Albany’s latest Downtown Revitalization Initiative competition.
Past failures notwithstanding, “We have to build more housing,” Hochul insisted, to rousing applause.
To that end, the governor elaborated on a $500 million strategy to build 15,000 housing units on state-owned property and spotlighted a plan to reward “pro-housing communities” that support “growth targets,” with payments from state discretionary funds like Empire State Development’s Long Island Investment Fund.
“Have some skin the game,” Hochul challenged. “Show me you’re willing to grow.
“This has to happen, or else we’ll stagnate,” she added. “Other metropolitan areas – Philadelphia, Boston, Washington, Newark – they’re all growing, because they have homes.”
The governor closed by handing out some big checks, figuratively and literally. She announced that King’s Park would receive $10 million through this year’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative competition, while the Village of Mineola and the Hamlet of North Bellport would each receive $4.5 million stipends through the second funding round of the NY Forward program, which boasts the same downtown-revitalization focus but a smaller purse.
Affordable housing will be the focus in North Bellport, with a small-business revival on tap in Mineola – both issues important to Long Island’s unique character, according to the governor.
“I love how the people of Long Island care so deeply,” Hochul said. “They care, they show up, they participate.
“And it makes a difference,” she added. “I want to make sure Long Island retains its charm, its beauty [and] its independence.”
