Governor's office (rush transcript, NY1 Inside City Hall with Errol Louis)Tier 1

Hochul on NY1's Inside City Hall (Sept. 15): rejects the "buying votes" charge on the $1B POWER checks ("negotiated with the Legislature in the spring"), rules out fracking because it is "illegal under state law," calls Ortt's claim she is anti-police "false," says the data-center framework applies only after the moratorium, and puts her last call with Trump at "over a month" ago

Rush transcript posted 9:53 p.m. Sept. 15. On the POWER rebate checks (8.2M households, $100-$200, mailing from Sept. 21), Errol Louis played Blakeman's "buying votes" attack; Hochul said "I don't know what he's talking about," that the checks were negotiated in the spring budget passed in May, and that Tax and Finance had to finish STAR checks first. On energy costs she blamed an aging grid, the Indian Point closure ("25 percent of New York City's power") and the Trump administration halting offshore wind, and said she is "leaning hard into nuclear." Asked about Blakeman's call to tap the Marcellus Shale, she said "hydrofracking is illegal under state law. I plan on following state laws." On the sheriffs' 287(g) suit and Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt's press-conference claim she is anti-police, she said "it's actually false," citing "$4 billion" spent on public safety, and said Blakeman has Nassau police "going after teenagers and people going to their job at the Home Depot." She said the EO 62 Community Investment Framework is "not a modification of the moratorium," takes effect "a year from now" only for communities that want a data center, and that she has "30 applications for hyperscale data centers." She confirmed attending the Bills home opener Thursday and Belmont's opening Friday, said she last spoke with Trump "over a month" ago about Penn Station, nuclear and Haitian TPS, would not weigh in on renaming Penn Station, and listed House targets (Conley in NY-17, Gendebien in NY-21, NY-1). Balance note: the transcript is the governor's own release; Blakeman's side of the rebate and fracking arguments is captured in the Sept. 13 NY Post and Sept. 14 POWER-checks rows.

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campaign power-checks energy fracking 287g data-centers ny1

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City & State New York (Rebecca C. Lewis) · Sep 16, 2026City & State: Hochul called Trump's promised $5,000-per-adult checks "a trillion-dollar campaign bribe" last week, then announced $1B in POWER rebate checks mailing before Election Day; her office says the September-October timing reflects Tax and Finance's STAR-season capacity, the same explanation given for last fall's inflation refund checks 5 Towns Central · Sep 16, 2026Strong and Safe New York launches a $250,000 billboard campaign on highways leading out of the state ("You Are Now Leaving NY (Like Everyone Else)") promoting Blakeman and blaming Hochul for population loss; still no full donor roster for the Dolan-backed super PAC Fingerlakes1.com (from Hochul campaign release) · Sep 14, 2026NYS Building & Construction Trades Council (235,000 members) endorses Hochul for re-election; LaBarbera cites construction, housing and energy-project policies, Hochul points to offshore wind, Gateway, upstate chips and housing New York Post (Carl Campanile, Matt Troutman) · Sep 13, 2026Bonnie Lautenberg, widow of Sen. Frank Lautenberg and a $1,000 Hochul donor in July 2025, confirms she is holding a Hamptons fundraiser for Blakeman: "Bruce is a longtime friend and neighbor"

Source: Governor's office (rush transcript, NY1 Inside City Hall with Errol Louis) · Sep 16, 2026 · Credibility Tier 1 · Permalink https://reviewhochul.com/news/hochul-ny1-inside-city-hall-rebates-fracking-sheriffs-2026-09-15

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