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Vetted coverage of Governor Hochul's administration, grouped by day. Every item names its publication and carries a source-credibility tier — Tier 1 primary/wire, Tier 2 established outlet, Tier 3 secondary. No spin; each story links to its original source.

7 items

Sep 10, 2026

1
Governor's officeTIER 1

MTA to seek 650 new buses, its biggest single order since 2013, but they run on compressed natural gas, not electricity; Lieber says the agency is buying CNG "while the electric bus industry continues to mature"

Sept. 10 release: the MTA will issue an RFP (proposals due Oct. 19, 2026) for 650 CNG buses funded by the 2025-29 Capital Plan, replacing aging CNG buses; the order is more than 10% of the fleet. The release says 30% of standard bus purchases in this Capital Plan are expected to be CNG and that the plan separately funds 500 zero-emission buses plus depot charging. It says 100% of the natural gas is offset by renewable natural gas credits. Context for the tracker: the MTA's stated goal is a zero-emission fleet by 2040; this order is a fossil-fuel purchase framed as a bridge. Since the July "Next Stop" plan, 41 new buses have entered service.

Aug 18, 2026

2
NYS DECTIER 1

DEC and EPA add in-person drop-in sessions on the Niagara-Erie radiological assessment: Aug 17 Grand Island, Aug 20 Niagara Falls, Aug 24 Lewiston

DEC posted three staffed drop-in tabling sessions for residents with questions about the Niagara and Erie County Radiological Assessment: Monday Aug 17 at the WNY Welcome Center in Grand Island, Thursday Aug 20 at the Niagara Falls Convention Center, and Monday Aug 24 at the Lewiston Library, each 4-7 p.m., plus a seven-day-a-week NECRA hotline. Phase 3 ground surveys remain ongoing. Source: DEC program page, retrieved Aug 18, 2026.

Niagara GazetteTIER 1

DEC and EPA: 856 Niagara-Erie property owners have granted testing access; 340-plus properties cleared

State DEC and federal EPA officials said 856 property owners across Niagara and Erie counties have granted access for radiological testing, and that as of Saturday more than 340 properties had received notice that no additional radiological investigation is needed. Officials did not disclose how many properties have been tested in total. The access figure is up from the 756 access forms cited in EPA Region 2 Administrator Mike Martucci's Aug 10 letter to Hochul.

Aug 10, 2026

1
Governor's Office / NYC Mayor's Office / MTATIER 1

Hochul, Mamdani and MTA announce first-in-nation thermal energy network study to cool subway platforms

Hochul, Mayor Mamdani and the MTA announced an $800K feasibility study of a Thermal Energy Network at the Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall 4/5/6 and Chambers St J/Z complex — the first in a U.S. transit system. Radiant cooling would pull heat off platforms (Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall averaged 96°F in summer 2025) and store it in geothermal boreholes under Chambers St's abandoned center platform to heat nearby municipal buildings in winter. Funded through congestion pricing revenue as part of the Chambers St renewal announced Aug 7; study contract awarded this fall, design work in early 2027 if feasible. Notable as a visible Hochul-Mamdani city-state partnership in election season.

Jul 30, 2026

1
GothamistTIER 1

Finger Lakes bitcoin mine Greenidge rebrands as data center, testing Hochul's EO 62 moratorium

Greenidge Generation, the gas-fired Finger Lakes bitcoin-mining plant, has rebranded as Vulcan Infrastructure and Power and is seeking 200 MW of additional grid power (roughly 150,000 homes' worth) to become an AI data center — raising ~$40M for the effort. Hochul's EO 62, signed this month as the country's first data-center moratorium, pauses permits for facilities of 50 MW+, but DEC says it has received no new application and would not say whether Vulcan's plan falls under the moratorium; Hochul's office referred questions to DEC. Earthjustice and Seneca Lake Guardian say the rebrand is an attempt to escape the moratorium and the plant's pollution record. A first test of how far EO 62 reaches.

Jul 16, 2026

1

Jul 15, 2026

1
CNBCTIER 1

Trump calls Hochul's data-center moratorium a "terrible decision," urges New York to reverse it

A day after Hochul signed EO 62 — the nation's first statewide moratorium on new hyperscale data centers (50+ MW, up to one year) — President Trump attacked the move on Truth Social, writing "New York State has made a terrible decision" and calling data centers "Money Machines" whose taxes and jobs "amount to LIQUID GOLD!" The clash adds a federal front to the moratorium fight; Blakeman had already said localities should cut their own deals.