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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.

19 items

Sep 12, 2026

1
Spectrum News NY1 (Bernadette Hogan)TIER 1

NY1 on the ceremony's politics: Hochul stood with Cuomo and de Blasio, Vance embraced Giuliani and Bloomberg, 9/11 widow Terry Strada used the podium to attack Saudi protection "administration after administration," and Blakeman attended to honor his nephew, court officer Thomas Jurgens

Speeches by politicians were barred, but the ceremony still turned political through family readers: Strada called out dignitaries for protecting Saudi Arabia and asked Vance to carry the message to Trump. NY1 reports the Mamdani–Giuliani meeting after weeks of Giuliani urging the mayor to stay away, and quotes Hochul's CNN line that animosity "seems to melt away" at the reflecting pools. Blakeman's campaign said he attended to honor Senior Court Officer Thomas Jurgans, who died evacuating people from the World Trade Center. No incident or protest involving Hochul or Mamdani was reported.

Sep 11, 2026

1
NYS Public Campaign Finance Board (commissioner reports)TIER 1High

Primary-source check on Blakeman's public money: PCFB board records show one gubernatorial disbursement to Blakeman for New York, $1,201,055.22 approved June 30 (report dated July 2); the Sept. 1 disbursement report lists $1.98M across Senate, Assembly, comptroller and AG candidates and nothing for governor

Two PCFB commissioner reports for the approval to disburse public matching funds. The July 2 report (board meeting June 30) lists a single line: Governor, 580499-Blakeman for New York, Bruce Blakeman, treasurer Shawn Hyms, $1,201,055.22. The Sept. 1 report (board meeting Sept. 1) totals $1,975,488.85 across State Senate, Assembly, comptroller (DiNapoli $32,815.74) and attorney general (Komatireddy $33,112.68) committees; no gubernatorial committee appears. This is the first primary-source figure in our records for an actual matching-funds payment to Blakeman. It is lower than the $1.75M figure reported by City & State from the campaign's July filing, which we retain separately; the gap may reflect a later tranche or campaign-reported receipts not yet on a PCFB board report. Hochul opted out of the program. July report: https://pcfb.ny.gov/system/files/documents/2026/07/commissioner-report-for-the-approval-to-disburse-public-matching-funds-07.02.2026.pdf

Aug 28, 2026

1
Spectrum NewsTIER 1

State Sen. Kristen Gonzalez urges Hochul to sign a data-center moratorium bill that goes beyond her executive order

Sen. Kristen Gonzalez on Aug 27 urged Hochul to sign the data-center moratorium bill (S10642/A11560), which advocates say fills gaps in the one-year moratorium Hochul imposed by executive order in July (EO 62). Blakeman opposes any statewide moratorium and says local governments should be free to strike their own deals with tech companies for data-center projects — a clean policy contrast in the governor's race.

Aug 27, 2026

2
Spectrum News / Capital Tonight (Susan Arbetter)TIER 1High

Blakeman on Capital Tonight: Nassau will file its own complaint against the 287(g) ban, and he disputes the Siena poll's funding

In a Capital Tonight interview (aired Aug 26, 7:30pm), Blakeman said Nassau will comply with the 287(g) ban but file a SEPARATE complaint piggybacking on the sheriffs' Bourgault suit — "my sheriff is appointed," so Nassau is "in a different situation than the other sheriffs." He said the law was "written with the blood of the victims of illegal migrants" and claimed "there were no deaths at the hands of ICE in Nassau County"; the Hochul campaign rebutted by citing an ICE detainee found dead in a Nassau County jail cell in September 2025. On polling, he cited internal numbers and a co/efficient survey putting him "within four points," and claimed the Siena poll is funded by New York State — Siena spokesman Steve Greenberg said the poll is funded by ReconMR under a licensing agreement and receives no state money. Declined to defend Trump's Canada tariffs: "I'm running for governor."

Gothamist / New York Public News Network (Jimmy Vielkind)TIER 1Breaking

Blakeman backs down: Nassau will comply with the 287(g) ban, but he is joining the sheriffs' suit

On Aug. 26 at a news conference, Bruce Blakeman said Nassau County will yield to the Local Cops, Local Crimes Act provision dissolving its 287(g) agreement with ICE — ending the standoff in which Nassau was the last undecided holdout past the Aug. 25 deadline. He said he will still instruct county police to cooperate with ICE "whenever possible," and that he will join the federal suit filed by 15 sheriffs (Bourgault v. Hochul, N.D.N.Y.) challenging the law. Blakeman: "This law is written in the blood of victims past, present and future... I am a law-and-order county executive. I believe in the rule of law, even when it's a bad law." He also said that going forward "every murder, every rape, every robbery, every burglary, every drug overdose committed by an illegal migrant is on the hands of Kathy Hochul and the Democrats." Hochul, speaking at the State Fair, said: "We have made dramatic progress. We didn't need any 287(g) agreements... I want local police using local taxpayer dollars to focus on catching local criminals." Reporting context in the same piece: 13 jurisdictions had formal agreements when the ban was enacted in May; Nassau has held more than 1,000 people at its East Meadow jail for ICE since October 2025, the most of any New York county; and Newsday reported that between February 2025 and March 2026, 147 immigrants detained at the Nassau jail had prior violent-crime convictions — under 5% of those arrested. A Hochul spokesperson did not immediately comment on Blakeman's announcement.

Aug 25, 2026

1
WAMC Northeast Public RadioTIER 1High

Rensselaer County will sue to strike down New York's 287(g) ban; Blakeman is the last undecided holdout on deadline day

Rensselaer County announced Aug. 24 it will join a federal lawsuit to strike down the Local Cops, Local Crimes Act, the law Hochul signed in May voiding all 287(g) ICE agreements in New York effective Aug. 25. Sheriff Kyle Bourgault, whose office has held an agreement since 2018, will be a plaintiff. County Executive Steve McLaughlin said the state has not explained how the change improves public safety. WAMC reports 11 of the 12 other notified jurisdictions have said they will withdraw by the deadline. Nassau County Executive and Republican gubernatorial nominee Bruce Blakeman is the exception: "We're still talking with our lawyers. They're reviewing the process. I'll make a decision shortly." Saratoga County Sheriff Jeff Brown has said he will sign on to the suit though his county has no 287(g) agreement. The suit had not been filed and the plaintiff list is not public as of Aug. 24.

Aug 19, 2026

1
Spectrum News 1TIER 1High

Blakeman's running mate's own sheriff's office drops its ICE deal; 7 New York agencies still hold 287(g) agreements a week before the deadline

Per ICE's own website, 7 of the original 12 New York law enforcement agencies still hold 287(g) agreements ahead of the Aug 25 state deadline: Broome, Cattaraugus, Nassau, Niagara, Rensselaer and Steuben counties plus the Nassau County Police Department. The Madison County Sheriff's Office is the latest to dissolve its agreement, citing compliance with the Local Cops, Local Crimes Act; Madison County Sheriff Todd Hood is Bruce Blakeman's running mate for lieutenant governor. Broome County officials say they house no federal detainees and will follow state law. ICE's monthly 287(g) encounter reports list a single New York encounter across May, June and July 2026 - two individuals in Cattaraugus County on June 5.

Aug 18, 2026

1
Niagara GazetteTIER 1High

Days after refusing to visit, Hochul joins DEC commissioner's weekend calls to Niagara homeowners; residents still seek relocation

Homeowners on Fox and Chester avenues in the Town of Niagara said DEC Commissioner Amanda Lefton called them Saturday, Aug 15, and resident Kellie Moytka said Hochul joined her call personally — three days after Hochul said at an Aug 13 Chautauqua County press event that an in-person meeting was unnecessary and that she did not want to politicize residents' "cries for help." Moytka told WIVB she was "caught off guard," said she pressed for permanent relocation, and said Hochul indicated her office is deferring to EPA to lead on that question. Lexi Hawk of Save Our Backyards Niagara missed Lefton's call and is still seeking a face-to-face meeting. Hochul energy communications adviser Ken Lovett said Monday the governor directed DEC and the Department of Health to coordinate with EPA and that EPA has offered to voluntarily relocate several families while testing continues. Jocelyn and Daniel McKiernan, who found potentially hazardous material in their 99th Street yard, said they received no weekend call and got an EPA letter last week saying the federal agency will only engage on their property if the state DEC requests assistance first. Blakeman and Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt are backing Ortt's bill to extend the state superfund law to radiological contamination; Hochul's office says the change would take months of rulemaking and hiring and that EPA's Superfund program is already equipped.

Aug 16, 2026

2
Niagara GazetteTIER 1High

EPA regional administrator rebuts Hochul in letter: federal work already accelerated, 1,200 Niagara properties visited

EPA Region 2 Administrator Mike Martucci wrote to Gov. Hochul on Monday, Aug 10, defending the federal role in the Niagara County radiological assessment and saying her July 14 request to accelerate the work was unnecessary because it was already happening. "Everything we can speed up — access agreements, field work, deeper sampling, and potential cleanups, where needed — is being accelerated," Martucci wrote, describing EPA as "surging resources and manpower" into Niagara and Erie counties with dozens of expert staff working alongside NYSDEC. He put numbers to it: since July 23, EPA and state teams have visited more than 1,200 properties, obtained property-access permission from 756 homeowners, and screened 350 properties, working seven days a week. Martucci had earlier called Hochul's claim of EPA testing delays an "outright lie"; in this letter he wrote that EPA's focus is "ensuring the resources needed are provided without delay – and without regard to partisan politics." Hochul's July 14 letter had blamed the "wheels of federal bureaucracy" for leaving families waiting. Hochul senior communications adviser Ken Lovett responded Wednesday that public health and safety are the governor's first priority and that she directed a surge of NYSDEC and State Incident Management Team resources. Blakeman and Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt are pushing to amend New York's superfund law to cover radiological contamination; Hochul's office argues EPA is better equipped for radiological cleanups and that the Ortt approach would require additional specialized DEC staff and cause delays.

Spectrum News 1 / NY State of PoliticsTIER 1High

Hochul declines to visit Niagara radiation neighborhood, calls Blakeman's trip a "political show"

Asked in Chautauqua County on Aug 13 whether she would follow Blakeman and Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt to the contaminated Town of Niagara neighborhood, Hochul said no: "I have seen people go up there and politicize their cries for help... I go there, it's a political show, and I'm not going to use politics to capitalize on people's misery." She said more than 160 state personnel from DEC, DOH and emergency management are working the response and that state aerial and road surveys helped identify hotspots. Homeowner Lexi Hawk, whose property DEC and EPA confirmed contaminated on June 29, told Spectrum News her request for a visit predated Blakeman's appearance; four residents wrote Hochul on July 7 asking for testing data, relocation help, a State Superfund designation and an in-home meeting by July 10, which did not happen. Hawk also said the original property-access agreement contained language waiving reimbursement claims against the government; that language was later removed. Separately, Ortt introduced S.10672, which would classify nuclear and radioactive waste as hazardous waste so affected sites could be remediated through the state Hazardous Waste Superfund; it sits in the Senate Rules Committee and cannot advance while the Legislature is out of session.

Aug 15, 2026

1
The New York Times (via GV Wire syndication)TIER 1High

NYT: Trump attacks Hochul on crime while Nassau's violent crime rose in Blakeman's first three years before falling in 2025

The New York Times' account of Friday's Garden City event adds crime-record context to both campaigns' claims. Trump called Hochul "very very bad on crime — a nightmare for crime"; Blakeman thanked him for border enforcement and invoked the killing of Sheridan Gorman. The Times reports New York statewide violent crime was 6,669 higher in 2021 than 2019, began falling by 2024, and index crime dropped about 10 percent this spring versus a comparable 2022 period — a trajectory that closely tracked national trends, with the 2026 national murder rate at a decades low. In Nassau, violent crime rose roughly 350 incidents in 2022, Blakeman's first year as county executive, kept climbing through 2023 and 2024, and fell in 2025; index crime peaked in 2023. Trump also said he would uphold qualified immunity and characterized New York's ICE limits as an obstacle to federal deportations; Hochul and James said before the event that they intend to enforce the state laws.

Aug 12, 2026

1
Siena Research InstituteTIER 1High

Siena: Hochul leads Blakeman 49-39 in first likely-voter poll — lead halved from June

Siena's first likely-voter poll of the cycle (811 LV, Aug 3-6, MOE +/-4.2) has Hochul up 49-39 — half her 52-32 June lead among registered voters. Blakeman leads the suburbs 49-41 and independents 45-40; Hochul leads NYC 64-19. Blakeman's favorability improved to 33-26, though 40% still don't know enough about him. Voters prefer Hochul on affordable housing (+16) and prices (+7); 52-25 support her data-center moratorium. Likely-voter screens typically tighten races, but this is the closest public head-to-head from a nonpartisan pollster this cycle.

Jul 30, 2026

1
City & State NYTIER 1High

Blakeman says Democrats will try to "cheat," won't commit to accepting election results without caveat

At a Penn Station press conference Jul 29, Blakeman said Democrats have "consistently tried to cheat" and would accept the outcome only "if the results of the elections are fair." Asked for evidence, his campaign cited two examples: the PCFB's since-reversed denial of his matching funds and his exclusion from speaking at the Dominican Day Parade. On Fox Business that morning he said Democrats would attempt to "steal" the election; the state BOE said the New Jersey registration error he cited could not occur under New York's system. Hochul's campaign called it "embracing Trump's election denial lies." The same presser included attacks on Mamdani's tax policies.

Jul 25, 2026

1
City & State NYTIER 1High

Blakeman won't say whether Nassau will comply with 287(g) wind-down order; lawyers reviewing, written response promised by Aug. 14

After the AG's Office of Immigrant Trust ordered Nassau to unwind its 287(g) agreement by Aug. 25, Blakeman said county police and sheriff's department lawyers are reviewing the law and the letter, with a written response due by Aug. 14. He has taken no action to change the agreement and says other county officials with similar deals are exploring separate legal options. Blakeman vowed in May to defy the state limits ("make my day"). Sets up a direct legal collision between the sitting governor and her challenger in his own county weeks before early voting.

Jul 24, 2026

1
City & State NYTIER 1High

Blakeman files amended report adding $1.6M in unreported contributions — total now ~$11.4M, with two dozen donations over the general-election limit

A week after his July periodic filing came in at least $3M short of his campaign's claimed $11M raised, Blakeman filed an amended report (posted on the BOE site Jul 22) adding $1.6M in previously unreported contributions — March–July donations now $4.6M vs the $3M originally recorded — plus $1.4M in previously unreported spending ($3.2M vs $1.8M) and the additional $1.2M in public matching funds. BOE records now show ~$11.4M brought in since his December launch. Previously unreported donors include Brittany Kaiser ($18,000), Charles F. Dolan ($18,000) and the Transit Supervisors Organization PAC ($9,000); an initial review found at least two dozen donations over the $9,000 general-election limit, half of which must be returned since he had no primary. His campaign blamed BOE tech issues; a BOE spokesperson said she is not aware of any technical problems with the reporting system. Blakeman also amended his March report (closing balance $1.6M → $2.2M) — his January filing previously went through four versions.

Jul 17, 2026

2
NY Public News Network / GothamistTIER 1High

Bills owners' first Hochul checks since the $600M stadium deal surface in itemized BOE filings; Hochul holds $21M to Blakeman's $4.6M

Itemized July BOE filings reviewed by Jimmy Vielkind show Terry Pegula gave $138,600 to the Democratic State Committee and $18,000 to Hochul's campaign in January, with Kim Pegula adding $18,000 — the Pegulas' first contributions since the 2022 $600M state stadium appropriation. Terry Pegula is one of 16 individuals who maxed out to the DSC since Blakeman declared. Other major committee donors: Melinda French Gates, the New York Apartment Association, hotel and construction unions, real estate developers, and hedge fund managers. Hochul's campaign raised $5.8M since January and reported $21M on hand at the start of July; the DSC raised $11.4M across two accounts. Blakeman reported $4.6M on hand, $7.4M raised since his re-election ($3M of it from his old county committee and the Nassau GOP), and ~$770K of a possible $3.5M in public matching funds; his campaign says an amended report is coming. NYPIRG's Blair Horner: "Money follows power."

Spectrum News / NY State of PoliticsTIER 1

Hochul rolls out nearly 100 Albany County endorsements as Tonko casts Blakeman as a "mini-Trump"; Blakeman hammers energy costs

Hochul's campaign rolled out endorsements from nearly 100 Albany County elected officials Friday, including Albany Mayor Dorcey Applyrs and County Executive Dan McCoy, at an event tying Blakeman to Trump — Rep. Paul Tonko called him a "mini-Trump" and cited his tariff support and White House Rose Garden appearance. Blakeman, who appeared with construction leaders earlier in the week, countered that Hochul's energy mandates force families to pay "up to 70% more for electricity" and pledged to "scrap this green energy scam" and bring back natural gas. Hochul appears with AG Letitia James and union leaders in Manhattan Saturday.

Jul 16, 2026

1
City & State NYTIER 1High

Blakeman's July filing shows $3M raised — far short of the $11M his campaign touted

Blakeman's July periodic report, filed Wednesday evening, shows about $3M raised since March and $4.6M cash on hand as of July 11 — against the nearly $11M his finance chair Howard Fensterman claimed to the NY Post. Total direct donations since launch: ~$4.1M. Adding ~$1M in transfers from the Nassau and Suffolk GOP, prior transfers from his county executive account, and ~$770K in first-round public matching funds, his total is roughly $8M. He has qualified for an additional $1.2M in matching funds (PCFB, Jul 2) not yet reported as received; his campaign says it will file an amended report and stands by the $11M figure. Hochul had not filed her July report as of Wednesday night; her campaign announced $5.6M raised and $20M+ on hand.

Jul 14, 2026

1
Governor's Office / AP / Washington Post / NY1TIER 1High

Hochul signs nation's first statewide data-center moratorium; Blakeman says localities should cut their own deals

Hochul signed EO 62 on July 14, pausing state environmental permits for new hyperscale data centers (coverage cites 50+ MW projects) for up to a year while DPS writes statewide standards on energy demand, water use and air quality. She framed it around utility bills, added a Community Investment Framework for localities (due in 60 days), a proposed repeal of data-center sales-tax exemptions, and a new DIGIT office that will start with regulating large frontier-AI developers. The Legislature passed its own moratorium bill in June, which she has not signed. Blakeman opposed the freeze, saying Hochul "doesn't work with local governments and business leaders to figure out how to get things done" and that localities should be free to strike data-center deals with economic benefits.