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News

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.

3 items

Sep 23, 2026

1
Spectrum News (Jack Arpey)TIER 2

Blakeman pledges to "immediately end" the HALT solitary-confinement law at a Capitol event with NYSCOPBA, then concedes a Democratic Legislature would make it a budget negotiation

At the Sept. 22 event formalizing the correction officers' union endorsement, Blakeman said he would use the governor's leverage to repeal HALT and rehire officers fired after the 2025 strike. Pressed, he said repeal would be a negotiation with Democratic leaders. Hochul's campaign pointed to ~$4B in public-safety spending and defended the firings.

Sep 19, 2026

1
Spectrum News (Keegan Trunick); Governor's office statementTIER 2High

State reaches $24M settlement with the family of Robert Brooks, beaten to death by correction officers at Marcy in Dec. 2024; Hochul: "Robert Brooks should be alive today," pledges DOCCS facilities will be "fully reformed"

On Sept. 18 the state settled with the family of Robert Brooks, 43, of Rochester, for $24 million (figure from the governor's office, per Spectrum). Brooks died Dec. 10, 2024, hours after arriving at Marcy Correctional Facility, from neck compression and internal injuries; the medical examiner ruled it a homicide and body-camera footage released by the AG showed officers beating him while restrained. More than a dozen prison employees were fired; multiple officers were convicted or pleaded, two were acquitted at trial. Hochul's statement: "No family should ever have to endure what the family of Robert Brooks has been through... Robert Brooks should be alive today. Every individual who enters a DOCCS facility deserves to be safe, and I am committed to continuing to do everything in my power to ensure our correctional facilities are fully reformed and safe for all." Context for the race: the Brooks killing preceded the 2025 wildcat correction officers' strike and the firings that NYSCOPBA cited this week in its first-ever statewide endorsement, for Blakeman (Sept. 17). No promise-tracker row covers DOCCS reform, so this is logged as news only.

Sep 17, 2026

1
New York PostTIER 2High

Correction officers' union NYSCOPBA endorses Blakeman 1,370-78, its first statewide endorsement ever, citing the 2025 prison strike firings and staffing crisis

NYSCOPBA president Chris Summers announced the membership vote (94.6% for Blakeman), the union's first endorsement in a statewide race. Grievances trace to the 22-day wildcat strike of Feb-Mar 2025, after which Hochul fired roughly 2,000 officers who defied a Taylor Law back-to-work order; National Guard troops remain in dozens of prisons at a cost reported above $1B. Blakeman has pledged to rehire the fired officers and repeal the HALT solitary-confinement law; the Taylor Law framework Hochul used makes the legal path to reinstatement unclear. The union also backed Republican Saritha Komatireddy for AG and Democrat Tom DiNapoli for comptroller. Adds to the intra-labor split: TWU opposed Hochul's AFL-CIO endorsement while building trades, firefighters and public-employee unions have lined up behind her.