A Civic Pulse publication
The accountability feed

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.

5 items

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 1, 2026

1
syracuse.com / The Post-Standard (via TNS)TIER 2

Blakeman pledges to lift fracking ban and attacks Hochul's data-center moratorium in Central NY swing

Backfill: coverage of Blakeman's Jul 18 Central NY swing (Van Buren, Onondaga County) finally surfaced via syracuse.com (published Jul 20, syndicated via TNS). Blakeman said data centers "could bring jobs and lower energy costs" if developers build their own power generation and water recirculation systems, and attacked Hochul's statewide data-center moratorium: "Waving the white flag, as Kathy Hochul has done, is the reason why we're No. 50 in economic outlook in the whole United States of America." He also pledged to lift New York's hydraulic-fracturing ban, called the state's clean-energy policies a "green energy scam," and said Trump told him to "drill, baby, drill." Campaigned alongside LG candidate Todd Hood and NY-22 challenger Kailee Buller. This is the first on-record Blakeman counter-position to EO 62 and the first explicit fracking-ban repeal pledge of the campaign.

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 19, 2026

1
CBS News / Face the NationTIER 1High

On Face the Nation, Hochul defends one-year data-center ban — "in a very short time, I changed my position" — and says feds are "dismantling" election security

In a July 19 national interview, Hochul gave her fullest defense yet of EO 62's one-year large-scale data-center moratorium, acknowledging she reversed her earlier localities-decide stance ("in a very short time, I changed my position") after concluding towns lacked negotiating clout against 30+ applicants; she said seven agencies will set rules on grid contributions, water use and tax breaks, and dismissed the White House Ratepayer Protection Pledge as unenforceable. She also said the federal government is "dismantling" election-security protections, cited her new law barring ICE agents from polling places, and voiced confidence in World Cup final security after 1,000+ preparation exercises. Rush transcript also posted at governor.ny.gov.

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.