We here at The Messenger usually like to take what we can get. However, living under Albany’s rule has much left to be desired for quite some time, but another mostly unproductive year as the state continues to fall apart truly takes the cake.
Although not quite as abysmal as last year, this year still showed that Albany Democrats are leaving regular New Yorkers behind in their quest for pathological altruism and progressive myopia. No movement on the disastrous bail reform laws, no changes to the laws for fentanyl victims and their families, and no immigration reform by ending sanctuary state and city statuses.
Instead, we survived the New York 2024 legislative year and all we got was a bloated budget, gutted school district funding, $2.4 billion for illegal immigrants, and a comment from Governor Hochul (D) that black kids in the Bronx “don’t know what the word ‘computer’ is.”
Oh, and we got this lousy t-shirt.
The indefinite postponement of the MTA congestion pricing in NYC is nothing more than an election year ploy to appeal to working-class New Yorkers who make up the backbone of this state and this country. However, Hochul has earned the ire of many city residents and commuters by denying the already cash-strapped MTA (as if it’s not their own fault to begin with) additional revenue. We’ll label that one as a wash.
Perhaps the most egregious comment from Hochul we’ve heard this year, besides the “computer” comment, is that she effectively blamed Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney (R) for the premature release of the suspects in the Babylon dismemberment case back in April. She suggested that Tierney should have “done his job” in securing bail for the suspects. Hochul is not even aware of the bail law changes that were made when she was lieutenant governor, nor is she aware of how processing charges and conducting a criminal investigation work. Insulting one of the hardest-working prosecutors in the country who has more than earned his merit in just over two years in office is something that should have warranted advice of restraint from her colleagues.
The Messenger thanks our Republican legislators for their steadfastness in maximizing their influence in state government and enduring unenviable headwinds in Albany.
