Kathy Hochul

Built World

Declared state of emergency for 22+ counties, activated National Guard; warned 'the worst is yet to come'

A historic nor'easter that developed into a bomb cyclone on February 22-23, 2026, buried the Interstate 95 corridor from Philadelphia to Boston under one to two feet of heavy, wet snow, with final totals exceeding 2 feet in parts of New Jersey (30.7 inches in Lyndhurst) and 19 inches in New York City on February 24. Wind gusts reached 70 mph, snowfall rates hit 2-3 inches per hour, and coastal flooding impacted 80 to 100 million people across the Mid-Atlantic to New England.

Updated Feb 24

Rule Changes

Signed S1353 into law with amendments

For decades, abusers have weaponized debt against their victims—opening credit cards in partners' names, forcing them to sign loan documents under threat, running up charges they never agreed to. Even after escaping the relationship, survivors remained legally responsible for debts they never chose to incur. Starting February 16, 2026, New York joins seven other states in giving survivors a way out: creditors can no longer collect debts incurred through fraud, duress, or coercion, and survivors can dispute these debts with legal protection.

Updated Feb 16

Rule Changes

Part of four-state coalition challenging offshore wind pause

On December 22, 2025, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum paused every major offshore wind farm under construction off the East Coast. Vineyard Wind, Revolution Wind, Sunrise Wind, Empire Wind, and Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind—representing $28 billion in investment and enough power for millions of homes—all stopped work on orders from Washington citing radar interference and national security risks near military installations.

Updated Feb 10

Built World

Leading state oversight of JFK transformation

JFK's original terminals opened in the 1960s as architectural showpieces—each airline building its own statement. Sixty years later, most of that infrastructure has become obsolete. New York is now replacing it with two massive new terminals, redesigned roadways, and modernized transit connections in what has become the largest airport project in the United States.

Updated Feb 10

Force in Play

Facing criticism from striking nurses for not intervening; has not visited picket lines

Nearly 15,000 nurses walked off the job at Mount Sinai, Montefiore, and NewYork-Presbyterian on January 12, 2026—the largest nurses' strike in New York City history. The walkout came three years after nurses at two of those same hospital systems won enforceable staffing ratios through a three-day strike. Now the hospitals want to roll those standards back, while also seeking to cut nurses' healthcare benefits.

Updated Feb 5

Rule Changes

Announced New York as largest state with bell-to-bell smartphone restrictions

January 2026 accelerated the school cellphone crackdown beyond the four-state January 1st rollout. Within the first three weeks, New Jersey signed a statewide ban (effective 2026-27 school year), Michigan passed legislation through both chambers targeting fall 2026 implementation, and Kansas introduced bipartisan Senate Bill 302 with support from 30 senators. The tally now stands at 37 states plus Washington D.C. with restrictions—up from 35+ just weeks earlier. What started as France's 2018 experiment has become America's fastest education policy shift in a generation, with implementation now reaching critical mass.

Updated Jan 30

Force in Play

Ordered emergency closure of live bird markets

A bird virus jumped the species barrier. In March 2024, H5N1 avian influenza appeared in U.S. dairy cattle for the first time in history—an unexpected leap that's infected over 1,000 herds across 17 states and 70 humans. One person has died. When New York inspectors found the virus in seven live poultry markets in Queens, the Bronx, and Brooklyn on February 7, 2025, Governor Kathy Hochul shuttered all 82 markets across the city and surrounding counties for emergency disinfection.

Updated Jan 7

Built World

Declared state of emergency for more than half of NY counties

Central Park got 4.3 inches of snow on December 27—the most since January 2022. But the chaos didn't end when the snow stopped. Over 4,400 flights were canceled across the weekend, with JFK, Newark, and LaGuardia accounting for half the nationwide disruptions. On Sunday alone, another 700 cancellations and 8,000 delays rippled through the system as airlines struggled to reposition aircraft and crews during one of the busiest travel weekends of the year.

Updated Dec 28, 2025

Rule Changes

Signed the RAISE Act; implementation now shifts to state agencies

New York just told the biggest AI labs: if something goes seriously wrong, you don’t get to bury it. Under the RAISE Act, large “frontier AI” developers must publish a safety approach and report “critical harm” incidents to the state within 72 hours after determining one occurred—backed by civil penalties capped at $1M for a first violation and $3M for later violations, far below the bill’s earlier (June) penalty structure cited in subsequent reporting.

Updated Dec 21, 2025