Editorial Roundup: New York

August 18, 2022 Associated Press

New York State Gov. Kathy Hochul. Photo: John Minchillo/AP

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From the New York Post. August 17, 2022.

Gov. Hochul, end your pointless, pay-to-play COVID ‘emergency’ order

Gov. Kathy Hochul just reupped her eternally extended COVID “emergency,” though any actual emergency ended months ago at the latest.

So her order’s main impact is to feed lingering hysteria — and to let her end-run state rules to the benefit of some big Hochul donors.

The order, dating to the Omicron surge of late 2021, suspends competitive bidding for some state contracts as well as the state Comptroller’s Office’s review before payments go out.

This let medical device exec Charlie Tebele — whose family donated nearly $300,000 to Hochul’s campaign — grab state business worth a mind-boggling $637 million for rapid tests.

Meanwhile, the coronavirus has long since become nothing more than a background health threat to almost everyone in New York: In a state of 20 million people, deaths with COVID (not necessarily because of it) have been 20 or less a day since March; the daily hospital population with the bug has been under 2,500 since late February.

There’s no possible remaining public health justification for Hochul’s “emergency”: She either doesn’t want to let go of her (profitable) added power, or she’s afraid to admit the obvious.

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From the Jamestown Post-Journal. August 15, 2022.

Zeldin For Governor Campaign Must Come Clean About Copied Signatures

Sen. Zellnor Myrie, D-Brooklyn, wants to know who in the Zeldin for Governor campaign tried to pull a fast one to gain another line on November’s election ballot.

We do too. So should every Republican interested in voting for Rep. Lee Zeldin in the November election for governor.

Zeldin is asking for the public’s trust in his bid for governor. Trust is an important thing given New York’s history with governors. Eliot Spitzer was run out of office after a prostitution scandal. Andrew Cuomo ended up having his own sexual and ethical indiscretions before resigning. Gov. Kathy Hochul is starting to show some of her own warts, starting with nominating someone under federal investigation to be her first lieutenant governor.

Now, it appears, the Zeldin campaign is tarnishing its image by allegedly photocopying some 11,000 voter signatures in an attempt to revitalize the defunct Independence Party line on the ballot. Some of those signatures came from Chautauqua County residents, though County Clerk Larry Barmore, who circulated those petitions, said nothing illegal was done here.

Something illegal was done somewhere, then. And before voters give their support to Zeldin, his campaign needs to come clean.

This isn’t just about election gamesmanship. This is about trust — and the Zeldin campaign can build some trust by coming clean about the photocopied petitions.