Power & Politics: A Democratic primary for Greenburgh Town Supervisor

Power & Politics: Small businesses struggling in NYC; Timeline to close Rikers and open borough-based jails

Power & Politics: One-on-one with Sen. Cory Booker; Congressman Josh Gottheimer discusses latest resolution; AI data center protests continue

Power & Politics: One-on-one with University of New Haven president; Lawmakers talk affordability; End of legislative session

Gov. Hochul’s 2027 state budget agreement announcement sparks backlash

newyork

News 12 Staff

RTLIPowerPolitics05102026BBlock1130pm_2026-05-10-15-40-18

Welcome back. The race for governor is only heating up. There's a new Sienna poll that says Governor Kathy Hochel's favorability is falling, but her lead over Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman is up. The poll says Hochel's favorability is down 8 points in March, her lowest rating since June of last year. At the same time though, her lead over Blakeman edged up by 3 points in March. Siena researchers say 64% of voters have either never heard of Blakeman or don't have an opinion about him. Meanwhile, the county executive of Nassau is touting his relationship with the president as part of his campaign, and he did so after sitting down with President Trump at the White House. We talked about a lot of things important in New York. He's a New Yorker. He loves New York. We talked about economic development, cutting utility costs, and making for safer communities. Governor Kathy Hochle responded saying, quote, While Bruce Blakeman is at the White House begging for Trump's approval, he better demand that Trump refund New Yorkers the money they paid for his illegal tariffs. Joining us now is Associate Provost of Farmingdale State College, Christopher Malone and political consultant Mike Deitzak. Good to have you both here. Thanks for joining us. Thank you. Mike, I'll start with you on this. Um, let's start with Blakeman since he is the Long Islander. That's a large number, 60.60% points or more of New Yorkers who don't know anything about Bruce Blakeman. How does he fix that? Actually, that's good news. Um, as a consultant reading these numbers, I mean, the first thing you have to take into account is that Kathy Hochle is a 5-year incumbent, and she hasn't been over 50% in any poll. So, anytime an incumbent executive is under 50%, that is not good news. Um, yeah, and the other thing, because the bottom line is that A large number of the undecideds are going to break to the challenger. So this, and the fact that people don't know Blakeman and don't have an opinion of him, that means he can fill in that number and close the gap. So, you know, if you're a consultant for Cathy Hochle right now, and you're looking at these numbers, you're not very happy. Chris, why do you think the governor's numbers are falling? Well, I think part of it is the, uh, the budget debate right now. What are we, 56 weeks late on it? She's trying to wrap that up very quickly, Rich, as, as, as we know, um, and I think that to Mike's point, um, she's a known quantity vis a vis her opponent. I think it's a double-edged sword for Blakeman on the, on the other hand. Uh, the reality is that when nearly 2/3 of the electorate do not know you, it is an opportunity, but it's also the ability, it gives, uh, Hokel the ability to define him, which is what you're seeing with her trying to tie him to Trump at every, you know, at every turn. So, um, she, her, she has a lead. It is stable, but I, I think it's softer than the 15 points or so that that Sienna poll. Uh, showed and there is an opportunity for Blakeman, but, um, I think he has maybe 68 weeks to really define himself, otherwise, uh, Hochel and her campaign is gonna do it for him. So, Mike, the governor's campaign is, uh, actively tying Blakeman to President Trump. um, Blakeman certainly not running away from that. He visited the president this week at the White House. Does that help or hurt? It it right now, I mean, if you're gonna look at political strategy, you're gonna say, look, poll, Trump's poll numbers are at historic lows right now, uh, particularly among independents, which are the key voters, the swing voters who make the decision. So, um, you know, if you look at it politically, you'd say, well, why, why is he tying himself to to Donald Trump? Well, the bottom line is he's already tied to him. Um, there's no running away from that, um, you know, he's already declared his loyalty to the president and Um, so there's really no going away from, from that, um, uh, and he just, he has to make the message clear why he can do a better job as governor and Kathy Hochle can. Um, and right now, it's the Democrats who really have a messaging problem. Um, too many times in the past few years, they've tried to run against Donald Trump with the message, we're not him. Um, and that's clearly not enough. Um, and they, they clearly have a big messaging problem. And right now, uh, with what's going on with the whole budget crisis, especially this, you know, chief saying we have a deal, and then, you know, Hastings Cousins coming out and saying we don't have a deal, the last thing the Democrats need to look like right now is dysfunctional, and that is exactly what they look like. And then there's the issue, Chris of the governor working with Mayor Mamdani and Republicans tying her to the Democratic socialist mayor, especially again during this budget battle now what will New York City get as it tries to write its budget from Albany? What about that strategy from Republicans tying the governor to the mayor? Yeah, Rich, I've, I've been on your show before and I've always said that there are 4 people in this race, 2 are on the ballot and 2 aren't. Trump and Mamdani are sort of the polar opposites for each of the candidates, and, and Mamdani presents both, uh, again a challenge and an. Opportunity for for Hokel, um, look, 65%, 2/3 of Democrat registered Democrats live in New York City. She needs Mamdani. She needs him to, uh, get voters enthusiastic, especially Democrats, the base. But at the same time, um, he has pulled the Democratic Party to the left. He's pulled Hochel to the left, and so. Hochel is trying, I think, to, to take a page out of, you know, Bill Clinton's book 30 plus years ago of triangulation. She's trying to triangulate between a left-leaning New York City mayor, give him enough to, you know, keep his voters, his support there. At the same time, on the other side, she's trying to triangulate herself against the Trump wing of the Republican Party with Blakeman. So, um, she needs to get past this budget stuff, obviously. Uh, she'll get the Pierre tear tax that Mamdani wants, but at the same time, she, she wants to show that she's the pragmatic progressive or pragmatic center of these two extremes. All right, Christopher Malone, Mike Dwiziak, always good to have both of you on Power and Politics. Thanks for joining us. Thanks, Rich. Thank you. And still to come on the show, an East End town could limit its partnership with immigration enforcement, how the community there is reacting to that. And it is something not seen since before the pandemic. The new study that shows how many people are back in the office. Taxing Long Island is next.

https://vod.prod.alticeustech.com/transcode/883560ce-5218-4767-a812-f8b94bbbbcc0/883560ce-5218-4767-a812-f8b94bbbbcc0.transcribe

RTLIPowerPolitics05102026CBlock1130pm_2026-05-10-15-41-58

Welcome back. An East End community is speaking in support of a law that would ban local police from working with ICE. I'm so proud that we are speaking out against a private army. Uh That is not part of the police department. The law would also prevent East Hampton Town resources from being used in ICE actions without a warrant. Town police could still cooperate with ICE on criminal investigations. The East Hampton Town supervisor says the rise, the rise in ICE activity is affecting the quality of life. We have residents that are living in fear, and not only are they afraid to leave their home, but they're also afraid to call the police when they need it. We want to make sure that residents, everyone knows that this calling the police is a safe space. The state lawmakers are also now considering a similar ban. Long Island's vast deserts of empty office buildings may be a thing of the past. A new report finds that workers are returning to the office across Nassau and Suffolk, and that's having an impact well beyond your cubicle. A couple of years ago, it seemed like a foregone conclusion, the end of office work as we knew it. Tonight there is concern for Long Island's commercial real estate and businesses across the country, for that matter. According to Moody's Analytics, there's now more empty office spaces in the US than at any time since 1979. It's because more people are working from home. But fast forward to today, and a new report from global commercial real estate company Cushman and Wakefield says not so fast. Rob Cooper Smith is a Melville-based executive managing director with the company. We're at Really low vacancy right now, uh, probably one of the all-time lows right now. Um, we're seeing, uh, everybody return to office. Cushman and Wakefield's analysis of the current market on Long Island shows that office vacancies are down to 12.8%, below 13% for the first time in five years. Central Nassau is seeing the biggest spike in activity, highlighted by the international accounting firm Grassi's decision to lease 36,000 square feet of office space in Jericho. What does it mean to have people back in the office for communities, for surrounding businesses? I mean, we had deserts for a while of office buildings that were mostly vacant. It's a total trickle effect. It impacts the local delis, the nail salons, you name it. Everybody starts using places that are away from their home, and it just kind of makes a circle for everybody to start increasing not just your specific office you're working in, but the surrounding areas. Well, that's a good thing for both the economy and where I think we're headed. It's an interesting report. You can read the entire thing on our website right now, news12ve.com and the News 12 app as well. That's all the time we have. We'll see you right here next week for another edition of Power in Politics. I'm Rich Barrabe. Have a great rest of your day.

https://vod.prod.alticeustech.com/transcode/99ab26cd-0840-4810-b059-b0e1a0fb1150/99ab26cd-0840-4810-b059-b0e1a0fb1150.transcribe

Minority Leader of New York State Assembly Republican Ed Ra, Associate Provost of Farmingdale State College Chris Malone and Political Consultant Mike Dawidziak join the show this week.

More Stories

More from News 12

Power & Politics: A Democratic primary for Greenburgh Town Supervisor

Power & Politics: Small businesses struggling in NYC; Timeline to close Rikers and open borough-based jails

Power & Politics: One-on-one with Sen. Cory Booker; Congressman Josh Gottheimer discusses latest resolution; AI data center protests continue

Power & Politics: One-on-one with University of New Haven president; Lawmakers talk affordability; End of legislative session

Time’s almost up in Hartford. What’s still alive and what’s in limbo

Power & Politics: One-on-one with Executive Director of Mayor's Office for Child Care; Tax attorney breaks down pied-à-terre tax

Ad Choices

Privacy Policy

Terms of Service

Privacy Manager