ALBANY — She’s playing it safe.

Gov. Kathy Hochul largely tap-danced around thorny election-year issues as she gave her 2026 “State of the State” address Tuesday afternoon, focusing instead on crowd-pleasing measures such as universal child care.

But while Hochul’s agenda on paper was framed around “affordability,” the governor in her speech couldn’t resist readopting her self-proclaimed leader of the “resistance” mantle by blaming President Trump and the federal government for New Yorkers’ woes.

Gov. Kathy Hochul delivering her “State of the State” address at the Capitol in Albany on Jan. 13, 2026. Angus Mordant for NY Post

Mayor Zohran Mamdani in attendance at the “State of the State” address. Angus Mordant for NY Post

“It’s all part of an agenda that only makes our lives harder,” she thundered. “But here’s the thing about New Yorkers: We don’t back down. We rise up.”

The 50-minute speech veered between video montages of Hochul’s past initiatives, attack lines against President and bizarre digressions, mostly centered around the governor’s beloved Buffalo Bills.

Hochul also perpetuated her habit of riding Mamdani’s coattails, notably by highlighting her $4.5 billion proposal to expand child care to 100,000 more kids across the state, including a “2-Care” program in New York City for 2-year-olds.

The marquee affordability measure partially fulfills a key campaign promise by Mamdani, who dutifully appeared in a video montage to crow he’s “working with Governor Hochul to make affordable, high-quality child care.”

After the speech, Mamdani stressed the “new force of cooperation” between the city and the state. 

Hochul’s speech highlighted the need for affordability in New York state — a topic Mamdani used to win City Hall. Angus Mordant for NY Post

But he implicitly noted Hochul didn’t propose new taxes on the wealthy to pay for the plan as the Democratic socialist mayor wanted.

“I look forward to making the case directly to our partners in Albany as to what our city needs to not only be able to operate sustainably, but also to fulfill an agenda to keep people second,” he said.

The governor also kept silent on Mamdani’s pushes for free buses and city-owned grocery stores, noted pollster Bradley Honan said.

“Is there going to be a brewing fight between the two of them?” the pollster, who runs the Honan Group. “The left is expecting much more than she gave them in that speech.”

Gov. Kathy Hochul’s agenda includes “affordability” measures that dovetail with Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s policies. Gabriella Bass for NY Post

The speech is Hochul’s fifth “State of the State” speech as governor — and will kick off a year in which the Democrat hopes to win re-election against a Republican Party eager to reclaim the Executive Mansion for the first time in two decades.

Hochul spent much of her speech lambasting Trump and Republicans, throwing red meat to a blue-state electorate.

She ripped the Minneapolis ICE shooting as she pivoted to “rise up” against Trump’s hardline immigration crackdown after previously toeing the line of going after criminal migrants.

“Just last week, the world watched his immigration operation in Minneapolis, that never should have been there, left a child without a mother and a community, and indeed, a nation shattered,” Hochul said.

Hochul encouraged New York to “rise up” against President Trump immigration crackdown. Angus Mordant for NY Post

“It’s all part of an agenda that only makes our lives harder. But here’s the thing about New Yorkers: We don’t back down. We rise up.”

The crowd gave Hochul a raucous standing ovation as she attacked ICE. She seemed to flirt with supporting the proposed “NY4All” law that’d extend sanctuary protections statewide, but didn’t go all the way.

“New York will not allow the use of state resources to assist in federal immigration raids on people who have not committed serious crimes, not doing it,” she said.

“Let me be clear. Public safety will always come first, but it must be pursued lawfully and with humanity. We will not allow masked ICE agents to storm our schools, our daycare centers, our hospitals, our houses of worship with civil immigration raids unless they have a judicial warrant.”

Hochul did propose a law making it easier for New Yorkers to sue federal immigration authorities over alleged civil rights violations.

“Power does not justify abuse,” she said.

While the governor largely avoided hot-button public safety issues, she did take time in her speech to boast about gains against crime.

“Our communities are safer than they’ve been in years,” she said.

Hochul did follow through on a $77 million promise to fund a surge of NYPD officers in the city’s subway system.

And she also supported a proposed law creating protest “buffer zones” around houses of worship after anti-Israel demonstrators stoked outrage by targeting synagogues.

Protesters just week led pro-Hamas chants outside a synagogue in Kew Gardens Hills, Hochul pointed out, calling it “harassment.”

Hochul spoke out against a recent protest featuring pro-Hamas chants outside of a synagogue in Queens last week. Angus Mordant for NY Post

“Targeting a Jewish community this way is antisemitism,” she said. “That’s why I’m proposing a ban on these protests. Now, I’ll respect people’s right to protest any day of the week, but not within 25 feet of the property line at houses of worship.”

Hochul’s lines about respecting the right to worship in peace drew applause, but Mamdani notably did not clap.

The fine, election-year line Hochul toed during the speech was evident in her careful pitch for overhauling the state’s environmental review process for development, a bid to speed up green energy and housing projects.

Hochul largely played it safe with her 2026 agenda as she faces re-election. rfaraino

While the effort is enthusiastically cheered by the Empire State’s business community, Hochul seemed to avoid roiling suburban communities that cling to the regulations as a way to block what they may consider pesky development.

“We’re going to keep changing the culture around building,” Hochul said.

“Everybody agrees we need affordable housing, clean energy, critical infrastructure can spend years trapped in red tape, pushing up the costs and pushing opportunity further and further out of reach. So this year, we’re taking a hard look at the environmental review processes that have not been updated in half a century. Right now, they slow down the very projects that help us fight climate change, create housing and strengthen our communities.”

At least one affordability proposal in Hochul’s agenda directly cribbed from Trump: a call to end income taxes on tips up to $25,000. She didn’t mention it in her speech.

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“This proposal will deliver meaningful relief to tipped workers, strengthening their economic security and better valuing their contributions to our economy,” the agenda states.

Republicans quickly panned Hochul’s address.

“It’s the same talk, different year,” state Sen. Steve Chan (R-Brooklyn) said in a pre-taped rebuttal address released shortly after Hochul’s speech.

“This is not a crime wave, it’s a wave of bad policies. Let the cops do their jobs. Look around, crime is rampant… We should lock up the thieves, guys, not the toothpaste. The only words for all of this is madness, anarchy.”

The lefty coalition Invest In Our New York, which includes the Democratic Socialists of America, also slammed Hochul for not pushing to tax the rich.

“Instead of actually addressing New York’s affordability crisis and the attacks coming from Washington, Governor Hochul boasted that she won’t raise taxes on the rich, effectively leaving working-class New Yorkers behind,” the statement from the group read. “Without new, robust, and consistent public funds, New Yorkers will suffer.”