ALBANY \u2014 She\u2019s playing it safe.<\/p>\n
Gov. Kathy Hochul largely tap-danced around thorny election-year issues as she gave her 2026 \u201cState of the State\u201d address <\/a>Tuesday afternoon, focusing instead on crowd-pleasing measures such as universal child care.<\/p>\n But while Hochul\u2019s agenda on paper was framed around \u201caffordability,\u201d the governor in her speech couldn\u2019t resist readopting her self-proclaimed leader of the \u201cresistance\u201d<\/a> mantle by blaming President Trump and the federal government for New Yorkers\u2019 woes.<\/p>\n Gov. Kathy Hochul delivering her \u201cState of the State\u201d address at the Capitol in Albany on Jan. 13, 2026. Angus Mordant for NY Post<\/p>\n Mayor Zohran Mamdani in attendance at the \u201cState of the State\u201d address. Angus Mordant for NY Post<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s all part of an agenda that only makes our lives harder,\u201d she thundered. \u201cBut here\u2019s the thing about New Yorkers: We don\u2019t back down. We rise up.\u201d<\/p>\n The 50-minute speech veered between video montages of Hochul\u2019s past initiatives, attack lines against President and bizarre digressions, mostly centered around the governor\u2019s beloved Buffalo Bills.<\/p>\n Hochul also perpetuated her habit of riding Mamdani\u2019s coattails, notably by highlighting her $4.5 billion proposal to expand child care to 100,000 more kids across the state, including a \u201c2-Care\u201d program in New York City for 2-year-olds.<\/p>\n The marquee affordability measure partially fulfills a key campaign promise by Mamdani, who dutifully appeared in a video montage to crow he\u2019s \u201cworking with Governor Hochul to make affordable, high-quality child care.\u201d<\/p>\n After the speech, Mamdani stressed the \u201cnew force of cooperation\u201d between the city and the state.\u00a0<\/p>\n Hochul\u2019s speech highlighted the need for affordability in New York state \u2014 a topic Mamdani used to win City Hall. Angus Mordant for NY Post<\/p>\n But he implicitly noted Hochul didn\u2019t propose new taxes on the wealthy<\/a> to pay for the plan as the Democratic socialist mayor wanted.<\/p>\n \u201cI 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,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The governor also kept silent on Mamdani\u2019s pushes for free buses and city-owned grocery stores, noted pollster Bradley Honan said.<\/p>\n \u201cIs there going to be a brewing fight between the two of them?\u201d the pollster, who runs the Honan Group. \u201cThe left is expecting much more than she gave them in that speech.\u201d<\/p>\n Gov. Kathy Hochul\u2019s agenda includes \u201caffordability\u201d measures that dovetail with Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u2019s policies. Gabriella Bass for NY Post<\/p>\n The speech is Hochul\u2019s fifth \u201cState of the State\u201d speech as governor \u2014 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<\/a> for the first time in two decades.<\/p>\n Hochul spent much of her speech lambasting Trump and Republicans, throwing red meat to a blue-state electorate.<\/p>\n She ripped the Minneapolis ICE shooting as she pivoted to \u201crise up\u201d against Trump\u2019s hardline immigration crackdown after previously toeing the line of going after criminal migrants.<\/p>\n \u201cJust 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,\u201d Hochul said.<\/p>\n Hochul encouraged New York to \u201crise up\u201d against President Trump immigration crackdown. Angus Mordant for NY Post<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s all part of an agenda that only makes our lives harder. But here\u2019s the thing about New Yorkers: We don\u2019t back down. We rise up.\u201d<\/p>\n The crowd gave Hochul a raucous standing ovation as she attacked ICE. She seemed to flirt with supporting the proposed \u201cNY4All\u201d law that\u2019d extend sanctuary protections statewide, but didn\u2019t go all the way.<\/p>\n \u201cNew 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,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cLet 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Hochul did propose a law making it easier for New Yorkers to sue federal immigration authorities over alleged civil rights violations.<\/p>\n \u201cPower does not justify abuse,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n While the governor largely avoided hot-button public safety issues, she did take time in her speech to boast about gains against crime.<\/p>\n \u201cOur communities are safer than they\u2019ve been in years,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Hochul did follow through on a $77 million promise to fund a surge of NYPD officers in the city\u2019s subway system.<\/p>\n And she also supported a proposed law creating protest \u201cbuffer zones\u201d around houses of worship after anti-Israel demonstrators stoked outrage by targeting synagogues.<\/p>\n