(The Center Square) — A New York City transit union is attacking Gov. Kathy Hochul in a new pre-election ad campaign as “politically toxic” for vetoing a bill that sought to increase staffing on subway cars.
The Transport Workers Union of America, whose Local 100 represents about 40,000 New York City subway and bus workers, launched an ad campaign against the incumbent governor last week with a blistering attack alleging that fellow Democrats are avoiding Hochul ahead of the midterms.
“Governor Kathy Hochul is so radioactive, even Democratic candidates are running away from her,” a narrator says in the TV spot. “They’re increasingly recognizing that the governor is a disaster for working New Yorkers and a major drag on their own political campaigns.”
The ad campaign, first reported by the New York Post, comes in response to Hochul’s rejection last year of a union push to require subway trains to operate with at least two workers.
In December, Hochul vetoed a bill that would have required the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to make permanent a half-century-old law mandating two operators — a conductor and an engineer — on most subway trains.
At the time, the governor said the two-person cars were unnecessary and would siphon away taxpayer money for much-needed upgrades to the beleaguered public transit system. The move would have cost the state another $10 million a year, the governor said in her veto message.
Hochul’s move was backed by fiscal watchdog groups, which had pointed out in testimony on the legislation that one-person crews are the “global norm” used by most subway authorities across the world.
Unions representing transit workers criticized Hochul’s veto, saying that keeping two operators on a subway train poses safety and liability risks. They vowed to challenge the move, but a lawsuit never materialized.
The attack on Hochul is a reversal from the union’s previous position, which had backed her 2022 campaign for governor and has contributed nearly $175,000 to her campaign coffers over the years.
Hochul is seeking a third term amid a challenge from Republican Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, who has criticized her decision to veto legislation authorizing two-person operations on subways.
In a statement to media outlets, Hochul’s campaign defended the governor’s support for unions and pushed back against claims that her policies have created public safety risks to riders and workers.
“Governor Hochul comes from a union family and has always stood up for workers, created good-paying union jobs, and fought for better pay and working conditions – she’s proud to have earned the support of the more than thirty New York unions who can’t trust ‘100% MAGA’ Blakeman to protect their rights, safeguard their healthcare, or bring down their costs,” the statement said.
— Chris Wade, The Center Square contributor
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