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In the wake of Tuesday’s election results, New Yorkers casually began to wonder what a second Donald Trump presidency would mean for them. Then, on Wednesday, Governor Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James delivered a bizarre press conference in which they appeared to openly defy anything President Trump does regarding the Empire State before his transition team has even been set up. Hochul, in addition, may now scramble to implement congestion pricing before the end of the year. Former New York Governor David Paterson appeared on 710 WOR’s Len Berman and Michael Riedel in the Morning program to offer his opinion on what kind of relationship New York’s leaders could expect to have with Trump the second time around.
“I think it’s yet to be determined,” Paterson opined for Berman and Riedel. “It depends on how New York State’s electeds treat the President. So, for instance, with the MTA, it’s now a total mess. Trump has made it very clear he’s not for congestion pricing, Governor Hochul saying it’s still on pause. They’re going to have to get to a point where they agree, and probably he, because he has the bigger coffers, will dictate the terms there.”
Paterson added that James’ adversarial stance is particularly surprising, as it is virtually guaranteed to be seen as nothing more than spite. “Even if you feel that way, you shouldn’t say it, because the accusation that is always been made- and it’s been made more and more in the last few elections- is that people are being indicted or pursued by law enforcement, when in fact it’s a political reprisal. I mean, that’s the last thing you’d ever want to happen in this country. There are countries in South America, Venezuela in particular, where whoever has more guns rules the political world, and that is not the way government is supposed to be set up. So, you don’t even want to hint that you’re not finished prosecuting someone.”
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