Reaching a state budget deal with lawmakers was supposed to be the hardest part of the year. Gov. Kathy Hochul could barely bask in the passage of her $220 billion budget after an additional six days of closed-door negotiations with legislative leaders and a marathon weekend of votes, when her lieutenant governor was arrested for receiving illegal campaign contributions and the worst subway shooting in the past 40 years occurred on the same day.
Hochul warned New Yorkers on April 12 about an “active shooter situation” with a suspect still at large and lamented the rise in subway violence that could imperil commuters’ return to their offices. Hours later, she accepted Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin’s resignation, writing in a statement, “it is clear to both of us that he cannot continue to serve as lieutenant governor.”
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