Gov. Kathy Hochul lets emergency COVID powers expire

Gov. Kathy Hochul said Monday she would not renew her emergency powers to manage the COVID-19 pandemic, noting availability of a new booster shot and coronavirus case numbers that are holding steady.

Hochul’s decision follows her moves to reduce a number of pandemic requirements, such as ending the mask mandate for subways and other mass transit.

The governor’s emergency powers were put in place by former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo in 2020 and renewed multiple times.

The executive order gave New York’s chief executive broad power to make quick decisions during the pandemic, but also generated criticism.

The latest extension of emergency powers was set to expire at midnight Monday.

“I will not be renewing them this time,” Hochul told reporters Monday. “Throughout the pandemic, this was an important tool for us to stand up mass vaccination sites, to secure the vaccines and testing kits that we desperately needed.”

Hochul, a Democrat, said New York was “in a different place now” regarding case numbers.

She said she waited until the start of the academic year before giving up emergency authority in case the return to classrooms triggered a spike in cases.

“And now we have a new booster shot as of a few days ago … so we’re feeling confident that we can suspend them,” Hochul said of her emergency powers.

The wide latitude for the governor’s office drew frequent criticism from Republicans, who argued emergency powers were extended well beyond the period when the pandemic was most dangerous.

They also noted it had allowed the governor to approve state contracts for things such as test kits and vaccines without competitive bidding.

“Gov. Kathy Hochul has finally decided to acknowledge formally what the majority of us have known for months: COVID-19 is no longer an emergency in New York state,” Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay (R-Pulaski) said in a statement Monday.

“Thanks to the continued pressure from Republicans, public pushback in nearly every sector of the state … the governor will no longer be able to skirt important checks and balances built into normal state operations through her emergency powers.”

By Yancey Roy

yancey.roy@newsday.com@yanceyroy