Hochul touts budget fixing potholes, colleges at Hempstead park

Some might say it’s been a bumpy road of late for Kathy Hochul, with some of the ongoing turmoil inside her leadership team. But it was a different kind of bumpy road on the governor’s mind last week when she stopped by Kennedy Memorial Park in Hempstead.

More specifically, pothole-laden roads.

“I’ve been to Long Island many times, and everybody always complains about the potholes,” Hochul said. “Nobody has hit more potholes in the state of New York than I have because I’ve traveled 372,000 miles — not by plane. All by road.”

The potholes on Long Island always give Hochul the biggest welcome, she said, “because they’re enormous.”

That should change with the implementation of her $1 billion “Operation Pave Our Potholes” program, intended to resurface 480 lane miles of state highways, including key sections of the Long Island Expressway, Southern State Parkway and the Meadowbrook State Parkway.

And as motorists wait for local roads to get smoother, Hochul officially declared an easier time on their wallets, too, as Albany joins Nassau and Suffolk counties to suspend the sales tax on gasoline beginning June 1 and continuing on until the end of the year.

“How about those gas prices?” Hochul asked.

“My God, we couldn’t have (foreseen) this, but the invasion by Putin into Ukraine had a ripple effect around the globe and the economy. It’s hard for families just trying to get to their kids’ soccer game or take a family vacation, so we decided we can do a short-term fix.”

The state tax break would remove the 16 cents per gallon levy New York places on gas, joining the nickel per gallon Nassau County suspended on any gas price over $3. A gallon of regular gas on Long Island averaged $4.14 this past weekend, according to AAA, down 17 cents from a month ago.

Still, gas is up 43 percent from last year when a gallon of regular went for just under $2.90.

Hochul also promised improvements for commuters, including the completion of the Long Island Rail Road’s third track of the east side access project leading from Grand Central Terminal, and the launch of the second phase of the $700 million Ronkonkoma Hub project.

“We’re changing infrastructure — it’s not just about roads,” Hochul said. “This is an opportunity to lift people’s spirits and give a sense that our commuters matter. We can do dull dishwater infrastructure, or we can do something that matters and make a statement. And this is that opportunity.”

The state also will commit $500 million for the development of an offshore wind port infrastructure and supply chain, Hochul said, expected to bring in more than $2 billion in economic activity and more than 2,000 green jobs.

“We’re going to turn the corner on mankind’s assault on Mother Nature,” Hochul said. “It has to end, and it’s going to end on our watch. What we did to build back our state is going to be part of our post-pandemic legacy.”

On the education front, $500 million is earmarked for SUNY and CUNY campuses — schools Hochul said transforms families, including her own.

“My parents, at one time, lived in a trailer park, and my dad worked at a steel plant,” the governor said.

“What got them out of those circumstances was my dad getting a college degree while working at the steel plant. That degree allowed him to do something different with his life instead of just working with his hands making steel.”

Additionally, $50 million will support a partnership between Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and Stony Brook University to create an artificial intelligence lab. Part-time students also will be eligible for the state’s Tuition Assistance Program, and Albany will allocate $7 billion to ensure child care is available on all SUNY and CUNY campuses.