NEW YORK — Gov. Kathy Hochul is “really looking forward” to working with Mayor Bill de Blasio, she said in a new interview, adding that her tenure would usher in a “whole new era of collaboration.”
In an interview that aired on MSNBC’s Morning Joe on Wednesday, Willie Geist asked Hochul whether she planned to introduce any COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
“What I don’t have is the ability to mandate vaccines, because the legislature did not confer on the governor at this time the executive powers necessary,” she responded. “So I can’t mandate that right now, but I also plan on working, I am working already, with everyone who’s involved [to] see if we can get to the same outcome.”
“And I believe that’s important. I really believe it’s important, and I admire what Mayor de Blasio did this week, and he talked to me beforehand, so it’s a whole new era of collaboration,” she said of the mayor’s announcement that all New York City public school faculty and staff members would have to get vaccinated.
“He told me in advance he was going to do this, wanted to make sure I understood, and I think that makes sense. We have to get people feeling safe about their schools,” she added. “I’m really looking forward to working with Mayor de Blasio. We’ve had strong conversations.”
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