Gov. Kathy Hochul said she congratulated President-elect Donald Trump on his re-election, pitched her federal priorities for New York, and signaled she was ready to move on from Democrats’ election losses.
“We had a fairly lengthy call. It was very productive,” Hochul, a Democrat, told reporters in San Juan, site of the post-election Somos Puerto Rico policy conference.
The phone call came Thursday, Hochul said, following Trump’s rout of Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democrat. He won by gaining in areas where Democrats have run strong, including in New York City.
Federal dollars for the MTA, Second Avenue subway project, Penn Station, the CHIPS and Science Act, and infrastructure projects were among federal priorities Hochul said she raised with Trump.
“I have said from day one, I want Penn Station to be something we’re all proud of. And I said it can be beautiful. And he agreed,” Hochul said. “You know, he agreed that these are important priorities and pledged to work with me on those.”
She added, “I basically just reaffirmed that there are areas we can work together … but I’m also going to stand up for protecting rights and things and … reproductive rights and other rights, and so, you know, it was a very cordial call.”
There was no immediate comment from the president-elect. In his first term, Trump’s Supreme Court picks helped end a national right to an abortion, and his 2024 campaign opposed rights protections for transgender people.
Trump also called for more tax cuts, which could limit federal funding for big-ticket infrastructure projects; opposed plans for congestion pricing, and promised to carry out the “mass deportation” of immigrants in the country without legal status, which policy experts say could harm New York's economy, as well as the nation's.
“I have a lot on my agenda and I want to make sure those get through,” Hochul said of her favored projects. “So, relationships go both ways and as a result of that call, I feel confident right now that what he said to me is that he’d like to have a cooperative relationship with New York will hold.”
