![\"Hochul](\"https:\/\/news2.watchtowatch.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Screenshot_4-8-1.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The wheels are coming off the socialist bus.<\/p>\n
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is tapping the brakes on Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani\u2019s $700 million plan for free city buses, casting early doubt on one of the far-left lawmaker\u2019s biggest campaign promises, The New York Post\u00a0reported.<\/p>\n
Speaking at the SOMOS political retreat in Puerto Rico on Saturday, Hochul said she\u2019s already spent heavily to support the city\u2019s struggling MTA and questioned how much further the state could go.<\/p>\n
\u201cI continue to be excited at the work of making the slowest buses in America fast and free,\u201d Mamdani said Monday during an unrelated press conference. \u201cAnd I appreciate the governor\u2019s continued partnership in delivering on that agenda of affordability.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Hochul\u2019s comments in San Juan marked the latest break between the moderate Democratic governor and Mamdani, the Democratic socialist she endorsed just two months ago.<\/p>\n
Hochul happily rode Mamdani\u2019s coattails during the campaign as he energized progressives with promises of affordability and social programs, but she has shown far less enthusiasm for actually paying for them.<\/p>\n
The governor has rejected several of Mamdani\u2019s cornerstone ideas, including proposals to raise taxes on wealthy New Yorkers to fund $10 billion in new benefits like free child care and fareless transit<\/p>\n
Her caution could create a serious roadblock for the incoming mayor, whose ambitious plans rely on support from Albany to move forward.<\/p>\n
The top two Democratic leaders in the state Legislature \u2014 Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins \u2014 have signaled more willingness to help Mamdani pursue his agenda.<\/p>\n
That divide leaves Hochul increasingly isolated from the party\u2019s energized left flank, which has been openly pressuring her to embrace higher taxes on the rich.<\/p>\n
During recent public appearances, activists have twice interrupted the governor with chants of \u201cTax the rich,\u201d drawing a sharp rebuke.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe more you push me, the more I\u2019m not going to do what you want,\u201d Hochul told the SOMOS crowd in response.<\/p>\n
Still, Hochul did not fully reject Mamdani\u2019s wish list.<\/p>\n
She said she\u2019s open to working with him on expanding free child care, though she made clear it would be an expensive and long-term goal.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll be on a path to get there, because I\u2019m committed to this as \u2018mom governor\u2019 \u2014 I get it,\u201d Hochul said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut also to do it statewide, right now, it\u2019s about $15 billion \u2014 the entire amount of my reserves.\u201d<\/p>\n
The cautious tone was a reality check for Mamdani, who has portrayed himself as the champion of \u201ceveryday New Yorkers\u201d and promised to make the city more affordable through massive new public spending.<\/p>\n
Hochul\u2019s remarks also came as she continues her own political maneuvering ahead of a likely 2026 re-election bid.<\/p>\n
After the SOMOS conference, she flew to the Dominican Republic to attend a breakfast celebrating cross-cultural exchange \u2014 an event seen as an appeal to one of New York\u2019s largest and most influential immigrant voting blocs.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers trace family roots to the Dominican Republic, making the outreach a politically savvy move for a governor seeking to rebuild her base while keeping the party\u2019s left wing at arm\u2019s length.<\/p>\n
Whether Hochul and Mamdani can maintain their uneasy alliance may determine not only the future of free buses and child care, but also the balance of power within the New York Democratic Party.<\/p>\n
Kash Patel, now serving as FBI Director under President Donald Trump\u2019s second term, is pulling no punches.<\/p>\n
Patel is making waves with explosive claims that the 2022 FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago was a politically motivated hit job tied to the failed RussiaGate narrative.<\/p>\n
In an interview with the New York Sun, Director Patel declared, \u201cThe FBI\u2019s invasion of Mar-a-Lago was illegal. We are going to hold people accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n
The statement echoes what millions of Trump supporters have long believed: that the raid on the president\u2019s private residence was not about national security but about neutralizing a political opponent.<\/p>\n
Patel, a key figure in dismantling the RussiaGate hoax, called the raid \u201ca continuation of a weaponized justice system.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also emphasized that there was \u201cno predicate\u201d for the raid, citing a lack of constitutional authority. \u201cThis was lawfare, not law enforcement,\u201d he told Fox Business.<\/p>\n
The raid, which occurred under Joe Biden\u2019s watch, has drawn intense scrutiny. Conservatives argue that the DOJ never showed the same vigor when investigating Democrats.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s clear that two sets of rules exist\u2014one for Trump, and another for everyone else,\u201d Patel said.