Hochul, Zeldin in last-minute campaign blitz ahead of Election Day
NEW YORK -- Kathy Hochul and Lee Zeldin are trying to galvanize supporters and are making the final arguments they hope will make them permanent residents of the executive mansion in Albany.
As CBS2's Marcia Kramer reported Monday, Hochul made her final push on the Upper West Side and Harlem, while Zeldin was at a subway stop in the Bronx where a man was stabbed in the neck Sunday.
For both gubernatorial candidates, crime was on the menu. The unanswered question is whether voters will choose from "column A," or "column B."
"This morning, a man was stabbed in the chest at the 111th Street station in South Richmond Hill in Queens, a 25-year-old was slashed in the face at the Cypress Hills station in Brooklyn, a 54-year-old man was stabbed in the arm at the 149th Street Grand Concourse station in the Bronx. That was this morning, OK?" Zeldin said.
In the Soundview section of the Bronx, Zeldin talked about crime and overall public safety, especially on the subways. He spoke at the Morrison Avenue Station on the number 6 train, where a man was stabbed in the neck Sunday morning. He used this time to throw jabs at former President Bill Clinton, who he says joked and laughed about skyrocketing subway crime in the city at a recent Hochul event.
"After that, he then starts mocking us focused on the need to fight crime," Zeldin said. "The issue that I hear about a lot from New Yorkers is that they care about wanting to be able to feel safer on the streets."
Hochul fired back Monday morning on the Upper West Side, where she also spoke about crime. She called the accusations "absurd" and a fearmongering tactic by the congressman.
"He's hyperventilating trying to scare people and New Yorkers are on to it," Hochul said. "I'm working on a real solution. The solution is the state for the first time is deploying state officers into the subways. We have cameras on the trains, we are helping people with severe mental health problems."
Zeldin is making his final push for voters in the increasingly tight New York governor's race. Zeldin insisting that crime is out of control, and that in her time in office, Hochul has not been able to stop it. He says he will and that he will work hand in hand with Mayor Eric Adams to make the streets safe again.
"The way that I'm wired is that when I wake up the day after the election... I'm going to pick up the phone and call Mayor Adams, and I'm going to tell Mayor Adams I want to work with him to find common ground wherever possible to be able to save the Big Apple," Zeldin said.
Zeldin's embrace of Adams is an important part of the dynamic of the governor's race, because although the Democratic mayor has endorsed Hochul. The crime initiatives he has sought from Albany are the very things Zeldin has been calling for in the campaign.
"I understand the fear is out there, but fanning the flames of fear to get people terrified is another story," Hochul said.
Hochul slammed Zeldin for rushing to the scene of every kind, pointing out repeatedly that she had her first press conference with Adams on subway crime six days after he took office.
"I've been working hard on this. We're not done yet. We're not done yet at all. We're intensely focused on this. It's not just a campaign thing. Check out my state of the state address on Jan. 5. I talked about people's anxiety, fear about crime," Hochul said.
As she pressed the flesh and sought votes, Hochul also talked about what she's done.
"The state, for the first time, putting officers into the subways. We have cameras on the trains. We're helping people with severe mental health problems to get them off the trains," Hochul said.
The back and forth comes after a busy weekend for the two candidates, making their presence known in various communities in New York City and upstate, not wanting to cut any corners in the race to the finish line.
"It's my 14th election. My family is here. My daughter, who is in her 30s, has been doing this since she was just 4 years old. So, this is what we do. You peak on Election Day. That's all that matters," Hochul said.
So what does each candidate need to achieve in order to win on Tuesday?
"The challenges for both candidates are very clear. She's gotta turn out African-American voters in New York City in big numbers. She's gotta hope women turn out as well. And Zeldin, he's gotta fight for his share of Westchester and win Long Island overwhelmingly," political strategist Hank Sheinkopf told CBS2's Dick Brennan.
The city Board of Elections says that more than 430,000 voted during the early voting period, which ended Sunday night. The biggest numbers were from Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Polls open Tuesday at 6 a.m.
