Interview With Kathy Hochul: ‘I Feel a Heavy Weight of Responsibility’

Ms. Hochul sat down with The New York Times for her first one-on-one interview after becoming New York’s first female governor.

ALBANY, N.Y. — Governor Kathy C. Hochul, the first woman in history to lead New York, took the helm this week under extraordinary circumstances, as she replaced a disgraced governor and moved to confront staggering public health, educational and economic challenges across the state. Minutes after sketching out her vision in her initial address as governor on Tuesday, Ms. Hochul — a Western New York Democrat — sat down with The New York Times at the State Capitol. In a wide-ranging interview, the relatively little-known executive discussed her governing philosophy and her plans for the state, her political leanings (“I’m a Biden Democrat”) and her ambitions for her new team (she has decided on her lieutenant governor, she said). And she offered some of her most extensive remarks to date about how she contrasts with Andrew M. Cuomo, whom she replaced in office following his resignation.