Andrew Cuomo was a child of New York City, born and bred in the borough of Queens. Kathy Hochul is a Western New Yorker, from the Buffalo area.  It’s no surprise that these are two distinct and different parts of New York, with very different priorities. So, is Kathy Hochul prepared to tend to the needs of nearly nine million New York City residents? 

Suri Kasirer is a political consultant who has her finger on the pulse of the issues facing New Yorkers. She joined In Focus to talk about what she believes shows Hochul is entirely ready to take on city’s problems. 

She pointed to her reaching out to Mayor de Blasio and the odds-on favorite to take his place, Eric Adams, along with Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, who came very close to Hochul in the vote count for Lieutenant Governor. 

Of course, says Kasirer, COVID must be Hochul’s first priority, but she says she’s speaking to the right people to deal with the city’s other issues: affordable housing, gun violence and economic inequality.