Kathy Hochul becomes first female governor of New York state

Kathy Hochul became the first female governor of New York on Tuesday, and outlined her goals for combating deadly COVID-19 pandemic.

The 62-year-old said she wants to impose vaccines for all educational workers in the state, with the option to test out weekly. 

"Your priorities are my priorities and right now that means fighting the delta variant, none of us want a re-run of last year's horrors with COVID-19," she said.

Hochul said she will lead a "dramatic transformation in culture, with responsibility and no tolerance for people who cross the line" in her first speech to New Yorkers since being sworn in as the state's 57th governor.

Elevated from the relative obscurity as lieutenant governor to the post of prominent position of New York’s 57th governor at the stroke of midnight, Hochul said she wants to revive faith in government after a ceremonial swearing-in on Tuesday morning.  

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The New York’s new governor said, “I want people to believe in our government again. It’s important to me that people have faith – our strength comes from the faith and the confidence of the people who put us into these offices and I take that very seriously.”  

Hochul also talked about “changing the culture of Albany. I’m looking forward to a fresh collaborative approach – that’s how I’ve always conducted myself, it’s nothing new to me, but it’s something I’ll be introducing to the state Capitol.”  

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Without mentioning the predecessor Andrew Cuomo’s name, she criticised the leader in her remarks.  

Cuomo was the governor of the state for a decade until he was brought down by a devastating report from the state attorney general based on sexual harassment accusations from 11 women. 

(With inputs from agencies)