Testy pols on test kits

Daily Point

GOP senators gripe about Hochul's COVID test kits

In recent days, Gov. Kathy Hochul has sent out large boxes full of thousands of at-home COVID-19 tests to state senators and Assembly members, giving them the opportunity to distribute them to area residents.

Sounds like an easy win for everyone, right?

For some electeds, it was. State Sen. Anna Kaplan posted to social media, offering the tests to constituents who stopped by her Carle Place office on a “first-come, first-served basis.” State Sen. Kevin Thomas took a different tack, offering boxes of the tests to local community groups.

But for some lawmakers, even COVID-19 test distribution is worthy of some finger-pointing and complaining.

“For a second time this year a ridiculous quantity of COVID tests showed up in my district office without my request,” State Sen. Alexis Weik wrote on Facebook, noting that 53 cases of tests arrived with a July expiration date. “How long was our new Governor sitting on these tests? Hochul-the-Hoarder sat on millions of tests during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays while huge lines of New Yorkers stood in the freezing cold, waiting to get tested. At the same time, Hochul was firing healthcare workers and threatening children to get vaccinated or be forced to leave school. Anyone need a COVID test?”

Quick fact check: The governor’s office said Hochul didn’t have tests to give out to residents during Thanksgiving and didn’t get a significant number of tests to begin to distribute until late December. A recent release said that Hochul would be distributing 20 million at-home tests across the state, an effort that came on top of another 54 million tests that had already been distributed since the start of 2022.

But Weik wasn’t alone in turning at-home COVID testing — at a time when a COVID variant is once again on the rise — into a political football.

“Is this an April Fools joke?” State Sen. Mike Martucci, who represents parts of Sullivan, Delaware, Orange and Ulster counties, wrote on Twitter. “Kathy Hochul sent my office 5000 Covid tests today. We didn’t ask for them & we didn’t order them. Talk about a complete waste of taxpayer money. She should have kept them and sold them on the internet as a way to fund her stadium scheme.”

Then there’s State Sen. Jim Tedisco, who, alongside a photo of him being interviewed by a news reporter while sitting on top of boxes of tests, complained about the state sending out the tests in the context of inflation and gas taxes.

“Where were these months ago when NYers needed them?” Tedisco, who represents Hamilton and Fulton counties, along with parts of Saratoga, Herkimer and Schenectady counties, asked on Twitter.

That led to the spokesman for the State Senate Democrats weighing in.

“Local senator complains about covid tests after first complaining he didn’t have any tests,” spokesman Mike Murphy wrote on Twitter, linking to a story from December that featured Tedisco complaining that he received tests but his constituents had not.

“But how did he get down from the boxes? That is the bigger question,” Murphy wrote.

— Randi F. Marshall @RandiMarshall

Talking Point

Zeldin’s Florida trip

Lee Zeldin’s Friday fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago came and went without an endorsement from President Donald Trump, and the gubernatorial hopeful’s Twitter and Facebook accounts haven’t included any mentions or images of Trump since then.

But the two certainly interacted. Pictures of Zeldin and Trump from Mar-a-Lago have been posted online by Long Island conservative groups, including one from Long Island Loud Majority that includes Trump gesturing toward a grinning Zeldin.

As The Point noted last week, both Zeldin and GOP opponent Andrew Giuliani have plausible claims on Trump’s favor. Giuliani is a golfing buddy and ex-aide, and Zeldin has been an unbending Trump defender, objecting to the Jan. 6 certification of Electoral College votes in Trump’s 2020 loss.

Zeldin spokeswoman Katie Vincentz said that Trump “participated” in the fundraiser but reiterated that she wouldn’t “get ahead” of Trump on the endorsement front.

— Mark Chiusano @mjchiusano

Pencil Point

Mulvaney hired

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Final Point

Blakeman's hopes for the Hub

Within the next 90 days, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman hopes to have a better sense of what’s in store for the Hub, the prime but forlorn piece of property that includes Nassau Coliseum — and a lot of asphalt.

Blakeman told The Point last week that he hopes to be the county executive who finally gets to break ground at the Hub — a feat multiple previous county executives have tried and failed to do.

“I will be that guy,” Blakeman told The Point.

When asked whether he’d consider demolishing the Coliseum itself, Blakeman said he’s willing to consider anything.

“I am completely open-minded and if they come to me with something that makes sense from the standpoint of something that’s special, obviously, I would consider it,” Blakeman said.

As of last summer, developer RXR Realty, along with county and Town of Hempstead officials, had hoped to break ground on the Hub as soon as this month. But as the pandemic wore on, UBS Arena at Belmont Park opened, and county leadership changed hands, the timeline shifted.

Blakeman confirmed that the Coliseum operators are up to date with the rent payments owed to Nassau County — payments that were put on hold in the early days of the pandemic but have since picked up again.

But as he looks forward, Blakeman said he’s had multiple meetings about the Hub with many of the players involved since taking office in January. His goal, he said, is “to get everybody to row in the right direction.”

“I feel very confident that I’ll be able to do that,” Blakeman said.

— Randi F. Marshall @RandiMarshall