New York Governor Kathy Hochul, eyeing a reelection campaign later this year, used her annual State of the State address yesterday to take aim at two targets: affordability and the Trump administration. Yancey Roy reports in NEWSDAY that Hochul, a Democrat, proposed an array of initiatives she said could reduce everyday costs for New Yorkers: increasing aid for child care, speeding up housing development, lowering automobile and homeowner's insurance costs, reining in utility bills by increasing oversight and boosting aid to food pantries.

The governor also outlined measures to counter the Trump administration on several fronts: child care aid, vaccine standards, tax deductions and energy development. She proposed a new law related to federal immigration/deportation initiatives — it would create a right to sue federal officers for constitutional violations.

Hochul touted an improving New York economy and declining crime rates. But she also emphasized immediate challenges in making the state more affordable and "defending fundamental rights."

"Today, New York faces serious headwinds. Reckless federal actions are pushing up costs, threatening jobs and putting critical investments at risk," Hochul wrote in a booklet accompanying her speech. "Efforts to divide, exclude, and roll back hard-won rights are testing the values that have long defined our state. And too many families are still asking the same fundamental question: Can we afford to build our future here?"

Governor Hochul asserted that her agenda for the year will help.

"The 2026 State of the State agenda is grounded in a simple belief: Government should make life more affordable, keep people safe and expand opportunity — not shrink it."

Hochul will have to back up her proposals with a funding plan — which she is slated to present to the State Legislature next Tuesday. Her State of the State address set her thematic and aspirational goals for the legislative session, which runs until the beginning of June.

Amid the budget and lawmaking, Hochul also is trying to set a reelection course against the presumptive Republican nominee, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman.

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In late fall of 2025, new solar-powered traffic cameras began popping up along roadways throughout the North Fork, raising heated discussions on social media about how the cameras were being used. The Southold Town Police Department has released a bulletin explaining its use of the Flock Safety Camera automatic license plate readers, funded through a state law enforcement tech grant, which has enabled the Suffolk County Sheriff to greatly expand the use of these cameras throughout the county. Beth Young reports in EAST END BEACON that the Southold Town Board agreed at its Dec. 16 meeting to put a public informational bulletin about the cameras on its website in response to residents’ questions about the purposes of the cameras and what data they are collecting. Chief Steven Grattan said the Town of Southold has used Flock ALPR cameras for about three years, and that both the original cameras and several of those recently installed were donated to the town by the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office. The town police department has also recently purchased its own cameras using a state Law Enforcement Technology (LETECH) grant, he said.

Last August, the Suffolk County Legislature approved increasing the number of county Flock Safety Cameras in areas that don’t require local or state legislative approval from 25 to 60 cameras, funded through a $542,500 LETECH grant from the state. Sixteen other cameras were planned to be installed along New York State rights-of-way, including along state Route 114 in Sag Harbor and East Hampton Village and along Route 25 in Riverhead and Southold.

Chief Grattan said cameras in Southold are monitored by town police dispatchers, who receive automatic alerts when the vehicles are...