Hinchey begins second term

By Mark Reynolds
Posted 1/11/23

Saturday Michelle Hinchey was sworn in as the New York State Senator for the 41st District at the Saugerties Performing Arts Factory. Her district includes all of Greene and Columbia counties, most …

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Hinchey begins second term

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Saturday Michelle Hinchey was sworn in as the New York State Senator for the 41st District at the Saugerties Performing Arts Factory. Her district includes all of Greene and Columbia counties, most of Ulster County and the northern part of Dutchess County. Her district now includes the towns of Marlborough and Plattekill, which was formerly represented by James T. Skoufis, whose district is now entirely in Orange County.

The ceremony opened with the Presentation of Colors by the Ulster County Sheriff’s Honor Guard, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance led by student Eliot Lirtsman. The National Anthem was sung by the Saugerties High School Choir.

Master of Ceremonies Kenya Gadsden, a residential program coordinator at LIFESPIRE, welcomed everyone, quickly pointing out that in her first term Hinchey managed to get 55 bills passed.

“She probably is going to double or triple her work in the next two years, so we have elected someone into office who is about the business of the people and you should be proud,” Gadsden said.

Paramedic Aidan O’Connor said Hinchey secured $1.4 million that was used to pay for a much needed helipad in Greene County and $400,000 for mobile EMS stations and equipment. In 2022 she negotiated the rights to allow blood to be delivered and administered by Air Medic Services.

“That has helped 100 patients so far and will help thousands in the future,” O’Connor predicted.

City of Hudson Mayor Kamal Johnson said when he started working with Hinchey, she answered all of his phone calls and has supported Hudson’s health care workers.

“She’s done everything and has only been in our district for 8 days now and is a person that young people can look up to,” he said.

Lt. Governor Antonio Delgado said Hinchey is not a politician but, “we have a real, genuine public servant who understands the value of this work, who understands its import.”

Delgado said Hinchey ran for office during a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic, “when we needed somebody who had the courage and integrity to bring people together and remind us what service looked like; she didn’t have to, but she did it because she cares and she stepped up to do the work.”

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer also cited Hinchey’s prodigious legislative record, “and in the process has established a national reputation in the agricultural field, by helping all of our farmers, particularly our smaller farmers, to do things in a green, healthy and pro-environmental way where they can prosper and our environment can grow in the process.”

Schumer added that, “not only is this a great day for Michelle and not only is this a great day for families, but for all the residents here in the 41st senate district and for New York State. And finally, I would like to say, this is a great day for the United States of America. This, right here, is what Democracy is all about.”

Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins administered the Oath of Office to Michelle Hinchey as Senator for the 41st District. In her opening remarks, Hinchey described the residents in her district as, “innovators, makers, thinkers and we’re problem solvers, all working to make our community one that we can be proud of.”

Hinchey noted that this ceremony is one of the first times since the start of the pandemic that people have come together to celebrate, “not just the next two years but to also celebrate the work that we’ve done over the last two.”

Hinchey said by working at the state level, “we’ve been able to accomplish so many things in my freshman term,” especially in bringing funds to upstate for schools, for child care and housing and for investments in small businesses at the height of the pandemic. She said this helped, “to keep our Main Streets open and our businesses thriving so that they can maintain, because they are the backbone of so many of our small communities.” Hinchey was also able to secure funding to protect the Catskill Park and Forest Preserve that for the first time put the park on par with the Adirondack Park through a stewardship line of the $300 million Environmental Protection Fund.

Hinchey closed her speech by saying, “I am just so honored, I am so privileged and incredibly humbled by this event. When we can ignore the fear-mongering and ignore the division and the misinformation and actually fight for truth and fight for each other and for our community, we can not only get real stuff done but we can be proud. So I stand in front of you and with you today, deeply humbled, excited and honored to be able to continue this work. Thank you for your support and I look forward to working with all of you over the next two years to continue to ensure that we keep delivering for Ulster, Greene, Dutchess and Columbia counties and for the entire state of New York.”