Pro-Blakeman PAC sends convoy of moving trucks to NYC in scathing message for Hochul

A super PAC backing Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman sent a fleet of moving trucks into Manhattan Tuesday, sending a message to Gov.Kathy Hochul that it’s time she packed her bags.The convoy stunt was organized by political action committee Strong and Safe New York as part of a campaign blaming Hochul for the throng of New Yorkers fleeing the Empire State.“The Empire Center statistic is that over the last five years, a million people have left New York State because of primarily affordability issues,” said Chapin Fay, a spokesperson for the super PAC.“As one of the highest taxed states in the country, it’s hard to start a business, and all those things lay at the foot of Governor Hochul and her party in charge, which is driving people out.”Blakeman has blamed Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani for issues in the state and the city.Eight trucks, most from Long Island, sat outside City Hall on Tuesday morning with three stationed on Broadway and the others making a loop around the block.

Then they headed to Hochul’s Manhattan office.An Empire Center for Public Policy survey of 600 New York state residents released earlier this month found that 33% are mulling packing their bags, and another 30% know someone who might.Most respondents, or 30%, cited taxes as the biggest issue pushing them out of state, with the cost of living, cited by 25%, coming in second place in the survey.Politics and governance (15%), safety (6%), and housing affordability (6%) followed.Tuesday’s moving truck stunt was “the latest salvo” to place the blame on Hochul’s door, the PAC saidThe group, which has endorsed Blakeman, the Nassau County executive, to challenge the Democratic governor in November, had earlier posted billboards with the message, “You Are Now Leaving NY (Like Everyone Else),” on the George Washington Bridge, Outerbridge Crossing and other exit roads....