Hochul Cancels Event After Learning Protesters Were Waiting

Governor Kathy Hochul is under fire after abruptly skipping events in the North Country this past weekend, where protesters – including state correctional officers furious over her prison policies –  were prepared to confront her.

Hochul was expected to headline a ribbon-cutting in Tupper Lake for a converted rail line turned hiking and biking trail. Local officials had received an invite from Hochul’s North Country representative Allison Webbinaro that read: “We are looking forward to celebrating this exciting occasion with you!” But according to attendees, the schedule was shifted from 10am to 3pm, and then Hochul failed to appear at all.

One participant said the scene looked ready for her arrival. Protesters gathered alongside a “Team Trump” MAGA bus, police stood by in force, and event staff suddenly moved everything indoors with doors locked and an invite list checked at the entrance.

“So it definitely seemed like she was coming. Then all of a sudden the cops started to leave and people started to shuffle out,” the attendee explained.

Hochul was also rumored to attend a nearby hiking event at Whiteface Mountain, but again did not show.

Many of the demonstrators waiting for Hochul were correctional officers demanding answers on staffing shortages. New York prisons remain down about 5,000 workers, officials say, after Hochul terminated 2,000 officers who participated in an illegal wildcat strike earlier this year. The shortage forced the state to rely on National Guard troops to keep prisons staffed, a stopgap measure still in place months later as recruitment efforts lag.

For critics, Hochul’s no-show signaled an unwillingness to face the backlash from those directly affected.

Hochul’s team rejected claims that the governor ducked protesters, saying her absence was due to international commitments.

“As noted in the governor’s daily public schedule, Governor Hochul spent the weekend meeting with Canadian business leaders and government officials in an effort to repair the damage done to tourism and trade relations by President Trump and Congressional Republicans,” spokesperson Jen Goodman said.

But the explanation did little to quiet speculation that Hochul deliberately avoided the confrontation.

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), widely seen as a likely challenger to Hochul in 2026, wasted no time hammering the governor. Her senior adviser Alex DeGrasse stated:

“It is a truth universally acknowledged that Kathy Hochul is the most unpopular elected official in all of New York State. Whether cancelling multiple events today in Upstate, or getting booed by thousands on Long Island [at the Ryder Cup] last week, she is hated by Republicans, despised by independents, near universally disliked by Democrats, and manipulated and laughed at by the Communists.”

DeGrasse added, “If she lets a few Upstate patriots, particularly the correctional officers, send her running scared, just wait until her real campaign for re-election begins.”

Even as Stefanik herself has faced protesters at her own district events, Republicans argue the difference is Hochul’s refusal to even show up when dissent is expected.

Hochul Cancels Event After Learning Protesters Were Waiting