Gov. Kathy Hochul Says Hello to Upper West Side at Farmers’ Markets

Hard at work on reelection campaign trail, Gov. Kathy Hochul paid a visit to the Upper West Side Aug. 30 at a GrowNYC Greenmarket and the Grand Bazaar NYC.

Hoping to defend her gubernatorial seat in November, Hochul is running against Republican candidate Bruce Blakeman, the Nassau County Executive who has been endorsed by President Trump. In her first bid for reelection in 2022 against Lee Zeldin, at the time a Congressman from Long Island, he had a surprising late surge in a race that Hochul eventually won with 53.1 percent of the vote to 46.7 percent.

Getting out the vote in heavily Democratic areas such as the UWS is seen as crucially important in this year’s race where polls say she has comfortable lead with two months to go the election.

In the most recent poll conducted by Sienna College on Aug. 6, Hochul leads Blakeman 49 percent to 39 percent.

Starting at the 79th Street Greenmarket, Hochul strolled side by side with 6th District Council Member Gale Brewer and State Assembly member Micah Lasher who is the Democratic nominee for the seat held by the retiring Congressman Jerry Nadler.

She was clearly in a neighborhood that has been reliably Democratic forever. As she made her way to the bazaar, Hochul stopped to shake hands, say hello and pose for selfies with New Yorkers of all ages—many of whom thanked her for her work and wished her well in the upcoming Nov. 3 election.

Among those who crossed paths and chatted with the governor were public school teachers, an MTA intern and several Upper West Side students.

Showing gratitude after each interaction Hochul reassured one woman she met saying “don’t ever worry about me, I love what I do.”

Hochul also made sure to stop and visit with market vendors thanking them for their hard work and contribution to the neighborhood.

Holly Kingstrom, Christina Chiacchia and their newborn daughter were among the greenmarket vendors Hochul met.

Kingstrom is a teacher by day and Chiacchia is a trained chef. Together, the couple has been farming for 20 years. From their vegetables to their meat, each product remains organic as a part of their certified biodynamic farm.

“Seeing families that are out with their little kids, it’s a wonderful, positive experience,” Hochul said. “Incredible quality of life here.”

Upon her arrival at the bazaar, Hochul met Executive Director Dara Lehon. With a warm welcome, Lehon walked the governor through the market’s mission, decades long history and diverse vendors.

“We always get tons of people here, but it’s extra special when we have people who are really working to make our state a better place,” Lehon said.

Part of the bazaar’s grand social mission is to support local public schools. As part of this initiative, the market has a “great alliance” with Council Member Brewer which Lehon said she is very thankful adding that Hochul’s support was a great treat.

“She seems to really enjoy seeing that we have so many different types of vendors, some who’ve been here for 40 years,” Lehon said about Hochul’s visit.

From artists to jewelers and vintage clothing vendors, the bazaar hosts a variety of talent.

Among the group is the Katz family who can be found at the market almost every Sunday. Natalie Katz is a New York pop artist and her 16-year-old son Jacob practices his live drawing skills while his mom works.

Hochul joked with the Katz family saying the artistic gene must run in the family and Natalie quickly agreed saying that her mom was also an artist.

While they were not expecting to meet the governor, the Katzs were thrilled for the opportunity to connect, saying they have always been supportive of her efforts.

“I’m very liberal, and I paint people who encourage us to be ourselves and stand up for what we believe in and a lot of them are politicians or civil rights activists,” Natalie said. “The first two people I ever painted were Billie Holiday and Nina Simone, then RBG.”

She went on to say how much Hochul’s support meant given the art she’s trying to create.

Hochul did not take questions from the press. And surprisingly, given the setting in the farmers’ markets, there was no mention of how local farmers markets have been impacted for better or worse by the cyclosporiasis outbreak on lettuce sourced from Central Mexico. She also didn’t bring up the latest Trump controversy where he signed an executive order changing the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America. She earlier said New York State, which borders the lake between the US and Canada, was not going along with the name change.