Governor Kathy Hochul visited Patchogue on Thursday to show the rest of New York what transit-oriented development should look like.
“Patchogue shows what real success looks like; it can feel tangible,” Hochul said to a crowd of community leaders at the Patchogue YMCA.
Earlier, she toured the village’s revitalized downtown with Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone and Village Mayor Paul Pontieri, admiring second-floor apartments overlooking vibrant restaurants and stores.
“That didn’t just happen. If we just let life go by without stepping up, and saying ‘people need to live here, they have to have a place to live,’ this would be a ghost town that it started to be. It truly would,” Hochul said.
“And Patchogue stepped up.”
Her visit comes as she faces backlash from Republicans and some local governments on Long Island for requiring an increase in new housing units by 3% over three years, especially near train stations, as part of her proposed New York Housing Compact.
Hochul said the region and the rest of New York needs to keep pace and build new housing for its growing population.
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