POLITICS: Miranda Devine: Hochul’s colossal $113M gift to far-left groups shows she’s just ‘another Defund the Police Dem’

Gov. Hochul has spent $66 million of taxpayer money on grants to radical left-wing groups that conduct overt political operations to defund the police, close prisons, abolish ICE, decriminalize prostitution, promote open borders, target minors with transgender ideology, promote anti-Israel extremism, impose crippling climate mandates on new housing — and increase taxation to pay for it all.

An examination of 13,000 grants since Hochul took office in 2021 shows a massive investment in far-left causes, with $66 million paid so far and almost $50 million promised for a total contract value of $113 million.

“Our tax dollars should go towards fighting criminals, not helping them,” says Rep. Elise Stefanik, the leading Republican candidate in the 2026 gubernatorial race who has been steadily gaining ground on the unpopular Hochul in recent polls.

“Kathy Hochul is just another Defund the Police Democrat like her puppet master Mamdani.

“Hochul will have plenty more time on her hands to support radical non-profits after we defeat her next year to save New York.”

The largest chunk of leftist grant money has been funneled to open-borders and anti-law enforcement organizations that are agitating to defund the police and abolish US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, while lobbying the state to strengthen existing sanctuary policies that shield illegal migrants from ­federal law.

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Against crime fighting

According to records held by the Office of the State Comptroller, Thomas DiNapoli, the Hochul administration has funded a variety of open borders and anti-cop, anti-jail organizations, including:

•  $2.7 million to activist group Make the Road NY, which pushes for the government to defund the police, “demilitarize our border . . . abolish the hell out of ICE [and] legalize ALL immigrants,” according to one of the group’s social media posts.
• $2.6 million to Niagara County to reduce jail populations by using “Alternatives to Incarceration” and “Raise The Age” programs that provide community-based “supportive services” instead of prison sentences.
• $4.7 million for “civil legal services” to the Bronx Defenders, another organization that wants to abolish ICE and the NYPD and has been accused of blatant antisemitism. Its staff have advocated “Palestinian liberation and resistance under occupation.”
• $2 million to the New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC), which agitates for sanctuary policies and defunding the police, ICE and Customs and Border Protection.
• $1.6 million to New York Legal Assistance Group, which defends illegal migrants against being deported and lobbies the state government to end cooperation with ICE.
• $9.5 million to the Research Foundation for the State University of New York for its “Migrant Education Outreach Program.”
• $1.2 million to the Central American Refugee Center, which describes itself on its website as the “Largest Immigration Legal Services Provider On Long Island” and offers a “host of legal services to individuals who have recently arrived in the United States and are in removal proceedings (i.e., immigration court).”
• $500,000 to Community Health Project, Inc., also known as the Callen-Lorde Community Health Center, which lobbies to decriminalize prostitution.
• $247,000 to the Neighbors Link Corporation for “Migrant ­Assistance.”
• $75,000 to the Columbia County Sanctuary Movement, an open borders activist group that works to shield illegal aliens from deportation and lobbies to end New York state’s involvement in immigration detention or “conspiring with ICE and CBP.”

Handouts for LGBTQ

On so-called “gender-affirming care” and trans-brainwashing for children, Hochul has funded multiple organizations that target minors as young as 13 with a far-left LGBTQ agenda, including:

•  $832,000 to the Pride Center of Western New York, which hosts LGBTQ group events for “all ages,” such as a monthly group for “transgender people in all stages of coming out.”
• $150,000 to the Callen-Lorde Community Health Center, which provides medical treatments and mental-health counseling on “gender identity” to teenagers and operates a mobile office that provides “free, friendly and confidential medical care for young people 13-24 years of age with a focus on LGBTQ care.”
• $848,000 to Rainbow Access Initiative, also known as Prism Counseling & Advocacy for LGBTQ health services and a “syringe exchange.” The group employs “*2SLGBTQIA+” “affirming providers” to provide mental health services to anyone 14 or older.

On the radical climate agenda, Hochul has dug into New York state taxpayers’ pockets to fund:

• $366,000 to CEC Stuyvesant Cove Inc., which lobbies to ban gas hookups in new buildings and “revolutionizing infrastructure by transitioning from gas to sustainable alternatives.”
• $393,000 to the Hispanic Federation for “Environmental Justice” programs in Latino neighborhoods. The nonprofit also supports defunding ICE and CBP.

On DEI and “social justice,” Hochul has paid:

• $400,000 to the Farm Training Collective NYC Inc. for “Black Farmers United of New York State.”

It is a race-based agriculture group that prioritizes “racial justice [and] a world with thriving BIPOC farmers . . . land justice . . . and radical optimism.”

For anti-Israel activities, Hochul has paid:

• $138,000 to the Muslim Community Association of Mohawk Valley for “Homeland Security Assistance” and “Nonprofit Security” also known as Utica Masjid, has reposted criticisms of Israel, including references to Israel’s “genocide” and claims that Israel is intentionally killing civilians.

Hochul has lavished funds on pro-abortion groups, including:

• $347,000 to the National Abortion Federation (NAF), which “support[s] abortion providers” and sponsors a DEIA (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Antiracism) initiative.
•  $6.2 million to Planned Parenthood of Greater New York, which boasts it “will always include abortion, wherever, whenever.”
• $2.6 million to Planned Parenthood Hudson Peconic Inc. to expand its abortion program and provide “gender-affirming hormone therapy” to individuals ages 16 and older without a mental-health referral.

And where’s it going?

The taxpayer dollars Hochul is lavishing could fund 6,000 New York kids at some of the state’s best charter schools for a year to get a top education and save them from failing district schools.

Instead, our hapless governor is trying to appease her party’s insurgent radical left base and stave off primary challengers, amid jeers of “Tax the Rich” from supporters of New York City Marxist Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani.