Rockland County, New York

Several New York Democrats running in competitive House races are putting distance between themselves and Gov. Kathy Hochul weeks before Election Day. Rep. Tom Suozzi skipped a Hochul campaign stop on Long Island, citing a scheduling conflict, while Rep. Laura Gillen attended. In New York's 17th District, challenger Cait Conley was caught on video agreeing with GOP Rep. Mike Lawler that "Hochul has got to go," later calling Hochul to smooth things over. Blake Gendebien, running in the 21st District, declined to say if he'd support Hochul. Recent Siena polling shows Hochul's favorability underwater and her lead over Republican challenger Bruce Blakeman narrowing in suburban and upstate areas, reviving concerns about coattail effects seen in 2022.

The Rockland County Republican Committee received a $138,000 contribution from businessman Jack Goldenberg this year, the largest single donation in the committee's records over two decades, according to state campaign finance filings. The donation lands in a pivotal election cycle, as Rockland County anchors one of the nation's most closely watched House races between Republican Rep. Mike Lawler, who also chairs the county GOP, and Democratic challenger Cait Conley.

Goldenberg has limited political giving history but previously donated six figures to national Republican committees. His business dealings have drawn legal scrutiny, including a 2020 wrongful-termination ruling against his company and a Portuguese investigation into alleged market manipulation tied to his pharmaceutical firm, Chartwell Pharmaceuticals. A local Democratic candidate has also tied Goldenberg to a contested warehouse development, which he denies involvement in.

The flap underscores escalating money battles in the Lawler-Conley contest, where Conley reported raising $5 million last quarter and outside groups have already spent more than $20 million on advertising, with Republicans currently holding the spending edge.

A powerful early-season nor'easter battered the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic coast over the weekend of Sept. 25-28, prompting states of emergency in New York (Long Island, New York City, Westchester County) and eight New Jersey counties under Govs. Kathy Hochul and Mikie Sherrill. The storm brought tropical-storm-force winds up to 70 mph, coastal flooding, and heavy rain from Massachusetts Bay to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, submerging major roadways on Long Island and in Queens under as much as two feet of water.

More than 130,000 utility customers lost power across the region. In Orange County, New York, utilities Orange and Rockland and Central Hudson mobilized crews to restore service, with Central Hudson citing Ulster County as hardest hit. By Sept. 28, most customers had power restored, though thousands remained without electricity. Rainfall varied widely, from just over an inch in Orange County to nearly 3.7 inches in Suffolk County, while the Neversink River saw a sharp rise in flow. Wind speeds and river levels were gradually returning to seasonal norms by Sunday.

A delegation of Hasidic Jewish community leaders from New York and New Jersey met with President Trump and Vice President JD Vance in the Oval Office on Thursday, marking the first such gathering at the White House in nearly five decades. The visit, organized by the White House Faith Office under Paula White-Cain, included representatives from the Satmar communities in Kiryas Joel, Lakewood and Williamsburg, along with Rep. Mike Lawler, who represents Orthodox and Hasidic communities in Rockland County. Grand Rebbe Aaron Teitelbaum of Kiryas Joel recited a traditional blessing reserved for kings and presented Trump with a leather-embossed copy of the prayer.

The meeting underscores Trump's strong standing among Orthodox Jewish voters, who backed him at the highest rate for a Republican since the 1980s in 2024. Several senior administration officials are Jewish, and Trump has closely aligned with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on countering Iran. The Satmar movement's theological opposition to Jewish sovereignty before the Messiah's arrival added a notable undertone to the encounter with a president who calls himself the most pro-Israel in US history.

A 65-year-old Rockland, Maine man, Michael Robinson, pleaded guilty Thursday to two misdemeanor charges for using his snow plow to inundate peaceful political demonstrators with ice, snow, and gravel during a Feb. 21, 2026 protest against the Trump administration. Under a plea deal, a felony charge of reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon and a misdemeanor driving-to-endanger charge were dismissed. Robinson faces a $600 fine if he completes a two-year deferred disposition, including mental health and anger management evaluations, a weapons ban, and 100 hours of community service; violating terms could bring up to a year in jail.

Several victims gave impact statements, describing injuries and fear of being targeted again, and urged the judge to reject the deal, calling it a politically motivated act of intimidation. Prosecutors said they were not confident they could prove the felony charge. Robinson had been free on bail since his arrest.