Schumer extends streak to 23 years of visiting every county in New York

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 17 December 2021 at 8:31 am

Senator was in Holley on Aug. 16, touting $8 million in broadband funding for Orleans, Niagara counties

Photo by Tom Rivers: U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer speaks during a news conference on Aug. 16 in Holley’s Public Square. He is joined by Assemblyman Steve Hawley, left, and other officials from Orleans County, the Village of Holley, Town of Murray and Community Free Library.

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer has again visited all 62 counties in the state this year – for the 23rdtime since he has been senator.

He did it in 2021 despite his increased demands as Senate majority leader and the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic. Schumer said he is the first state-wide elected official to visit every single county in New York each year he has been in office.

Schumer was in Orleans County on Aug. 16 when he met with local elected officials to highlight $8 million in American Rescue Plan funds going to Orleans and Niagara counties to close high-speed internet gaps.

“Twenty-three years ago when I made the promise to visit every county every year, never in my wildest dreams did I imagine doing it as Majority Leader, let alone in the midst of a global health and economic pandemic,” Schumer said. “Although I’ve gained a new title as Majority Leader this year, my favorite two remain: New York senator, and more importantly, New Yorker.

Over the course of the year, Schumer made 93 county visits to Upstate New York and Long Island. He visited counties in the Capital Region 14 times; Western New York 7 times; Central New York 10 times; the Rochester-Finger Lakes 14 times; the Southern Tier 10 times; the Hudson Valley 14 times; the North Country 9 times; and Long Island 15 times. In addition, due to Covid travel restrictions, which greatly reduced the number and frequency of visits this year, Senator Schumer also conducted countless virtual meetings with groups and residents across New York.

“As New York continues to feel the impacts of a global health pandemic, visiting all 62 counties pushed me to fight even harder to help New Yorkers recover and build back stronger,” Schumer said in a news release. “Over this year, much has changed – the American Rescue Plan I led to passage provided New York the robust Covid relief needed to help jump start our recovery. To name but two elements, we passed a historic Childhood Tax Credit that cut child poverty in half, and we passed billions for Save Our Stages, which provided a vital lifeline to all our cultural organizations and performance spaces that were the first to close and last to open. We passed the largest investment in infrastructure in our nation’s history, which will repair and upgrade New York’s road, bridges, highways, transportation, broadband, and water systems like never before.”

In addition to the broadband funding for Orleans, locally Schumer highlighted his assistance in helping to convince Plug Power to build a $290 million electricity substation and state-of-the-art green hydrogen fuel production facility at the STAMP park in the Town of Alabama, Genesee County.

He also noted to secured VA approval for a $10 million expansion of the WNY National Veteran Cemetery in Pembroke.

In recent years some of Schumer’s stop in Orleans County included:

  • On Nov. 19, 2020, Schumer held a press conference at Medina Memorial Hospital to highlight his push for federal funds to be released for more Covid testing sites, especially in rural communities like Orleans.
  • On Nov. 27, 2019, Schumer visited Miller’s Organic Hemp Farm on Route 98 in Carlton to discuss the emerging hemp industry and the need for federal government to improve regulations for sampling and testing hemp. Terry and Gina Miller hosted Schumer’s visit to their farm.
  • Schumer was at the Village of Holley Police Department on Aug. 24, 2018 when he was in Orleans County. He launched a push to pass the “Providing Officers with Electronic Resources (POWER) Act” as part of a package of bills to address the opioids crisis across Upstate New York and the United States.
  • The senator stopped in Kendall on Oct. 9, 2017 at the Eagle Creek Marina to highlight a push for federal funds for infrastructure updates that will improve Great Lakes fisheries and restore habitats through the Great Lakes Aquatic Connectivity and Infrastructure Program Act.
  • On Nov. 11, 2016, Schumer joined Nelson Leenhouts, chairman and CEO of Home Leasing, to discuss the importance of keeping federal tax incentives for redeveloping historic sites, including the former Holley High School. Those tax credits were an importance piece in allowing Home Leasing to complete the $17 million renovation. Schumer also observed Veterans Day at the Holley VFW earlier that day.
  • Anthony Piedimonte Farms in Hulberton hosted Schumer on June 29, 2015 to discuss a June 9 computer crash of the federal system that processes temporary farm-working visas. Schumer joined local farmers and urged the U.S. Department of State to fix the computer glitch. That computer crash created a backlog of stalled applications and prevented farms across the state from accessing legal temporary workers to harvest their crops.
  • Aug. 14, 2014, Schumer was in Holley at the former Diaz Chemical, where he pressed the federal EPA to continue a Superfund cleanup.