PHOTO: The funeral for NYPD officer Jonathan Diller was held at St. Rose of Lima R.C. Church in Massapequa, New York. | Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

Hochul has continued to face pushback for the policies Republicans perceive as soft-on-crime, like no-jail bail. Frustration around the issue came to a head amid Diller’s murder and the Governor’s sudden attendance at the wake.

By Jason Beeferman | POLITICO

ALBANY, New York — Gov. Kathy Hochul defended her decision to attend the wake of a fallen NYPD officer amid accusations she was not welcomed at the Long Island funeral home.

On Saturday, speaking at an Easter event at the governor’s mansion, Hochul said she did not regret attending the wake Friday despite being confronted by a mourner as she left.

“People will do what they’re going to do for their own reasons, and I will remain convinced that it was the right thing to do,” Hochul said of her attendance at the wake.

“I would do it again, and that’s my job. My job is to be there when people need me. If they need to talk to me, and they all needed to talk to me, my job is to listen.”

The comments by the governor come less than a week after NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller was shot at close range by a man sitting in the passenger seat of an idling car in Queens.

The murder of Diller put increased attention on the efforts to fight crime by Mayor Eric Adams and the Democratic governor, especially since the officer’s alleged murderer and accomplice both have lengthy criminal histories.

Hochul has faced criticism from Republicans over the state’s laws that limit bail to only the most serious offenses.

As the governor heads toward reelection in 2026 and more immediately tries to help Democrats in key House races this year, she has increasingly pursued policies that seek to embolden her as tough on crime.

That has included deploying [unarmed] the National Guard into the subways and touting her work to strengthen the bail laws — despite her losing support around those issues during her close 2022 election.

She has also sought to blame the 2019 bail reform package on her predecessor, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, for whom she served as lieutenant governor before he resigned in scandal in 2021.

Despite those efforts, Hochul has continued to face pushback for the policies Republicans perceive as soft-on-crime, and the frustration around the issue came to a head amid Diller’s murder and her attendance at the wake, which a day earlier was visited by former President Donald Trump.

“The best way to honor his memory and respect the heroism and dedication of the men and women in blue is to enact laws that protect victims, penalize criminals, and support law enforcement,” Republican Rep. Mike Lawler said Saturday on X. “End cashless bail.”

During her brief attendance at Diller’s wake, Hochul “said prayers at the casket and was very respectful,” she recalled.

But on her way out, she was accosted by a man identified by the New York Post to be a Diller family member. A video showed the man in a tense conversation with the governor as she made her way to her vehicle following her visit. She didn’t say what was discussed.

“We always ask: ‘Would the families like us there?’ If the families say, ‘No, this is the time for our personal family grieving, we don’t want a politician there,’ we don’t go,” Hochul said. “In this case, we asked. We were told the family is welcoming. We always check, and they said to come, and I went. And no one told me to leave.”

Trump, after visiting the funeral home, joined renewed calls for tougher crime legislation in New York, his native state.

“We have to get back to law and order,” Trump said. “We’ve got to toughen it up.”

President Joe Biden also offered his condolences for the officer’s death to Adams ahead of a Biden fundraiser. It was the first time they had spoken in more than a year amid tense relations over the influx of migrants to the city, which Adams has regularly called on the White House to do more to contain.

For her part, Hochul said she’s trying to reverse the state’s bail laws, including several revisions in recent years that held up state budget deals.

“I think everyone knows my positions on the bail laws,” Hochul said Saturday. “I’m the one who’s been trying to make the changes to go back to where it was.”

But she said attending the wake was important.

“I did a lot of listening,” Hochul said. “That’s what happened in the wake room, walking out was a different group of people, and things happen. But I had to do that. It was important for me to be there for them and to listen to what they wanted to say to the governor of New York,” Hochul said. ##