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Gov. Kathy Hochul vetoed legislation allowing ex-cons to work at casinos, as well as a bipartisan bill to ban tourist helicopters from Hudson River Park, where the Democrat occasionally flies at taxpayer expense.

“Regulation of aircraft and airspace is primarily a federal responsibility, and federal law
significantly constrains the State’s ability to legislate in this area,” Hochul claimed in her veto statement while rejecting prospective limits on non-essential flights in the park.

Ordinary New Yorkers could have sued companies whose aircraft create “unreasonable” clatter — a longstanding complaint of West Side residents buzzed by charter choppers — according to the legislative language.

The bill proposed by state Sen. Brad Hoylman (D-Manhattan) and Assemblyman Richard Gottfried (D-Manhattan) passed the state Legislature by a big bipartisan margin in June.

Hochul also took out her veto pen for a bill that would have lifted a ban on hiring people with felony records to work at gaming facilities like casinos, with exceptions for people convicted of “public integrity, embezzlement, theft, fraud or perjury,” bill language states.

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Hochul's veto cited employees "engaged in sensitive jobs" and handling "large amounts
Hochul’s casino veto cited employees “engaged in sensitive jobs” and handling “large amounts of money.”AP
Noisy chopper flights are a target of longstanding complaints from West Side residents.
Noisy chopper flights are a target of longstanding complaints from West Side residents.AP
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While the newly elected governor has backed criminal justice reforms in the past, she said letting felons work at gambling establishments was too much for her.

“Employees of a gaming facility are engaged in sensitive jobs and handle large amounts
of money,” she said in a veto statement.

State lawmakers passed roughly a thousand bills in the past year, with about 200 awaiting action by Hochul in the coming weeks.

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