Pumped up, part I
Members of the Albany press corps were surprised to see Gov. Kathy Hochul’s left arm in a sling when the governor held a news conference Wednesday at a Capital District elementary school.
Hochul addressed reporters after the event and provided an explanation for her injury: She tore her pectoral muscle in a gym accident one day earlier and made it worse before heeding her doctor’s advice.
“No, I’m not ready to play with the Buffalo Bills on Sunday. I’m going to have to be on injured reserve,” she said.
Hochul said she was hurt after trying, as part of a New Year’s resolution, to move up from lifting 70 pounds to lifting 80 pounds – “and my body said no to 80.”
One reporter quipped that it was the kind of injury that comes from jumping on a folding table, Bills Mafia-style.
“At least I wasn’t on fire. Do you see the videos of that?” Hochul said, referring to a recent viral video of, yes, Bills fanatics jumping on a burning table. “Yes, Buffalo Bills fans, I do not recommend that you jump on a burning table in Miami. Please don’t do that.”
Reporters then said Hochul, who has an estimated recovery time of six to eight weeks, needed a better story for how she got injured. They helpfully suggested a heavier weight or a fight with a bear.
“You don’t think 80 pounds of weightlifting is pretty damn good for someone my age?” said Hochul, who is 65. “OK, give me a little break here. The last one was broken ribs skiing. That is a little more dramatic.”
That happened in 2015. In 2017, she had her right arm in a brace because she tore tendons in the arm pulling a suitcase down from a storage…
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