Hochul stands up for New Yorkers’ health amid the nurse strike

Kudos to Gov. Kathy Hochul for doing right by New Yorkers, even though it annoys a powerful union.

By temporarily suspending licensing requirements for nurses from other states to work here, the gov has quite rightly made it easier for hospitals to keep functioning amid the ongoing nurses strike — and so allowed them to keep providing life-saving care.

It’s no permanent solution: Fill-in nurses aren’t cheap, and hospitals have to (for example) put off more-lucrative optional surgeries to prioritize the crucial ones.

The strike, that is, still slams their bottom lines — just not as much as giving in to the union’s demands for a 33% pay hike over three years.

But the public is (largely) protected: The gov is doing her duty, even if it costs her votes and special-interest love.

That’s a stark contrast to Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who’s cheering on the strikers even though their demands would cost the city big-time, since its public hospitals have already agreed to whatever pay hikes the private ones wind up conceding.

On top of ongoing cuts in federal support to New York’s public health-care spending, that could eat up cash the mayor needs for the rest of his agenda — but we guess he figures more tax hikes will solve all his problems.

For all our gripes with Hochul, New York is lucky to have at least one top executive who retains a firm grip on reality.