While Hurricane Irene swamped his state, flooding towns and leaving many of his constituents homeless, Sen. Charles Schumer legislated by press release from Europe, where he was vacationing.
Irene slammed while the state but New York’s senior senator - well known for his love of the camera - could be found only on paper through the stream of press releases emanating from his indefatigable staff, according to
Politico.
“It is absolutely fascinating that he’s been gone,” said an aide to a Democratic member of the New York congressional delegation.
The Catskills town of Prattsville was virtually wiped off the map and more than 500,000 people lost power on Long Island and in the Hudson Valley and Catskills regions upstate, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Gov. Andrew Cuomo conducted separate helicopter tours of damaged areas across New York.
“If he could have cut [his vacation] short and got here safely, I would have encouraged him to be here,” Troy’s mayor, Republican Terry Tutunjian, told Politico. “I made myself available to the people of Troy for three days straight, but that’s my job.”
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.