For years, Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the progressive activists in New York feuded over policy goals at the state Capitol. They fought over increasing the minimum wage and battled over affordable housing and mass transit. 

Now, with Cuomo leaving office next Tuesday and Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul taking the helm, advocates like Michael Kink of Strong Economy for All hope there will be a fresh start in Albany. 

"I think Kathy Hochul has the opportunity to press the reset button to move forward and make progress for this state and undue some of the damage the governor did," Kink said in a Capital Tonight interview on Monday. 

Hochul represented a conservative-leaving House district and has held stances on guns and immigration that are to the right of the modern Demcratic platform. She has since shifted on those issues. And for now, progressives are willing to work with her if only for a likely change in tone compared to the outgoing govenror. 

"He fought for years against the organizers and the activists," Kink said. "The fast food workers filled the Capitol — a thousand people. He sneered at them."

Hochul already faces a raft of policy challenges when she takes office next week, including disbursing billions of dollars in federal and state aid for tenants and landlords financially ailing due to the pandemic. 

At the same time, Hochul has signaled she will be crafting a COVID-19 pandemic strategy that's more collaborative compared to the current governor's approach. 

Hochul, too, plans to run for a full term in 2022.

And perhaps the biggest change could be less of an emphasis on transactional politicking and horsetrading that has defined negotiations at the Capitol for generations, and for activists, held key issues hostage. It was an environment Cuomo has excelled in, but one that became less hospitable for a newer class of legislatos  in recent years that's more attuned to an activist base. 

"He put his own political attention over the interests of regular, everyday New Yorkers," Kink said. "Cuomo's deals were my way or the highway. The incoming governor will find members of both houses of the Legislature are willing to work with her to make progress."