By Paul Bean
New York Governor Kathy Hochul and Governor Phil Scott engaged in a playful rivalry over maple syrup supremacy in a video posted on X by Governor Hochul, capturing a moment from Chelsea Square Diner with a constituent with a brother from Vermont.
The 46-second clip shows Hochul on a phone call with a New Yorker whose brother lives in Vermont , declaring New York’s syrup as superior, while a Vermont resident, humorously identified as the brother of the person on the other end of the line, enjoys pancakes nearby.
In the video, Hochul, dressed in a light blue blazer, engages in a somewhat staged conversation, saying, “John David, this is Governor Kathy Hochul from neighboring New York. He’s eating pancakes, and he and I are having this conversation…He says he’s got a brother in Vermont who says your maple syrup might be better than ours. And I am here to say New York Maple Syrup is the best.”
The exchange culminates with Hochul’s repeated assertion, “I got 20 million people here, okay? Throw that down.” Of course the responses cannot be heard from the Vermonter over the phone but Hochul responds “this guy is trash talking the Governor.”
The video, posted by Governor Hochul, quickly amassed over 10,000 likes and 2,000 retweets, drawing a mix of amusement and criticism. Vermont Governor Phil Scott responded on June 30 with a sarcastic GIF from“Dumb and Dumber,” captioned “Sure.. Governor… Sure… ,” quoting Hochul’s post.
This retort sparked a thread of reactions on X, ranging from humor to political jabs.
Quantity doesn’t necessarily mean quality, of course. Case in point, New York drivers and manners.
For the record, Food Republic reports that “the United States produces about 4.2 million gallons of maple syrup each year, and more than half of it comes from Vermont, according to Statista. In 2024, New York produced a respectable 846 thousand gallons of maple syrup, but Vermont dwarfed that volume with over two million gallons produced. The total U.S. production volume is less than half of Canada’s 10.42 million gallons (per Statista), but it’s still a significant amount of domestic syrup hitting the shelves.”
Stick that in your maple creemee, Governor Hochul!
The author is the VDC Social Media Director and proud vendor of maple creemees on Main Street in Northfield.