New York Prisons Set to Ban Most Packages from Family and Friends
At the urging of the correction officers union, the prison agency is restricting packages to private vendors that charge steep markups and have limited selections.

This article was produced in collaboration with Bolts.


It’s already hard to send things in when we’re not making any money. We’re just drawing from people that are already struggling.
A seemingly minor change in access to city jails has made it much harder for a lauded debate course to recruit volunteers.
The Adams administration said the city would replace discontinued Rikers courses. “I can say for certain that that’s not true,” one worker told New York Focus.
Men locked up in the Broome County jail describe an opioid treatment program so shoddy, they risk withdrawal, relapse, and overdose.
A group of Manhattan Democrats wants to force County Leader Keith Wright to choose between working for the party and working for a lobbying firm.
A major wind and solar developer is defecting from industry ranks, arguing the state shouldn’t bail out struggling projects.
In California, getting labor on board was essential to addressing the housing crisis. In New York, unions say the governor has barely tried.
The addiction epidemic is getting worse in the Capital Region. Through local zoning laws, residents fight to keep the state’s solutions out of their backyards.
Mixed evidence was piling up about a signature New York drug policy experiment. Then the state stopped releasing the data.
The health department has blown past deadlines to implement legislation encouraging lifesaving transplants — along with at least five other laws.