Westchester’s Edgemont community wants to secede from its town — and has scored a legal carveout to let it.
The governor and the Senate have aligned on large swathes of the NY HEAT Act. The Assembly might be ready to move on it, too.
With chapter amendments, governors can make major changes to pending laws. Kathy Hochul uses them more than any executive before her.
This year, the governor’s budget contains an agenda to combat retail theft. It looks a lot like last year’s plan to curb gun violence.
New York municipalities used to keep the surplus from foreclosed homes sold at auction. Then the Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional.
Workers at Long Island’s leading rooftop solar installation firm voted to unionize, in a New York first. Then the company furloughed almost half of them.
The governor gave a preview of her budget priorities — and we looked out for 2024’s major fights. Follow along to see what we’re watching.
A “ghost entity” linked to Tom Suozzi spent $2 million attacking Kathy Hochul. Then the Board of Elections started an investigation, and it disappeared.
One hundred and fifteen laws that almost were.
Thanks for a great 2023. To show our gratitude, we’re giving you a test.
The clock is ticking for the governor to sign or veto a bill to expand child care assistance. Her administration might decide it costs too much — but supporters say their numbers are off.
New York jails can transfer people with mental illnesses to maximum security prisons, even while they’re legally innocent.
A laundry company wants to turn its factory into 13-story apartment buildings, sparking the latest in a series of fierce zoning fights.
As the governor urges more housing, IDAs are looking to pitch in. Critics say it goes beyond their legal role.
The State Commission of Correction has been stumbling for decades — with millions of incarcerated people caught in the lurch.
In New York, many incarcerated people don’t know how to secure their freedom. A court fight could clear up the lethally opaque process.
The governor has neglected to announce a public emergency over the increasingly deadly opioid epidemic. Observers are perplexed.
Over a 12-year span, three out of every four state correctional officers fired for abuse or covering it up got their jobs back.
Can an oversight group be in the same union as the police it monitors?
Police training materials link the discredited “excited delirium syndrome” to synthetic marijuana use.
The legislation cites multiple New York Focus investigations in its attempt to safeguard the rights of incarcerated people.
A Rochester man lost his job while his daughter went through cancer treatment. He’s struggled to communicate with the DOL for months.
The state council that reviews grievances spent an average of eight seconds on each case in its last meeting — and rejected nearly all of them.
The rulings shed light on the leanings of Caitlin Halligan, the court’s newest judge and frequent tie-breaker.
While the United States Supreme Court seeks to restrict the government’s ability to regulate, the New York Court of Appeals is broadening it.
While Hochul considers a bill to pressure state contractors to stop deforestation, the massive food supplier is voicing concerns to her administration.
New York imposes strict regulations on “segregated confinement.” What if it’s just called “confinement”?
Israeli settlers have unleashed a wave of violence on Palestinians. With tax-deductible donations, New Yorkers can help equip them to carry it out.
Hudson Valley legislators and advocates are urging the state to reject the double-digit hike, arguing it could illegally stick customers with the bill for the company’s own mess.
The prison department doesn’t track overdose deaths in its custody. A New York Focus analysis found that the overdose death rate has tripled.
County and municipal economic development agencies play a key role in New York’s wind and solar buildout — but some say it’s not their job.
Recent legislation has sought to rein in medical debt collection. But the bills don’t stop lawsuits in the first place — and some patients decline care out of financial concern.
Climate watchers say the state can’t meet its renewable energy goals without overriding local opposition.
The Sand Land mine is defying multiple orders to cease operations. Politicians are at a loss for how to respond.
Even as experts warn of mass ethnic cleansing in Gaza, New York politicians have remained unwavering in their support for Israel since the Hamas attack. They’ve been less vocal about their state’s ties to the occupation of Palestine.
New York has kept hundreds of people convicted of sex offenses in prison long past their release dates.
The state’s top court will settle disputes between Rochester, Syracuse, New York City, and their police unions next week in three cases that could reshape police discipline across the state.
The Sheriffs’ Association lobbied against a bill to provide medication for opioid addiction in jails. Since it passed, they’ve failed to evaluate thousands of people for treatment.
A growing local faction is demanding that the IDA be dissolved.
Acting Supreme Court Justice Ralph Fabrizio has faced formal complaints for berating and threatening lawyers in more than a dozen incidents.