As the relationship was coming to light, Heastie returned $5,000 in campaign cash to a labor group from which he’d recused himself.
Stark disparities in access to life-saving medication for opioid addiction persist between facilities — and racial groups.
New York legislators have a plan to claim billions in federal funding for health care, driving a fight between industry groups.
Referencing a New York Focus story, Assemblymember Jessica González-Rojas introduced legislation to prevent public agencies from naming the medically discredited condition in their reports.
We read the governor’s, Senate’s, and Assembly’s budget proposals — so you don’t have to.
While Heastie privately pledged to avoid meetings with relevant interests, lobbyist Rebecca Lamorte has sought to keep representing them before the Assembly, according to her employer’s attorney.
We answer your questions on the state’s notoriously opaque budget process.
What are industrial development agencies?
The former budget director’s role may break a law meant to keep ex-state employees from monetizing insider knowledge.
While the nonprofit Greater New York Hospital Association lobbied, a lucrative for-profit arm may have run up costs for hospitals.
In the New York City teachers union, anger over a plan to privatize retiree health care could send a longshot campaign over the edge.
New York Focus has published thousands of pages of county jail oversight records. Browse them in our database.
New York’s incarcerated population has been declining for decades. Why is it so hard for prison closures to keep pace?
A new bill to municipalize Long Island’s utility includes key worker protections that the union had sought.
Migrants from Mauritania and Senegal were the most likely to receive eviction notices, but not the most populous groups in shelters, a New York Focus analysis found.
Hochul’s budget would level off funding for addiction treatment — and use opioid settlement funds to fill the gaps.
The county is ready to restart real estate subsidies after a two-year pause. Residents fear it won’t fix their housing crisis.
Her administration says the fund won’t be harmed. Legal experts question whether she can take it at all.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law directed billions toward public transit in New York, but the state is choosing to spend billions more on highways.
When local authorities hand out subsidies, school budgets lose revenue. The state teachers union is now pushing back.
The state wants to phase out fossil fuels. Localities have given over a billion dollars in tax breaks to help keep them around.
Long-term subs stay with the same classes and can serve like full-time teachers. New York City schools misclassify them — so their pay doesn’t reflect that.
The state established Covid leave to compensate employees who fell ill during the pandemic. One group of essential workers has been unable to claim it.
Some Court of Appeals judges are far more likely to grant requests to hear appeals than others, a New York Focus analysis found.
As book banning sparks outrage in schools and libraries, the censorship of classics like Native Son persists in New York prisons.
The average New Yorker has to travel nearly 10 miles to access methadone, a New York Focus analysis found. Upstate, they have to go even further.
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.