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Lesser Infractions Aren’t Supposed to Land You in Solitary Confinement. They Do Anyway.

New York prisons have illegally sent at least 1,100 people to solitary confinement for infractions that aren’t eligible for the punishment, a New York Focus analysis has found.

Chris Gelardi   ·   October 24, 2022
New York May Drop JPay, The Scandal-Plagued Prison Banking Company

A one-year extension could be the prison contractor’s last, ending a 15-year run.

Eli Tan   ·   October 21, 2022
New York’s Crypto Moratorium Would Leave Most Mining Untouched. There’s Another Reason the Industry Is Up in Arms.

A much-debated moratorium wouldn’t affect any crypto mining projects under development, but an accompanying environmental study could bring unwelcome scrutiny.

Colin Kinniburgh   ·   October 20, 2022
Rikers Staff Tampered With Records, Hiding Intake Rule Violations, Documents Show

Rikers staff repeatedly altered records to extend the clock on a 24-hour time limit for holding people in notorious intake cells.

Chris Gelardi   ·   October 17, 2022
New York Courts Are Ghosting Disabled New Yorkers

When disabled litigants who can’t to come to court in person request virtual appearances, they often don’t hear back.

Sam Mellins   ·   October 13, 2022
New York Banned Plastic Bags Two Years Ago. Why Are They Still Everywhere?

Two years after the state banned plastic bags, many New York City businesses are still distributing them with little fear of consequences.

Colin Kinniburgh   ·   October 12, 2022
Adams Takes First Big Step on Climate Law, Yet Bigger Questions Loom

The city announced key proposed rules, making progress but also leaving a massive loophole unaddressed, our columnist writes.

Pete Sikora   ·   October 7, 2022
The Rent Is Too Damn High. Blame the Suburbs.

Long Island and Westchester build housing at some of the lowest rates of any suburban area in the country, fueling high rents and home prices across the region.

Sam Mellins   ·   October 6, 2022
Solitary by Another Name: How State Prisons Are Using ‘Therapeutic’ Units to Evade Reforms

A landmark solitary confinement reform law created a new, “rehabilitative” type of isolation unit. In practice, they’re often little different from the solitary units they were meant to replace.

Chris Gelardi   ·   October 5, 2022
Community Health Clinics Set to Lose Critical $100 Million Funding Stream

A little-known federal initiative, the 340B Drug Pricing Program, supports services that wouldn’t otherwise get reimbursed.

Aviva Stahl   ·   October 4, 2022
Understaffing Threatens to Slow New York Climate Plans

Renewable energy developers are hungry to build in New York, but staffing at the bodies charged with managing the process hasn’t kept up.

Colin Kinniburgh   ·   September 29, 2022
Home Care Workers Battle Their Own Union on 24-Hour Shifts

1199 SIEU says it wants to end 24-hour shifts - but it has opposed city and state bills that would do so, and some question the sincerity of its objections.

Maxwell Parrott   ·   September 28, 2022
Prisons Are Illegally Throwing People With Disabilities Into Solitary Confinement

Lawmakers banned solitary confinement for people with disabilities. But the state prison agency has crafted its own policies.

Chris Gelardi   ·   September 26, 2022
Judge Frees Man From Rikers in Exceptional Decision Citing Bail and Jail Conditions

The ruling, which isn’t binding on other judges but will surely be noted by them, was based on the 2019 bail reform law’s requirement that judges consider defendants’ ability to afford bail.

Sam Mellins   ·   September 21, 2022
Tiffany Cabán Approves Major Astoria Housing Development, Bucking Trend Among Progressives

The approval will create hundreds of units of both affordable and market rate housing and has sparked debate in progressive circles over how to approach private development.

Sam Mellins   ·   September 14, 2022
The Price of Private Equity’s New York Power Plant Grab

After a private equity firm purchased an upstate power plant, thousands of gallons of oil spilled into Lake Ontario. It’s part of a troubling pattern.

Leanna First-Arai   ·   September 13, 2022
State Prisons Are Routinely Violating New York’s Landmark Solitary Confinement Law

Five months after a law to scale back solitary confinement went into effect, a majority of the New York prison system’s solitary population had been held there for longer than the law permits.

Chris Gelardi and Emily Brown   ·   September 12, 2022
Adams and Unions Strike Deal on Shift to Cost-Cutting Medicare Plan

The mayor and major city unions plan to press the City Council to clear a path for a privatized Medicare plan for retired city workers.

Sam Mellins   ·   September 8, 2022
Lawmakers, Judge Seek Evidence Behind Prison Package Ban

The prison agency has stonewalled lawmakers’ requests for information justifying the policy.

Rebecca McCray   ·   September 8, 2022
‘Heatflation’ Hits the Farmers Market

This summer’s heat and drought have driven New York farmers’ input costs up and their yields down, straining their finances and further pushing up food prices.

Colin Kinniburgh   ·   September 6, 2022
A Prison Used Solitary Confinement to Force a Trans Man to Undergo a Genital Exam, Lawsuit Alleges

Prison officials had already seen his genitals three times. But the superintendent ordered a more invasive exam, the lawsuit alleges. (Note: detailed descriptions.)

Chris Gelardi   ·   August 31, 2022
New York Lawmakers Look to Boost E-Bikes After Federal Snub

The recently passed Inflation Reduction Act turbocharges the market for electric cars at the expense of other forms of transit. A New York bill aims to help e-bikes catch up.

Colin Kinniburgh   ·   August 30, 2022
Did New York’s Chief Judge Break the Law to Pick Her Interim Successor?

Janet DiFiore may have gotten a say in picking her interim successor, boosting a judge who has never once voted against her.

Sam Mellins   ·   August 29, 2022
Did New York’s Chief Judge Break the Law to Pick Her Interim Successor?

Janet DiFiore may have gotten a say in picking her interim successor, boosting a judge who has never once voted against her.

Sam Mellins   ·   August 29, 2022
New York’s High Court Tried to Protect Parents’ Rights. Lower Courts are Ignoring It.

Many judges have ignored a 2016 mandate from New York’s top court that parents must be allowed to present evidence in their defense before they lose custody of their kids.

Sam Mellins   ·   August 24, 2022
Distrust, Power Wrangling, and the Battle Over Rochester’s Next Public Defender

The Monroe County legislature’s president, Sabrina LaMar, has denigrated public defenders and shut them out of the now-eight-month-long process to appoint the next head of their office.

Chris Gelardi   ·   August 23, 2022
Judge Strikes Down New York Jail’s Prolonged COVID Visitation Ban

The ban had helped the local sheriff rake in hundreds of thousands of dollars in profit from detainee video and phone call fees.

Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg   ·   August 18, 2022
Montefiore Health System Reshuffles Bronx Operations Ahead of Looming State Policies

A plan to move a family medicine clinic in a low-income Bronx neighborhood has sparked backlash from patients and staff.

Maxwell Parrott and Kudrat Wadhwa   ·   August 16, 2022
Medicare Standoff Threatens Cuts to Current City Workers’ Benefits

The cancellation of a proposed cost-saving health plan after retired city workers sued could drain a special fund City Hall and unions use to pay employee benefits.

Sam Mellins   ·   August 10, 2022
Amazon Likely To Win Nine-Figure Tax Break To Build Western New York Warehouse

The deal has been two years in the making, but it’s been a secret for most of that time.

Julia Rock   ·   August 9, 2022
Real Estate Is Funding Eric Adams’s Fifth Homeless ‘Outreach’ Initiative. What’s the End Game?

The partnership split homeless advocates: Some welcomed the additional dollars, arguing “more is better,” while others predicted they would function mainly to keep people off corporate property.

Chris Gelardi   ·   August 2, 2022
Is Eric Adams About to Gut the Nation’s Most Important Local Climate Law?

Enormous pollution cuts and tens of thousands of jobs depend on how Adams implements New York City’s landmark climate law in the coming months.

Pete Sikora   ·   July 26, 2022
Weeks Before Heat Wave, New York’s Program to Help Poor People Stay Cool Ran Out of Money

Heat kills hundreds of New Yorkers every summer - but health experts say a “cold weather bias” keeps policymakers from prioritizing the issue.

Maria Parazo Rose   ·   July 25, 2022
Health Insurers Just Killed The Medicare Plan City Retirees Railed Against

With the plan tied up in court, insurers Elevance Health and Empire BlueCross BlueShield pulled out of a controversial deal to switch retired city workers to privately run health insurance.

Sam Mellins   ·   July 19, 2022
New York Judges Are Watering Down Protections Against Evictions

For housing advocates, getting the legislature to expand the right to a court hearing before evictions was one thing. Getting judges to implement it is another.

Sam Mellins   ·   July 19, 2022
An Opening for Defendants’ Rights on New York’s Highest Court

The court’s last term included a slew of cases rolling back defendants’ rights. Progressives hope to reset that trajectory.

Chris Gelardi   ·   July 14, 2022
With Chief Judge Out, Will Conservatives Lose Control Of Top New York Court?

Governor Hochul’s pick to replace the resigning Court of Appeals Chief Judge could break up the conservative bloc that controls the court—or entrench it.

Sam Mellins   ·   July 12, 2022
Eric Adams Wants to ‘Drill Into’ Complaints Against NYPD Gun Unit Trainees. So We Did.

Officers trained for the NYPD’s new Neighborhood Safety Teams average nearly double the number of substantiated civilian complaints than the NYPD as a whole.

Chris Gelardi   ·   July 11, 2022
A New Conservative Majority on New York’s Top Court is Upending State Law

A new four-judge bloc has consistently voted together in its most recent term, impacting criminal defendants, workers and people suing police.

Sam Mellins   ·   July 7, 2022
The Fossil Fuel Investments Driving Up ConEd Energy Bills

ConEd wants to jack up electric bills by 10 percent, and gas by 15 percent. Here’s what that would pay for.

Colin Kinniburgh   ·   July 6, 2022
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