We teamed up with Hell Gate to grill leading Democratic candidates in a forum unlike any other. Here’s what they said.
The embattled prison chief took an optimistic tack, but family members of those killed by prison guards have little faith that reforms will be meaningful.
If enacted, the cuts could topple the safety net for New York’s most vulnerable and upend the state’s newly passed budget.
A campaign group run by New York’s business lobby and backed by the American Chemistry Council failed to submit copies of mailers it sent in support of candidates.
The Trump administration has dealt a blow to the state’s food bank network, which supports around 3 million New Yorkers.
New York Focus and Hell Gate have partnered to host a mayoral candidate forum. Watch it here.
There are nearly 4,000 outstanding claims currently in a queue that stretches back more than a decade.
Our searchable database breaks down what was proposed and what made it in this year’s budget among key topics like education, family policy, criminal justice, climate, and more.
The state budget, finalized this week, increased the spending requirement on the city for the first time since the 1990s.
New York’s budget includes $1 billion for climate action — a record amount, but less than the state was supposed to raise by charging polluters.
The final budget stops short of what legislators and advocates hoped for and appears to reflect more of Governor Hochul’s funding priorities.
Hochul’s budget includes $37 billion for education, but the state Education Department is slamming one policy change as “educational malpractice” and a political retreat.
The state will spend $8 billion to pay off its debt to the feds and increase unemployment benefits for the first time in six years.
The final budget excludes a loophole that would have exempted corporate giants like Spotify and Amazon, after New York Focus reported on the carveout in February.
A national trade group has nearly doubled its spending in Albany since the packaging reduction bill was introduced and taken out attack ads on Democrats in swing districts.
Nick Spano went from prison sentence to multimillion-dollar lobbying comeback.
New York’s comptroller has flagged 22 school districts as fiscally stressed — up sharply from last year.
From preventive screenings to addiction treatment, critical care hangs in the balance for millions of New Yorkers relying on Medicaid.
The Modim Foundation is tied to a health insurer that will begin providing coverage to thousands of New York’s home health aides in May. It refuses to disclose where its gifts go, in a violation of tax law.
Mayor Mike Spano has stated his administration has not been lobbied by his powerful brother’s firm. Emails indicate otherwise.
Health insurer Leading Edge once tried to cancel a coma patient’s insurance and, in another case, retracted approval for surgery after the bill arrived.
This week was data-focused, as our reporters documented lengthy mental health wait times and a secretive gang database that feeds directly to the Trump administration.
For 20 years, the state police have been quietly building a database of suspected gang members — and they’re feeding it to Donald Trump’s administration.
In some counties, the waitlist for state-funded mental health treatment programs can exceed two years.
The lawsuit reveals that DOCCS is considering pausing solitary confinement law on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, and any other day designated by the commissioner.
The country’s biggest public housing authority is counting on a Chinese company to supply thousands of new energy-saving window heat pumps.
Here are the key findings from the second installment of our investigation into New York’s conviction integrity units.
No lawmaker will take credit for the proposal, but its quiet circulation has sparked fierce debate over state control of religious education.
Following New York Focus’s reporting, the state health department is moving to implement a law meant to boost kidney donations.
“There’s no legal basis for what they’re trying to do,” said one legal expert.
The detention of three children and their mother shocked the town. It also highlighted just how much the region’s key industries depend on immigrant workers.
A Queens court’s failure to reveal a romance has sparked accusations of bias.
Hochul’s proposed rollbacks are one of the major sticking points in this year’s budget negotiations. One prosecutor’s support rested on a faulty anecdote.
Drastic cutbacks coupled with skyrocketing utility costs put seniors and other vulnerable households at greater risk for severe illness and death.
Plus: meet with New York Focus reporters in Albany on Monday
Yeshivas and other nonpublic schools face a looming deadline to prove they offer an education similar to the state’s public schools. A proposed bill would loosen those rules and potentially delay the deadline.
Officers recorded over 25,000 stops last year, a 50 percent increase over the previous year. Nine in 10 people stopped by the NYPD last year were Black or Latino.
New York law mandates gender-affirming care — but some hospitals are backing down anyway.
Environmentalists have long charged that New York is falling short of its climate mandates. Now, they’re taking the state to court.
Mental health providers are scrambling to prevent mass layoffs and program closures, leaving advocates urging state leaders to step in before it’s too late.