Chris Gelardi is a reporter for New York Focus investigating the state’s criminal-legal system. His work has appeared in more than a dozen other outlets, most frequently The Nation, The Intercept, and The Appeal. He is a past recipient of awards from Columbia and Northwestern universities to cover immigration enforcement, US militarism, contemporary colonialism, and county jails. His investigations into the use of a police gang database in Washington, DC, have spurred lawsuits and legislation. He’s based in Queens.
Local regulations haven’t kept up with the rollout of new surveillance tech. Some reformers see Washington as their best hope.
Backing primary opponents to progressive Democrats, the new Solidarity PAC resembles a state-level analog to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
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.
New York Focus has published thousands of pages of county jail oversight records. Browse them in our database.
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 jails can transfer people with mental illnesses to maximum security prisons, even while they’re legally innocent.
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.
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.
Israeli settlers have unleashed a wave of violence on Palestinians. With tax-deductible donations, New Yorkers can help equip them to carry it out.
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.
A surprise plan to shutter a jail in Syracuse’s Onondaga County spurred a chaotic political skirmish — and left local incarcerated people in the lurch.
The assemblymember wants to unseat Nico Minerva, right hand to party boss Keith Wright. The Manhattan Democrats vote on Thursday.
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 raucous emergency meeting featured escalating alarm, bewilderment, a hot mic, dueling accusations of conflicts of interest, and a dramatic vote with two surprise twists.
Albany empowered its community oversight board. But the police department and the city’s top attorney are stonewalling.
It was hard enough to get back on Social Security and Medicaid after incarceration. Then Eric Adams slashed reentry services.
For Daniel Martuscello III, New York prisons are a family business.
The policy and its sudden reversal will be among Acting Commissioner Anthony Annucci’s last acts.