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Julia Rock

Julia Rock is a reporter for New York Focus. She was previously an investigative reporter at The Lever.

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Photo collage of Kathy Hochul hugging a young child, background image of tax forms.
New York State Council Issues Child Poverty Recommendations

An advisory group set up under a 2021 state law finalized its proposals to cut child poverty in half.

December 20, 2024
Warehouse workers remove packages from shelves.
Hochul Weighs Warehouse Safety Bill as Injuries Continue to Climb

The Business Council, whose members include major warehouse owners UPS and Amazon, is pressing Governor Kathy Hochul to veto or amend the bill.

December 13, 2024
Photo collage of a home health aide fixing a dextrose IV bag, with a background of two large analog clocks showing a late hour.
New York Medicaid Plans Are Responsible for Wage Theft, Lawsuit Charges

New York’s home care workers are suing insurance companies for systematically underpaying them for grueling, around-the-clock work.

December 3, 2024
The logo of a baby in a stroller lays above a background of dollar signs on bricks.
New York ‘Birth Grant’ Bill Would Pay New Parents With Medicaid Funds

A proposal from state Senator Andrew Gounardes would send some new parents $1,800 in the third trimester of pregnancy.

November 4, 2024
Law Firm Receiving Lucrative Contracts Has Donated to Mayoral Candidate Brad Lander

Pomerantz LLP attorneys have donated to comptroller candidates for decades, highlighting a loophole in rules meant to keep government contractors from spending in city elections.

October 21, 2024
NYC Mayor Eric Adams delivers remarks at a flag-raising ceremony for the Republic of Korea in Bowling Green Park, NYC.
Adams Scandal Exposes Potential Flaws in NYC’s Campaign Finance System

The indictment has exposed cracks in New York’s widely admired way of helping fund campaigns.

October 7, 2024
What Does Turkey Want From Eric Adams?

Foreign governments have long courted local officials. Prosecutors are starting to go after them.

October 4, 2024
A child outside a day center
New York Child Care Providers Are Bleeding Workers as Federal Money Dries Up

Nearly half of the state’s child care providers have raised tuition and a third have lost staff, a new report found.

October 1, 2024
New York State Is Illegally Stalling on Food and Cash Aid Decisions, Lawsuit Charges

More than 53,000 New Yorkers are allegedly facing delays regarding eligibility for benefits.

August 19, 2024
Senator Proposes $1,000 “Baby Bonus” to Help People Afford to Have Children

Payments for newborns have reduced poverty elsewhere, but are a novel idea in New York.

August 15, 2024
Watchdog Asks Hochul to Veto Real Estate Tax Break Until It’s Clear If It Works

The Citizens Budget Commission wants the governor to halt a just-passed extension of the Industrial and Commercial Abatement Program so a study of the controversial subsidy can be completed.

August 13, 2024
A Long Island Rail Road conductor standing inside a train gestures with his hand.
Why Did the MTA’s Union Turn Against Congestion Pricing?

Before Kathy Hochul paused it, the tolling program lost the little labor support it had when the Transport Workers Union withdrew its backing this spring.

July 26, 2024
A house damaged by a storm, set against a background of oil rigs.
Could New York Force Insurance Companies to Drop Fossil Fuels?

As climate disasters threaten a home insurance crisis, a new state bill aims at the problem’s root.

June 10, 2024
A hand places a ballot with the Solidarity PAC logo in a ballot box.
Pro-Israel PAC Floods Assembly Races With Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars

The recently formed Solidarity PAC has mobilized big finance and real estate to target socialists and the Working Families Party.

June 6, 2024
Kathy Hochul in front of traffic
Is Hochul’s Plan to Stop Congestion Pricing Legal?

Lawsuits had threatened to kill congestion pricing. Now, it might take a lawsuit to save it.

June 6, 2024
Joe Biden talking with reporters in 1994
After Weinstein Decision, Democrats Push Sexual Assault Measure Biden and Schumer Once Fought

After New York’s top court overturned Harvey Weinstein’s conviction, state lawmakers want to let prosecutors bring evidence from past uncharged sexual assaults.

May 18, 2024
An illustration of a McDonalds sign above the New York State Capitol
McDonald’s Franchise Owners Fight Wage Theft Crackdown

New Yorkers for Local Businesses has spent half a million dollars trying to kill a bill to help workers recover stolen wages. Almost all its backers appear to own McDonald’s franchises.

May 9, 2024
Carl Heastie in front of gas pipelines
Assembly Spikes Biggest Climate Proposal in New York Budget

The Assembly rejected legislation that would have sped up New York’s transition away from gas.

April 19, 2024
New York City Governor Kathy Hochul sits in front of a group of small children on a blue carpet.
Washington Failed to Expand the Child Tax Credit. Can Albany Get Kids Out of Poverty Instead?

One in five kids in New York live in poverty. Legislators are pushing Hochul to fulfill her promise to cut that rate in half.

April 9, 2024
A blue car suspended on a post against a blue sky with a sign below reading "PATRIOT AUTO SALES: LETS DEAL TODAY"
Looming Change to Repair Costs Drives Auto Industry Fight

As the state legislature considers a bill to change warranty payments, unions join their bosses to make car companies pay more.

March 29, 2024
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