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Split screen of two photos: On the left, Bronx residents as Eric Adams speaks to them following the 2022 fire. On the right, in black and white, a firefighter leans out of an empty window in the burned building of the Twin Parks apartment complex.
After a Catastrophic Fire in The Bronx, Nearly $400,000 in Donations Remains Unspent

The Bronx Community Foundation spent almost none of the funds it raised for victims of the 2022 Twin Parks apartment fire.

Sam Mellins   ·   January 22, 2025
Housing Hopes, or Housing Half Measures? State of the State 2025

Hochul is pushing an array of financial incentives to tackle the state’s housing crisis. But will they make a dent?

Sam Mellins   ·   January 15, 2025
Photo collage of a desk with a notepad and voice recorder in a newsroom.
Reporters’ Notebook: Covering Governor Hochul’s 2025 State of the State

Our team will be descending upon Albany on Tuesday. Here’s what they’ll be watching.

New York Focus   ·   January 13, 2025
Photograph of Sam Mellins in front of a photo of Route 17 in New York, showing signs to Scranton and Syracuse.
New York’s Secret Senate, Highway Love, and Political Machines: 2024 in Review

New York Focus reporter Sam Mellins reflects on what he learned this year, and teases what lies ahead for 2025.

Sam Mellins   ·   December 23, 2024
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.

Julia Rock   ·   December 20, 2024
Legislators Wrote a Bill in 2023 to Address the Housing Crisis — But Never Got to Vote on It

A newly discovered 80-page housing package would have included good cause eviction, but legislators were dissuaded by Kathy Hochul’s opposition.

Sam Mellins   ·   August 12, 2024
Kingston Made Rent Law History Two Years Ago. That Was the Easy Part.

For tenants in the first upstate city to adopt rent stabilization, benefiting from the law’s basic protections is an uphill battle.

Emma Whitford and Sam Mellins   ·   July 16, 2024
NYCLU Sues to Overturn Landmark Sex Offender Law

Advocates charge that New York’s restrictions for sex offense registrants are “vague, expansive, and unnecessary.” On Tuesday, they filed a federal lawsuit to strike them down.

Chris Gelardi and Sam Mellins   ·   May 28, 2024
Albany State Capitol building with For Rent signs in the windows.
Landlord Legislators Carved Themselves Out of Good Cause Eviction

A quarter of lawmakers in Albany are landlords. Almost none of them are covered by the most significant tenant protection law in years.

Peter Tomao and Sam Mellins   ·   May 13, 2024
Albany’s New Housing Plan Would Build Only a Fraction of the Housing New York Leaders Say Is Needed

It’s the first step New York has taken to address its housing shortage in years — but tenant groups are fuming and real estate wants more.

Sam Mellins   ·   April 22, 2024
Activists and New York state Senator Julia Salazar rally to pass good cause eviction in Albany. They stand in the high-ceilinged halls of the Capitol with a white banner reading PASS GOOD CAUSE and various red signs.
Wage Disputes and Tenant Protections Stall Albany Housing Deal

As real estate developers resist wage guarantees and try to roll back tenants’ rights, a potential budget deal is at an impasse.

Sam Mellins   ·   April 4, 2024
These Local Agencies Hand Out Over a Billion in Tax Breaks Across New York

What are industrial development agencies?

Arabella Saunders and Julia Rock   ·   March 6, 2024
An overhead view shows streets, buildings, trees, and a river in the forested town of Kingston, New York, the Ulster County seat.
Ulster County Leaders Struggle to Rein in Real Estate Tax Breaks

The county is ready to restart real estate subsidies after a two-year pause. Residents fear it won’t fix their housing crisis.

Arabella Saunders   ·   February 8, 2024
Governor Hochul in a hard hat
Hochul Is Ready to Start Weaning New York Off Gas

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.

Colin Kinniburgh   ·   January 22, 2024
Window looking into a darkened foreclosed home. A yellow sign says "LENDER FORECLOSURE" and "PUBLIC HOME AUCTION." Smaller paper signs say "Warning No Trespassing" and note a lawn maintenance company.
After Foreclosing Homes, New York Towns Have to Pay Residents Back

New York municipalities used to keep the surplus from foreclosed homes sold at auction. Then the Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional.

Arabella Saunders   ·   January 12, 2024
Park Slope Neighbors Seek to Block New Apartment Buildings on Industrial Site

A laundry company wants to turn its factory into 13-story apartment buildings, sparking the latest in a series of fierce zoning fights.

Sam Mellins   ·   December 20, 2023
Gray poster-style houses over a sepia landscape.
Industrial Development Agencies Look to Dish Out Housing Tax Breaks

As the governor urges more housing, IDAs are looking to pitch in. Critics say it goes beyond their legal role.

Arabella Saunders and J. Dale Shoemaker   ·   December 20, 2023
NYC Mayor Eric Adams stands at a podium at REBNY gala superimposed over shot of One Bryant Park
Eric Adams Is ‘Getting Stuff Done’ on Climate Law — For the Real Estate Lobby

The mayor is putting New York City’s landmark climate and jobs law in jeopardy, our columnist argues.

Pete Sikora   ·   September 25, 2023
Could Unions Break New York’s Housing Impasse?

In California, getting labor on board was essential to addressing the housing crisis. In New York, unions say the governor has barely tried.

Sam Mellins   ·   September 18, 2023
A colorized building with an American flag and a sepia background
Long Island Town of Huntington Says No to More Apartments

At a heated town meeting, a resident warned “pedophiles or criminals” would move into new housing.

Sam Mellins   ·   July 27, 2023
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