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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
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
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
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
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
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
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