Topics Reporting
Staying Focused
Sign up for our free newsletter, and we'll make sure you never miss a beat.
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
Tiffany Cabán Approves Major Astoria Housing Development, Bucking Trend Among Progressives

The approval will create hundreds of units of both affordable and market rate housing and has sparked debate in progressive circles over how to approach private development.

Sam Mellins   ·   September 14, 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
Distrust, Power Wrangling, and the Battle Over Rochester’s Next Public Defender

The Monroe County legislature’s president, Sabrina LaMar, has denigrated public defenders and shut them out of the now-eight-month-long process to appoint the next head of their office.

Chris Gelardi   ·   August 23, 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
Medicare Standoff Threatens Cuts to Current City Workers’ Benefits

The cancellation of a proposed cost-saving health plan after retired city workers sued could drain a special fund City Hall and unions use to pay employee benefits.

Sam Mellins   ·   August 10, 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
Real Estate Is Funding Eric Adams’s Fifth Homeless ‘Outreach’ Initiative. What’s the End Game?

The partnership split homeless advocates: Some welcomed the additional dollars, arguing “more is better,” while others predicted they would function mainly to keep people off corporate property.

Chris Gelardi   ·   August 2, 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
Health Insurers Just Killed The Medicare Plan City Retirees Railed Against

With the plan tied up in court, insurers Elevance Health and Empire BlueCross BlueShield pulled out of a controversial deal to switch retired city workers to privately run health insurance.

Sam Mellins   ·   July 19, 2022
6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14