Topics Reporting
As State Support Dwindles, New York’s Overdose Crisis is Only Getting Worse

State withholds have left harm reduction providers undersupplied, and informal overdose prevention networks are struggling to fill the gap.

Lee Harris   ·   February 16, 2021
Queens Defenders Fires Two Pro-Union Employees

Amid an ongoing union election at the Queens indigent defense law firm, two outspoken union supporters were fired without warning.

Sam Mellins   ·   February 11, 2021
“It’s a life or death situation out here”: a brutal winter for unsheltered New Yorkers

“We sleep together like chickens”: Street homeless New Yorkers describe the struggle to endure the pandemic-era winter.

Ari Dubow   ·   February 8, 2021
Will Manhattan’s Next D.A. Break Ranks With Tough-on-Crime Colleagues?

Three candidates in the June election say they would not join the association of state DAs, which has fought measures such as bail reform.

Sam Mellins   ·   February 2, 2021
Will New York Decriminalize Syringe Possession in 2021?

Amid dramatic spikes in drug overdoses and HIV cases, legislators and public health professionals push for New York to decriminalize sterile syringes.

Sam Mellins   ·   January 22, 2021
Cuomo’s Tax Hike Friendlier to the Rich Than Advertised, Budget Experts and Legislators Say

“The governor’s twisting himself in knots to not offend rich people,” the number two Democrat in the state Senate said.

Akash Mehta   ·   January 21, 2021
Tali Farhadian Weinstein’s Run for Manhattan D.A. Fueled By Wall St Megadonors, Filings Show

A leading candidate for Manhattan DA has raked in two thirds of her campaign funds from five-figure donations—many from financial industries she would be in charge of prosecuting.

Sam Mellins   ·   January 21, 2021
“What am I to do?” An oral history of mothering children in online school

“I’m the security guard, a mother, a father, a teacher, I’m everything.” Parents and children reflect on a year of remote learning and its impact on their finances, mental health, and family.

Morley Musick   ·   January 20, 2021
NYC Plans to Import Canadian Hydropower. Who Benefits?

A planned transmission line from Canada is meant to reduce NYC’s fossil fuel dependence. But First Nations say the project ignores them.

Geoff Dembicki   ·   January 15, 2021
Progressives Slam State Senate Finance Secretary Pick

Democratic leadership appointed David Friedfel, the top state policy analyst at the Citizens Budget Commission, to a key staff position in budget negotiations.

Lee Harris and Akash Mehta   ·   January 12, 2021
Queens Public Defenders Push to Unionize. Management Calls Them a ‘Mob.’

A wave of legal aid attorneys are joining the labor movement. But bosses say it’s bad for business and the unions just want to collect their dues.

Sam Mellins   ·   January 7, 2021
The D.A. Election That Could Reshape New York City’s War On Drugs

The office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor is on the chopping block in Manhattan’s 2021 DA race.

Sam Mellins   ·   December 17, 2020
Senate Proposes $4 Billion December Revenue Package, but Assembly Won’t Go That High, Sources Say

The Senate has proposed raising $4 billion in revenue before the end of the year, but the Assembly is unwilling go much higher than $2 billion, sources say.

Akash Mehta   ·   December 17, 2020
Assembly Speaker Heastie May be Holding Up Blanket Eviction Moratorium, Despite Senate Consensus

Sources both inside and outside the legislature say Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie is pushing back against the Senate Democrats’ proposal for a blanket moratorium.

Morley Musick   ·   December 17, 2020
Inside Upstate New York’s Lead Poisoning Crisis

Many upstate cities don’t test old houses for lead poisoning until after children have already tested positive. A new bill would change that.

Morley Musick   ·   December 11, 2020
How New York Judges Spend Their Way Toward Seats on the Bench

Most of the state Supreme Court candidates who won in November had donated to the parties and party bosses that nominated them, a New York Focus investigation found.

Sam Mellins   ·   December 10, 2020
Life and death in a New York prison

As New York prisons face a second wave of COVID-19 cases, one incarcerated person tells New York Focus they haven’t fixed the problems that led to the first.

Gautama Mehta   ·   December 10, 2020
“We’re in a Tsunami”: Legislators Urge State Spending on Food Assistance

As food pantries struggle to meet surging demand with declining funds, legislators and providers say the state must offer more assistance.

Ari Dubow   ·   December 4, 2020
A Million Unemployed New Yorkers are About to Fall Off a Fiscal Cliff

Federal unemployment benefits expire at the end of the month. With no relief in sight from Washington or Albany, many New Yorkers are desperate.

Daniel Moritz-Rabson   ·   December 3, 2020
Methadone patients routinely denied take-home treatment throughout pandemic, despite health guidance

New York isn’t following through on guidance expanding take-home treatment to reduce Covid-19 spread, advocates say. Many patients must wait in line for treatment as many as six times a week.

Lee Harris   ·   November 29, 2020
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