New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration has been in talks with Governor Kathy Hochul’s office about trimming the costs of three expensive programs as part of a potential deal to send more state aid to the city, according to several people familiar with the ongoing negotiations.

Hochul has been open about wanting the city to find savings within its $127 billion budget, but has not publicly specified which programs should be scrutinized.

Although several sources said Hochul’s office has been pushing the city to cut costs on a trio of specific programs, a person close to the governor’s office said city officials were the first to raise them as potential places to reduce spending.

A citizen oversight panel is pressuring the state to improve conditions in its youth prisons in response to New York Focus reporting on a yearslong crisis in the facilities.

Earlier this year, a federal lawsuit alleged that facilities operated by the state Office of Children and Family Services, or OCFS, have been keeping incarcerated youth locked in bathroomless cells, often for upwards of 23 hours a day for days or weeks at a time. Separately, New York Focus documented the severe staffing shortage that has left the youth prisons on frequent lockdown; one facility outside Rochester has regularly operated with only a tenth of the staff it’s supposed to have available to supervise youth.

A review of federal court documents by THE CITY reveals three dozen cases in which local law enforcement allegedly cooperated with ICE agents.

The cases all took place in cities and towns on Long Island and in counties north of New York City that lack sanctuary city protections, leaving local law enforcement there free to share information with ICE and to coordinate operations.

This week, state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins defended Senator Luis Sepúlveda, who also works as a private lawyer, after reporting from New York Focus, Hell Gate, and City Limits found that he has botched cases numerous times since 2017, leading to consequences for his clients, including multiple evictions.

Each spring, Albany lawmakers decide how to spend hundreds of billions in public money in the state’s famously opaque budget process. Here's a look at how the budget process works and why it matters.

Why is the Bronx Democratic Party suddenly smashing fundraising records? New York Focus examined the party’s eye-popping $812,000 haul over the final six months of 2025.