When a devastating fire ripped through the Twin Parks apartment complex in the Bronx three years ago, leaving 17 dead and dozens injured and homeless, the Bronx Community Foundation sprang into action.

By the end of the day, the organization, which was founded in 2017 to support social services nonprofits in the Bronx, had started a fundraising drive for the fire’s victims. The foundation said it was “working with community members, partners and local elected officials to mobilize resources as quickly as possible.” Both Mayor Eric Adams and Governor Kathy Hochul’s offices promoted the foundation’s effort, which raised hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Two years later, internal financial audits show, almost all of that money was still sitting in the bank. The foundation had spent only a small fraction actually helping the fire’s victims: In 2022, it sent $30,120 to two charities supporting Gambian immigrants, who made up most of the fire’s victims; the next year, the foundation spent an additional $26,340 on fire relief — though it’s not clear what specifically those funds went to.

When Governor Kathy Hochul’s office sent reporters an advance copy of her 2025 policy agenda before her State of the State address on Tuesday, it contained surprisingly few details on what was expected to be the centerpiece of her climate agenda: a carbon pricing program known as cap and invest. The brief, vague mention of the program implied that she was shelving it, in a major setback for climate action.

There was one concrete commitment left to hang onto. The governor said her agencies would release a portion of the rules to structure the program by the end of the year.

A few hours later, though, when the final version of the book was published online, that self-imposed deadline had disappeared. The document said only that regulators would “take steps forward” on the regulations “over the coming months.”

Sports betting makes up nearly one-fifth of the state’s total gambling revenue; the rest comes from casinos, horse racing, and the lottery.

Industry proponents claim it has been a boon for the state’s public schools — which receive most of the gambling industry’s tax revenue — although education experts say that funding levels for education aren’t directly tied to the amount of sports betting revenue coming in.

Meanwhile, the convenience of mobile betting may exacerbate addictive gambling behaviors and a growing body of research has found that legalization may be contributing to rising consumer debt and bankruptcies.