When brothers Desmon and Derrick Lewis founded the Bronx Community Foundation in 2017, they were copying a model that has worked across the country for more than a century: Attract major philanthropists and distribute their donations as grants to local nonprofits.

But the foundation has given out less than a quarter of the more than $12.6 million in donations it has received from 2019 to 2023 to support charitable organizations in the borough. For three years in a row, it spent more on consultants and overhead than on charitable giving. And it declined to account for how millions in pledged government grants have been allocated.

Concerns over finances, transparency and accountability at the organization have recently prompted high-level firings and resignations, partnership dissolutions, a rescinded state grant, and worries from major donors, according to interviews and documents obtained by New York Focus.

“We're not going to go down a rabbit hole and relitigate the past, nor respond to lies,” Derrick Lewis told New York Focus. “Our goal is to really focus on continuing to serve our community.”

New York’s warehouse workers face higher injury rates than employees in any other sector.

In recent years, they’ve been hurt more often and more severely than before, according to new federal data. And they reported more than one injury per nine workers in 2023 — more than double the rate of warehouse workers nationally.

As e-commerce has driven rapid growth in the industry — which added tens of thousands of jobs around the state in recent years — labor advocates are pressing Governor Kathy Hochul to sign a bill that would require warehouses to develop plans to keep workers safe. The legislation was delivered to Hochul on Thursday, and she has 10 days to sign or veto it (or allow it to become law without signing it).

As negotiations over the state budget reach a fever pitch in March, a visitor to the New York State Assembly offices might see something surprising: cots and sleeping bags.

They’re evidence of a work culture that former Assembly employees say is punishing, all-consuming, and low-paying.

Until last month, Philadelphia’s mass transit system was facing a “death spiral.” With fare revenue still below pre-pandemic levels and federal aid drying up, transit officials were warning of unprecedented fare hikes and service cuts — both things that discourage transit use and would have likely accelerated the decline.

Then Governor Josh Shapiro stepped in and single-handedly saved the system. He did it by using an easily available but little-used tool to boost transit funding at no cost to taxpayers or transit riders.

The federal government sends states billions of dollars each year to improve and maintain their transportation systems. By default, 80 percent of that money is allocated to highways and 20 percent to mass transit. But that’s not set in stone: Governors can choose to shift up to half of their state’s highway funding to transit instead, a move known as “flexing” the funds. Transit advocates and climate groups have urged governors to make wider use of this power to boost mass transit and reduce the environmentally harmful effects of highway expansion and car use.