Dear New York Focus readers,
As New York Focus’s audience engagement editor, I’m used to seeing data. Every week, I look at metrics that tell us how many people visit the stories we publish on our website, view our posts on social media, and — like you — read our newsletter.
At times, these numbers can be dizzying, but I try to remember that they’re anchored in something real — each is a person trying to make sense of what influences their everyday lives as New Yorkers. I keep spreadsheets, and your name is on at least one of them — as a newsletter subscriber.
This week, we published a couple stories with data points that have been sitting with me for days.
As many as 5 percent of New York adults struggle with severe mental illness. Chris Gelardi and Julia Rock reported that some of these people have been waiting for as long as two years to access voluntary treatment through a supportive housing program. One, in Westchester County, was close to 1,300 people, while Suffolk County’s was nearly 1,600 people long last May.
At the same time, Governor Kathy Hochul is proposing to expand involuntary commitment, an issue which has been holding up budget negotiations.
My mind has also been on the 5,100 people that have been designated as gang members by the New York State Police, using speculative criteria like tattoos, clothing, and associations. Gelardi reported that this statewide gang database has been quietly maintained for 20 years without scrutiny. The database feeds information directly to the Trump Administration as ICE carries out extrajudicial mass deportations of immigrants with alleged gang ties. The criteria that ICE uses to justify its deportations have included ribbon tattoos and clothing with Chicago Bulls graphics.
While Hochul has said State Police will not cooperate with the Trump administration’s mass deportations, the 5,100 people on the secretive gang database have no way of knowing that their names are on it, or why — and no way of pushing back.
