A Westchester County town’s top elected official helped advance a rezoning law that significantly increased the value of land he owned — then sold that land to a developer for nearly $3 million, reaping a substantial personal profit.

Records reviewed by New York Focus show Harrison Supervisor and Mayor Richard Dionisio participated in multiple votes related to a controversial rezoning effort without publicly disclosing his financial interest. He stepped aside from one key vote, but other actions potentially violate town ethics rules and raise conflict-of-interest concerns that have galvanized public opposition to the project.

Even before this revelation, a proposed housing project in the rezoned area had sparked pushback in Harrison, an affluent suburban town and village of about 30,000 that lies roughly 30 minutes northeast of The Bronx, with residents questioning the plan to build a six-story, 140-apartment tower in the midst of a floodplain.

Last week, Democratic candidates for New York City mayor gathered for a forum at the Public Theater unlike the dozens of others they’d attended. The event, hosted by the scrappy media outlets New York Focus and Hell Gate, presented candidates with scenarios that had bedeviled previous mayors, gave them the chance to ask questions of one another, and forced quick thinking in a lightning round.

New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, former city comptroller Scott Stringer, and state Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani all attended.

There was a clear consensus on at least one key issue: the three candidates raked Cuomo for sexual harassment allegations, his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, and his coziness with President Donald Trump, among other matters. Still, Cuomo continues to lead the polls.

Read our recap featuring key takeaways below.

“I hate coming here,” Robert Ricks said.

Ricks sat at the focal point of a hearing room in the New York state legislative office building. He’d traveled to Albany last Wednesday to testify for a second time about his son, Robert Brooks, whom prison guards beat to death in December at the Central New York prison where he was incarcerated. Video of the gruesome killing sparked nationwide outcry and calls to reform New York’s state prison system.

Prison reform was the topic of last week’s all-day hearing, which took place as the state legislature approaches its final weeks of the annual legislative session. Amid emotional testimony, Ricks outlined the Robert Brooks Agenda for Justice, a suite of legislation to expand prison oversight and make it easier to hold abusive officers to account. If lawmakers don’t pass the bills before the session ends in less than a month, they’ll have to wait until next year to try again.

For months, Congressional Republicans have dodged questions over exactly how they plan to fund another round of Trump-era tax cuts for corporations and the rich. While big-budget programs like Medicaid and SNAP have been eyed for cuts, legislators have said only that they’ll concentrate on rooting out fraud and trimming waste from those mainstays.

The answer is now becoming clear. This week, during the controversial, fast-track process known as budget reconciliation, House Republicans proposed deep and historic cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as SNAP or food stamps.