Have you ever been trapped in a subscription that you wanted to cancel, but couldn’t figure out how?

Maybe the cancellation button on the website was hidden behind endless menus, or you couldn’t get through to a real person on the phone, and just gave up, resigning yourself to the continued monthly fees.

Those days appear to be over for New Yorkers. The 2025 state budget, which the legislature is expected to finalize within days, includes a new law requiring companies to offer easy cancellation methods for
subscriptions ranging from cable TV to Spotify. Critically, the final version of that law, which will take effect in November, removes a sweeping loophole initially proposed by Governor Kathy Hochul that would have exempted some of the country’s largest companies.

In New York’s third-largest city, a political dynasty holds sway in nearly every corner of government.

Now in his 14th year, Mike Spano is Yonkers’s longest-serving mayor. According to his 2023 financial disclosure form, 22 of his relatives held city jobs, including three brothers, a sister, 11 nephews, four nieces, and a cousin.

Yonkers political insiders have long whispered about how the Spano government interacts with a lobbying firm run by two other Spano brothers, which has made a killing since the advent of this Spano-run city government.

Last week, New York Focus published an investigation that for the first time shed light on concrete details of their interactions. Nick Spano denies wrongdoing, and no government entity has officially accused the brothers of anything nefarious.

Here are five key takeaways from our investigation:

As people continue to flee New York state due to issues like affordability and housing, school districts say that enrollment declines, along with inconsistent levels of state aid and a reluctance to increase property taxes, can leave them financially vulnerable. Meanwhile, educators say, the cost of providing an education to children continues to increase.