Dear New York Focus readers,

We all went into this week anticipating to learn more about the consequences that President Donald Trump’s tariffs would bring to our personal lives. In New York City, where the cost of living is already so punishing, residents are bracing for the worst.

Climate reporter Colin Kinniburgh reported on one of the consequences this week — how they are derailing the city’s plan to decarbonize its public housing.

Kinniburgh reported that China is the world’s largest producer of green technologies, such as an innovative window heat pump that New York City is counting on to reduce gas emissions in its public housing. Heat pumps allow homes to rely on electricity rather than gas for heating and cooling. The New York City Housing Authority has a plan to buy 20,000 heat pumps from the Chinese company, Midea, and another 10,000 from the US-based Gradient. But with Trump’s tariffs now set at 145 percent, those plans could be set back.

The weekends offer a couple days to relax, take some personal time, and let loose. For incarcerated people it could mean sitting in their cells for upwards of 22 hours a day.

Criminal justice reporter Chris Gelardi wrote about a lawsuit from Legal Aid Society challenging the agency’s plans to suspend reforms to the Humane Alternatives to Long-term Solitary Confinement Act, known as HALT, on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

Gelardi wrote: Corrections officers have railed against the law since before its enactment, claiming that the restrictions lead to increased prison violence. When guards launched a three-week wildcat strike earlier this year, repealing HALT was one of their top demands.

In the latest installment of our series on Conviction Integrity Units within the District Attorney offices, Columbia Journalism Investigations fellow and Focus contributor Ryan Kost summarized the units’ track record on holding prosecutors responsible for misconduct.

Kost’s findings include:

• DAs rarely acknowledge when prosecutors’ actions led to wrongful convictions.

• Even when CIUs acknowledge their colleagues’ misconduct, they rarely hold them accountable.

• DAs are much more likely to blame the police than other prosecutors.

• CIUs can misclassify evidence withheld at trial.

• DAs can obstruct a defendant’s claims of constitutional rights violations.

New York Focus is hiring an immigration reporter to chronicle the experiences of immigrants throughout the state and investigate the state and local political actors that shape them.

Applications are due next Wednesday, April 23.