Covering the politics, policies and people of New York State government.
The watchdog groups Reinvent Albany and Scrutinize recently released a report that estimates a meager 6 percent of all New York state criminal court decisions are actually published annually. These findings have prompted Senate Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris, D-Queens, to call for legislation that would emphasize judicial transparency. The […]
New York state has joined 11 other states with “clean slate” laws that seal the criminal records of formerly incarcerated people with the goal of making it easier for them to find housing and jobs. Gov. Kathy Hochul on Tuesday signed the Clean Slate Act (S.7551A/A.1029C), which allows certain criminal […]
New York state’s small city school districts earned a win on Tuesday as voters approved an increase in their debt limits, giving them the same borrowing power as larger school districts. Situated as ballot proposals in this year’s election, the two statewide ballot questions of debt limits were both passed […]
The New York State Senate Subcommittee on Cannabis held its first public hearing in Albany on Monday to shed light on the issues that have been preventing the legal cannabis market from becoming fully operational. During the hearing — which bore witness to many problems that have plagued New York’s […]
More than eight in ten New York state voters say that the recent influx of migrants to New York is a serious problem for the state, with 57 percent calling the situation “very serious,” up slightly from 54 percent in August. In a new Siena poll released October 24, nearly […]
On Monday, October 30, the New York State Senate Subcommittee on Cannabis will hold a public hearing in Albany to discuss the cannabis market of New York, the first of the subcommittee’s history. Since its inception back in 2021, the legal market for cannabis in New York has met a […]
Overshadowed by the towering buildings that make up “Billionaires’ Row,” a united force of lawmakers, union members, housing groups and other advocates held a rally in Manhattan on September 27, urging Gov. Kathy Hochul to sign the LLC Transparency Act. Led by Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal, D-Manhattan, who is the main […]
A landmark settlement was reached on September 5 in which the New York City Police Department agreed to overhaul its policing tactics regarding public protests. The settlement marks the resolution of a years-long case in which the department was accused of aggressive policing during the 2020 George Floyd protests, leading […]