Getting started with our housing panel. Moderator Sam Mellins posed the question: Is a rent freeze a good idae or not? Watch the livestream here: nysfocus.com

What will it take to turn Mayor Mamdani’s campaign promises into policy? Join us for a housing policy discussion tonight at Judson Memorial Church in Greenwich Village, Manhattan. You can also watch the livestream on our homepage. Starts at 7! nysfocus.com

If these projections are accurate, the Democratic candidate for president in 2032 could win every state that Kamala Harris won in 2024, plus Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin — and still lose the election. nysfocus.com/2026/02/12/h...

NEW: Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s “Tin Cup Day” in Albany was dominated by talk of making buses fare-free and raising taxes on millionaires and corporations. A multitude of other promises that also hinge on state approval now appear to be on the back burner.

Tonight! What will it take to turn Mayor Mamdani’s campaign promises into policy? Join us for a housing policy discussion at Judson Memorial Church in Greenwich Village, Manhattan. Get your tickets: nysfocus.com/turning-plat...

NEW: As housing construction booms in red states, blue states are falling behind. That will likely boost Republicans in federal politics.

NEW: The next US Census likely won’t be good for New York. The state is projected to lose two congressional seats, and with them, two electoral votes for president. One reason why blue states are losing ground: The red states build far more housing than they do.

The mayor’s Tin Cup Day speech hinges on a bold claim that state leaders have deprived the city of what it’s owed. Mamdani’s argument went further: that state leaders, namely former Governor Andrew Cuomo, meant to “punish” the city by extracting its wealth. nysfocus.com/2026/02/09/m...

Tomorrow! What will it take to turn Mayor Mamdani’s campaign promises into policy? Join us for a housing policy discussion at Judson Memorial Church in Greenwich Village, Manhattan. Get your tickets here: nysfocus.com/turning-plat...

What's Tin Cup Day? Zohran Mamdani is in Albany today to beg the state for money. Read about that here: nysfocus.com/2026/02/09/m...

Zohran Mamdani’s Tin Cup Day speech hinges on a bold claim about the city’s relationship with the state. Does his claim that Albany is shafting New York City hold up?

The rent is too damn high! Tomorrow night FPI chief economist @emmurpheis.bsky.social joins @aarmlovi.bsky.social and Sam Mellins at Judson Memorial Church to discuss housing under Mamdani

NEW: A hearing Thursday gives lawmakers an opportunity to grill police and prison leaders. Here are four questions our justice bureau chief would ask the state’s law enforcement leaders. nysfocus.com/2026/02/11/s...

Zohran Mamdani’s Tin Cup Day speech hinges on a bold claim about the city’s relationship with the state. Does his claim that Albany is shafting New York City hold up?

NEW: A program making it easier to hire government workers has helped fill more than 50,000 jobs across New York state. Former Mayor Eric Adams abandoned a brief attempt to join the program in the face of union opposition. A raft of vacancies now threatens to hobble Mamdani's agenda.

Today is "Tin Cup Day." Like many New York City mayors before him, Zohran Mamdani made the trek to Albany to beg the state for money. The new mayor is arming himself with an unusually provocative argument: state leaders have deprived the city of what it’s owed, and it’s time to fix the imbalance.

NEW: State officials have so far dodged questions about the future of New York’s largest health plan. A hearing on Tuesday could provide some insight. Here are our questions about the future of New York’s Medicaid program. nysfocus.com/2026/02/09/m...

NEW: New York environmental regulators have deemed a developer liable for an $18 million Westchester cleanup — but they haven’t yet made the company pay. nysfocus.com/2026/02/10/a...

NEW: The Amawalk Reservoir, which provides drinking water to three northern Westchester County towns and New York City, has become the center of a battle over who pays for environmental cleanups in the state.

NEW: The mayor’s Tin Cup Day speech hinges on a bold claim about the city’s relationship with the state. nysfocus.com/2026/02/09/m...

What will it take to turn Mayor Mamdani’s campaign promises into policy? Join us for a housing policy discussion this Thursday, February 12. Get tickets here: nysfocus.com/turning-plat...

NEW: Like many New York City mayors before him, Zohran Mamdani is trekking up to Albany on Wednesday to beg the state for money. He's arming himself with an unusually provocative argument: that state leaders have deprived the city of what it’s owed, and that it’s time to fix the imbalance.

New in @nysfocus.bsky.social : "‘I’m a Human Rights Violator’: Staff at Youth Prison Recount Lockdowns, Turmoil, 24-Hour Shifts" A yearslong staffing crisis at state-run facilities has taken its toll on incarcerated kids and the workers who watch over them. nysfocus.com/2026/02/04/o...

On February 12, join New York Focus at Judson Memorial Church in Greenwich Village for a panel to unpack Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s ambitious housing platform. nysfocus.com/turning-plat...

Do you work at an OCFS secure or limited secure facility? Do you have a loved one incarcerated in one of the facilties? Were you incarcerated yourself? New York Focus wants to hear from you. Email reporter Chris Gelardi at [email protected] or message him on Signal at @cgelardi.42.

NEW: How does New York's court system intertwine with party politics? A foreclosure case in Brooklyn highlights ties between the courts and political party clubhouses. nysfocus.com/2026/02/06/e...

A major Manhattan landlord that could stand to benefit from the reconstruction of Penn Station has a stake in one of the three proposals being considered by President Donald Trump’s administration to remake the rail hub.

NEW: New York utilities spend $1 billion a year replacing old gas pipes. New legislation would force them to reveal where that money is being spent. nysfocus.com/2026/02/04/l...

NEW: New York Focus identified more than a thousand cases where a controversial interest formula increased a house’s bidding price at auction. After no one bid, banks obtained them for a pittance.

Hochul hopped on the anti-ICE train with some new, two-pronged legislation. One proposal, to ban jail contracts, would be big. The other... maybe not so much. I've said it before: 287(g) is the red herring of local ICE collaboration. From @liv-veazey.bsky.social and @sammellins.bsky.social:

New York's youth prisons are a disaster. Kids locked in solitary for days at a time. Staff forced to work 24-plus-hour shifts. Crisis after crisis. "I'm a human rights violator," one whistleblower told me. They recounted the nightmare at one facility: nysfocus.com/2026/02/04/o...

NEW: Understaffed units. Apathetic leadership. Anguished kids locked alone in rooms for hours at a time. For some workers at Industry Residential Center, a youth prison complex near Rochester, a job they thought would offer a way to help troubled kids has turned into a nightmare.

NEW: As Washington has tightened its grip on social services, New York officials have said little about how they plan to adapt the state’s safety net amid a growing affordability crisis. Here are five questions we’d pose to the state’s human services leaders.

A new bill would target the largest driver of rising gas bills in New York: the $1 billion that utilities spend each year replacing old gas pipes. nysfocus.com/2026/02/04/l...

New: Uber has put nearly $3 million into a new independent expenditure group backing Governor Hochul, weeks after she announced a proposal to cap some payouts from car accidents. nysfocus.com/2026/02/03/u...

Did you get your ticket yet? We're hosting three public forums across New York City to examine Mayor Zohran Mamdani's three central policy planks: housing, transportation, and child care. nysfocus.com/turning-plat...

Vornado Realty Trust has a stake in one of the proposals being considered by the Trump administration to rebuild Penn Station, reviving the possibility that the project could include a controversial redevelopment of the neighborhood. nysfocus.com/2026/02/02/v...

Did you get your ticket yet? We're hosting three public forums across New York City to examine Mayor Zohran Mamdani's three central policy planks: housing, transportation, and child care. nysfocus.com/turning-plat...

Governor Hochul unveiled a proposal to bar local police from signing contracts with ICE. But many localities collaborate with ICE without contracts, and Hochul’s proposal wouldn’t change that. Here’s what you need to know: nysfocus.com/2026/01/31/hochul-sanctuary-ice-immigration-287g-jail-bill

Governor Hochul unveiled a proposal to bar local police from signing contracts with ICE. But many localities collaborate with ICE without contracts, and Hochul’s proposal wouldn’t change that. Here’s what you need to know: nysfocus.com/2026/01/31/hochul-sanctuary-ice-immigration-287g-jail-bill

"You have to accept the possibility that people may know their neighborhood and some of the particular details better than you do," Hank Gutman, former New York City Department of Transportation Commissioner, on community outreach.

New York Focus is a proud partner of Local News Day localnewsday.org

What's next for transportation advocacy orgs? "I know some of our groups will be getting some buses up to Albany and putting that pressure on our state electeds, on the governor, to do more and not just kick the can," Megan Ahearn, Executive Director, New York Public Interest Research Group.

Did you get your ticket yet? We're hosting three public forums across New York City to examine Mayor Zohran Mamdani's three central policy planks: housing, transportation, and child care. nysfocus.com/turning-plat...

NEW: State officials have voiced renewed interest in changing how New York counts its greenhouse gas emissions. nysfocus.com/2026/01/30/n...

NEW: In a marathon hearing on Wednesday, New York’s top energy and environmental officials hinted that Governor Kathy Hochul could still be looking to amend a key component of New York’s climate law, despite leaving plans to do so out of her budget proposal earlier this month.

On 1/28, @nypirg.bsky.social Executive Director Megan Ahearn Ahearn joined transit allies — @ridersalliance.org, @transalt.org, and @tstc.bsky.social — for a great community conversation about Mayor Mamdani's transportation policies at the @nysfocus.bsky.social "Are we there yet?" event in Brooklyn.

"We get accused of being car haters," Ben Furnas, Executive Director of Transportation Alternatives. "It's not that they're bad per se, but that they're very large...it is not ideology, it is geometry."

Impact: Last year, we reported on how counties have placed tens of thousands of homeless families in hotels that aren't required to offer basic services provided by shelters.This week, the state proposed mandating those services, like help finding child care and housing.

Why are New York buses so slow? "It is a political will problem," Betsy Plum, Executive Director of Riders Alliance. Thank you for joining us yesterday at Littlefield for our public forum on transportation!