Emergencies are expensive. Whether the COVID-19 pandemic, influxes in asylum seekers or weather-related disasters, communities can rally for clean-up and recovery.

At the end of the day, that’s all needs to be paid for.

Democrats in the New York State Legislature have accomplished their goal of passing a prison reform package in response to the murder of Robert Brooks at Marcy Correctional Facility in December. Whether it rises to the occasion in the eyes of the advocates who have spent the legislative session advocating for it is another question.

Weeks before the legislative session began in January, a package of prison reforms in response to Brooks’ death was galvanized as a priority for lawmakers in the powerful Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic, and Asian Legislative Caucus. Last Friday they released their own package of more than 20 preferred pieces of legislation, while the actual package approved by legislative leadership and sent to the floor for a vote included nine initiatives wrapped into an omnibus piece of legislation.

Gov. Kathy Hochul defended New York’s immigration policies in the face of a Republican grilling Thursday on Capitol Hill — including questions from two New York Republicans who are weighing potentially challenging her in next year’s election.

“We cooperate in all criminal investigations. Always have, always will,” Hochul told lawmakers.

Every year, after the state budget is passed, the Office of the New York State Comptroller issues a report on the spending plan.

This year, the report is especially important considering the enormous concern in New York about possible federal budget cuts and new tariff policies.

The proposed bill that would put a five-year moratorium on the use of sewage sludge on farmland passed the New York state Senate on Thursday.

For decades, spreading sludge — also known as biosolids — was seen as an acceptable practice to fertilize farm fields, but now residents nearby are experiencing contamination of their drinking wells by forever chemicals, or PFAS.

The First Amendment protects freedom of speech, even on social media. So, what happens when a public figure limits who can participate in online public forums?

It’s an issue that pops up time and time again in this digital age, as social media has become one of the primary ways the public can connect with public officials.

The Trump administration sued New York state Thursday over a law that blocks immigration officials from arresting people at New York courthouses, saying it purposely shields dangerous criminals.

The lawsuit in New York's Northern District is the latest in a series of legal actions targeting state or local policies the administration says interfere with immigration enforcement, authorities said.

With the June 24 Democratic primary fast approaching, City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams sat down with NY1’s Errol Louis to discuss her run for mayor. A late addition to the race, Adams emphasized her leadership style, which she says is based on appointing competent, community-based leaders. The episode marks the eighth and final installment of the “You Decide” mayoral candidate interview series.

Adams discussed her views on budgeting, the legislative achievements of a majority-female City Council and innovative approaches to address mental health and public safety. She also shared her personal background, education at Spelman College and insights on the importance of diverse leadership in the city.

In a different era in New York, mayoral candidates focused on what was known as “The Three I’s“: Italy, Ireland and Israel.

Fast forward to 2025, where in this year’s primary, the candidates all seem to be dealing with just one big “I”: Israel.

State lawmakers said Wednesday they expect to leave Albany for the year without passing legislation to allow grocery stores in the state to sell wine, but remain hopeful they'll modernize another part of state liquor law to help restaurants and small businesses.

Key New York alcohol distributor Empire Merchants withdrew its opposition to a bill that would permit restaurants and taverns to buy up to six bottles of liquor from local stores per week in between shipments after lawmakers amended the proposal late last week.

President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Federal Aviation Administration faced scrutiny on Capitol Hill Wednesday, as Democrats pressed him about his past opposition to a pilot training rule adopted after a deadly airline crash in upstate New York.

Bryan Bedford, who appeared at a confirmation hearing in the U.S. Senate Wednesday morning, previously publicly labeled a rule mandating commercial airline pilots log 1,500 hours of flight training “arbitrary.” Under his leadership, Republic Airways unsuccessfully petitioned the FAA for an exemption.

Fentanyl is so ubiquitous that it could be baked into any pill that one purchases on the street. Even children who aren’t looking for opioids are dying from taking what they thought were amphetamines that a friend may have purchased on the internet. Another issue: drug cartels are now expanding their profits by cutting that fentanyl with animal tranquilizers that no human should ever ingest.

It’s prompted Mohawk Valley Republican state Assemblyman Robert Smullen, who lost his son in a traffic fatality, to propose new legislation called the “Fentanyl Fathers and Mothers Act."

The New York state Assembly may be poised to give the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act a ticket to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s desk.

The Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) legislation, which passed in the state Senate but ran out of time in the Assembly last year, once again passed in the Senate this year. Now Assemblymember Deborah Glick, who sponsors the bill in the lower chamber, told Spectrum News 1 that she has garnered the necessary support for the bill to pass in both chambers.

Fort Johnson, which was named after Albany war hero and World War I Sgt. Henry Johnson, is being renamed to Fort Polk. The Army made that announcement Tuesday along with a slew of other name changes to U.S. military installations.

Johnson was born in North Carolina but later moved to Albany.

Former Gov. David Paterson endorsed Andrew Cuomo in the race for mayor on Wednesday.

Cuomo, who has been leading in the polls, also snagged the endorsement of former state Assemblyman Keith Wright, who is the chair of the Democratic Party in Manhattan.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul will face questions Thursday from House lawmakers on Capitol Hill regarding so-called sanctuary policies in the state.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz are also expected to testify before the Republican-run House Oversight Committee. All three governors are Democrats.

Charles Rangel, the charismatic and influential congressman who represented Harlem in the House of Representatives for more than four decades, will lie in state at City Hall starting Wednesday evening, Mayor Eric Adams said.

Rangel, who died last month at the age of 94, was remembered as a towering figure in New York politics and an advocate for civil rights, economic justice and his home of Harlem.

Total lobbying spending in New York state reached nearly $67 million from March to April, according to preliminary data released Wednesday by the state Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government (COELIG).

That amount is up $1.3 million from January to February.

Five Democratic Socialist assemblywomen joined a protest to block traffic outside the state Capitol on Tuesday after most Democrats in the Legislature have indicated they wouldn't support expanding sanctuary policies statewide, or restrict state and local agencies from sharing information with federal immigration authorities.

Dozens of immigration rights advocates led by the New York Immigration Coalition railed against ramped up deportation efforts led by President Donald Trump's administration and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE — shutting down the intersection of Washington Avenue and North Hawk Street in front of the Capitol.

NEW YORK — President Donald Trump's quest to erase his criminal conviction heads to a federal appeals court Wednesday. It's one way he's trying to get last year's hush money verdict overturned.

A three-judge panel is set to hear arguments in Trump's long-running fight to get the New York case moved from state court to federal court, where he could then try to have the verdict thrown out on presidential immunity grounds.

With two weeks to go until the Democratic primary for mayor, Andrew Cuomo picked up a major endorsement Tuesday from former Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

In a statement, Bloomberg acknowledged his and Cuomo’s past differences, but maintained the former governor's “decades of experience” made him the right pick for the job.

A New Yorker in the clean energy business is warning of potential layoffs if Republicans in Congress move ahead with legislation cutting off certain green energy tax credits.

“If the bill were to pass as written in the House, it would eliminate a significant number of jobs,” Kevin Schulte, CEO of Rochester-based Green Spark Solar, said.

If you’re keeping a list of which bills are still in play as the New York legislative session heads into the final sprint, we have a last-minute substitution.

From the state lawmakers who brought you the NY HEAT Act, enter the Customer Savings and Reliability Act. The new bill was introduced Monday with literally no time to spare if the Senate is to pass it and leave town Thursday given the three-day aging period required for new legislation.

After months of back and forth, Democrats in the New York state Senate and Assembly have reached a deal on a slate of prison reforms in response to the deaths of two men, Robert Brooks and Messiah Nantwi, at the hands of correction officers in state facilities. The omnibus bill has multiple parts, including provisions mandating fixed cameras in prisons, expanding the Commission of Correction and requiring the disclosure to the state attorney general’s office of video footage related to the death of an incarcerated person that involves a corrections officer.

You can find the omnibus package of 10 bills here S.8415 (Salazar)/A.8871 (Dilan).

Mayor Eric Adams pulled no punches on Tuesday when it came to criticizing the mayoral frontrunner and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

“Let me tell you the art of what Andrew [Cuomo] does. Because I have a master’s in public administration, but a PhD in Andrew,” Adams said.

New York will become the 12th state in the nation to pass a form of physician-assisted suicide if Gov. Kathy Hochul opts to sign the bill.

On Monday, after hours of largely partisan debate, the state Senate passed the so-called, “Medical Aid in Dying Act," which allows a person of sound mind and with an irreversible terminal illness to end their own life by taking a cocktail of physician-prescribed drugs.

A New York congressman wants federal contractors to reevaluate and potentially revise degree requirements for their job offerings.

Rep. Ritchie Torres, a Bronx Democrat, is introducing a new bill, shared first with Spectrum News NY1, that would mandate contractors review all job classifications to identify which roles require a bachelor’s degree or higher, determining “whether such educational requirements are demonstrably necessary for the performance of essential job functions.”

Senate and Assembly Democrats late Monday reached an agreement to pass a series of prison reforms to improve accountability in state facilities on the heels of recent deaths of two incarcerated men who had violent encounters with multiple correction officers.

Lawmakers started discussing legislative action to address a culture of prison violence six months ago after the fatal beating of Robert Brooks at Marcy Correctional Facility in December, and the death of 22-year-old Messiah Nantwi who also died at the hands of officers at Mid-State Correctional Facility during the three-week wildcat strike earlier this year.

Many of the supporters who came out over the weekend to back Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado's bid for governor knew him during his time in Congress, but strategists said it's unlikely his former constituents will make up for his lacking name recognition downstate.

Delgado, a former congressman from the Hudson Valley, said he's challenging his boss Gov. Kathy Hochul in order to change New York's status quo. He held a hometown rally in his native Schenectady to round out his first week on the campaign trail for the 2026 race for governor — becoming the first person to officially challenge the incumbent executive.

After more than a decade of advocacy, the so-called "Medical Aid in Dying" Act has passed the state Senate.

The legislation allows those with terminal illness to medically end their own life.

Tensions continue to grow between the public and federal immigration officers across the nation and in New York City.

On Sunday, two New York congressional lawmakers were denied access to a federal detainment center in Lower Manhattan. The lawmakers expressed outrage after their request was denied.

For months, when discussing the potential for sweeping cuts to Medicaid and education as part of President Donald Trump’s agenda, and now in the form of his so-called "Big Beautiful Bill," New York state Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie has told reporters who question him over the state’s response to ask "the seven Republican members of Congress," why they would entertain such slashing of resources.

“In New York, those destructive actions will result in a loss of 13.5 billion for Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act marketplace,” Heastie insisted at a Monday morning news conference with Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins urging the U.S. Senate to provide the necessary lifeline to avoid the cuts. “One-point-five million New Yorkers could lose their health insurance.”

State Senator James Skoufis is raising concerns over Amazon's application for property tax breaks on a proposed new facility in Wawayanda.

He says the Orange County Industrial Development Agency is considering the company's application.

Nine years ago, a 2-year-old Long Island toddler named Kyra Franchetti was shot to death by her father during an unsupervised, court-ordered visit in Virginia. What makes this tragedy especially horrifying is that it wasn’t unexpected. Kyra’s mother had repeatedly begged the court to protect Kyra from her father’s suicidal threats, abuse, rage and coercive control.

A bill named after Kyra and sponsored by New York state Sen. James Skoufis and Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi would require courts to evaluate safety risks before granting visitation rights.

To better protect Jewish communities, members of New York’s congressional delegation called for $500 million in federal funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program.

“This program helps nonprofit organizations at high risk of attacks like our synagogues. It allows them to secure their buildings, hire security professionals, install security cameras,” Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand explained.

A board member of the state's cannabis regulating board has been confirmed by the New York state Senate to lead the panel, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Monday.

Hochul nominated Jessica García to replace Tremaine Wright as chair of the state Cannabis Control Board, who left last week just weeks after saying she had no plans to leave the job after her annual salary was eliminated in the budget.

Amid growing tensions between the public and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in New York City, two members of Congress said they were denied access to a federal detainment center in Lower Manhattan.

“What is it that they are hiding?” said Rep. Nydia Velázquez, a Democrat who represents parts of Brooklyn and Queens, after being turned away from the 10th floor of the Jacob Javits Federal Building at Federal Plaza on Sunday.

Haitians in Brooklyn are slamming President Donald Trump’s latest travel ban impacting 12 countries, which took effect Monday.

“It’s a racist, I should say, policy,” said Jensen Desrosiers, a Haitian restaurant owner based in Brooklyn.

BUFFALO, N.Y. — For the first time since 1999, New York’s Endangered Species list is being updated. During this time, extensive work has been underway in the background across the state by the DEC, universities and non-profits.

The first of the five categories has been released. We’re talking fish and a frog.

When racing finally returns to Nassau County’s Belmont Park next year, it will be run over a refurbished racetrack and in front of a sparkling new grandstand that the New York Racing Association hopes will bring a track that was built in 1905 and received its last significant renovation in 1968 into the twenty-first century.

It remains unclear whether they will run the Belmont Stakes, the third jewel in thoroughbred racing’s Triple Crown, in front of a partially finished building or at Saratoga Racecourse like in 2024 and 2025.

Mayoral candidate Jessica Ramos shook up the race and endorsed her rival Andrew Cuomo on Friday.

The two former political rivals appeared together at a campaign event at a carpenters union headquarters in Manhattan Friday morning, where Ramos threw her support behind the former governor.

Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado’s decision to run against his boss — Gov. Kathy Hochul — is being met with frustration and even derision by some of his former colleagues on Capitol Hill.

“Great future. Wrong place, wrong time,” Rep. Adriano Espaillat told Spectrum News NY1.

The fallout was swift on Friday following news that Queens state Sen. Jessica Ramos is now backing Andrew Cuomo in the race for mayor.

“I’m disappointed to see any endorsement for Andrew Cuomo," Queens Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani said.

Friday marked 10 years since the dramatic escape by two inmates, David Sweat and Richard Matt, from the Clinton Correctional facility in Dannemora.

Next week, New York state Inspector General Lucy Lang will moderate a conversation featuring many of the leaders and reporters who were central to the three-week manhunt, investigation and the ongoing reporting of the situation.

Warning of potential “price gouging,” a group of congressional Democrats wants the Federal Trade Commission to survey concession prices at major airports and sports venues.

In a letter, obtained first by Spectrum News NY1, the Democrats — led by New York Rep. Dan Goldman — are urging a House Appropriations subcommittee to insert language in an upcoming budget bill, requiring the FTC to conduct the study.

New York state lawmakers have passed a bill to preserve media access to police radio feeds as law enforcement agencies increasingly encrypt their communications.

The proposal, which was approved Thursday, would require police departments to grant journalists and emergency services organizations access to their encrypted radio communications.

Five Democratic candidates for Buffalo mayor discussed the issues at a public forum on Thursday night.

While balancing Buffalo's budget was a key topic of discussion, the candidates also addressed ongoing projects in the city and the inequalities that may be facing current residents.

Nine candidates for mayor faced off in a two-hour debate on WNBC, co-sponsored by Telemundo and Politco this week. The debate marked the first time Andrew Cuomo was on the stage with his fellow candidates. The mayoral frontrunner withstood the bulk of attacks from his rivals. On the heels of the debate came Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's endorsements for the mayoral race. NY1 investigative reporter Courtney Gross, and political reporters Bobby Cuza and Ayana Harry, recap the highlights from Wednesday night’s contest.

After that, the "Off Topic" team turns to another election: the governor’s race next year. Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado announced he would primary Gov. Kathy Hochul next year — a clear indication of how much their relationship has deteriorated. The team assesses how vulnerable the governor may be next year.

There is growing fear among some immigrants about attending their mandatory, routine case hearings.

Lawyers advocating for immigrants say they are seeing firsthand arrests inside federal courthouses carried out by the Trump administration.

Lawmakers in the Assembly are making an end-of-session effort to increase New York's short-term disability benefit that hasn't increased in 35 years.

A bill has bipartisan support to hike the state's Temporary Disability Insurance benefit, which has been capped at $170 per week since the program's inception in 1989.

On Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins signaled that after more than a decade of relentless advocacy and pushback in the halls of the state Capitol, the Medical Aid in Dying Act will likely be heading to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s desk this year.

“I do believe there are the votes, and it is likely it will come to the floor,” she told reporters at a Thursday morning news conference.

Mayoral hopeful Zohran Mamdani picked up a major endorsement Thursday from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

The Bronx Democrat and the Mamdani campaign confirmed the endorsement to NY1 just hours after the Queens assemblymember participated in the first televised debate of the race alongside eight other Democratic contenders, including the frontrunner and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

New York labor advocates are making a last-minute push in Albany to pass a bill that they say will hold corrupt employers accountable for labor law violations and increase enforcement around wage theft.

“The problem is that we simply do not have enough people within the Department of Labor to investigate [these issues],” Josh Pomeranz, director of operations for Teamsters Local 804, told Capital Tonight. “We have approximately 146 investigators for the entire state.”

The use of sewage sludge on farmland is a rising concern for a growing number of New York towns and counties, so much so that several have intervened in recent months to stop the spread of it over contamination worries.

Despite an alarming EPA study and tests throughout the state showing PFAS in biosolids, state environmental leaders are standing by its approach to ban PFAS-infused products as the best way to mitigate the problem.

WASHINGTON — Following multiple reports of House Republicans saying they did not know many of the details in what President Donald Trump calls his “one, big beautiful bill” when they voted for it last month, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is honing in on a very specific and contentious provision in the legislation. On Thursday, Schumer, D-N.Y., said the bill’s language stripping federal judges of their ability to enforce their own rulings is “nasty.”

“Republicans want to codify into law Donald Trump’s attacks on our judicial system,” Schumer said at a news conference, where he stood next to a poster that read “Trump is not a king." “They want to gut our federal courts until they’re utterly powerless.”

WASHINGTON — Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., on Thursday said he was “pleading” with Senate leaders to keep the state and local tax deduction cap at the same level it was at in the House-passed version of the bill containing President Donald Trump’s agenda.

Johnson's comments come as Republican House members from Democratic states with high taxes — who have hung their hat on the SALT issue — are warning their Senate counterparts that changing the level would threaten their support of the bill when it returns to the lower chamber.

The New York Civil Liberties Union is asking a judge to dismiss a federal lawsuit against the city of Rochester. This comes days after the city's attorneys filed a similar request.

The Department of Justice filed that lawsuit over Rochester's sanctuary city policy, claiming it violates the supremacy clause of the Constitution.

It’s a new law that will impact K-12 students across the Empire State - internet-enabled devices won’t be allowed in schools from bell to bell. School districts are required to have a new written policy posted on their website by August 1.

“I think it's both bold and overdue,” said Matthew Mulvaney, chair of the department of human development and family science at Syracuse University.

On Wednesday, lawmakers said a bill to strengthen consumer protections in the state will be amended after stiff pushback from New York business leaders about the measure's potential detriment to small businesses.

The Business Council of New York State has led negotiations with state Attorney General Letitia James' office for weeks after James has lobbied the Legislature to pass the Fostering Affordability and Integrity through Reasonable Business Practices, or FAIR Business Practices Act.

Queens state Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani sat down with NY1’s Errol Louis to discuss his high-energy grassroots campaign and his attempts to close the polling gap with frontrunner Andrew Cuomo. The episode marks the seventh installment of the “You Decide” mayoral candidate interview series.

Their conversation touched on Mamdani’s journey from being a longshot candidate to a formidable contender. The youngest candidate in the race, Mamdani, reflected on his personal background, including his early life in his native Uganda and his experiences in New York.

With early voting in the Democratic primary less than two weeks away, nine candidates squared off on the debate stage for the very first time Wednesday evening.

“Donald Trump would go through Mamdani like a hot knife with butter,” former Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.

With just days remaining in the legislative session, the state Capitol is full of advocates and lobbyists pushing to get their priorities across the finish line.

Few seem more frustrated than those pushing for state prison reform in the wake of the murder of Robert Brooks at Marcy Correctional Facility in December and made more acute by the death of Messiah Nantwi at Mid-State Correctional Facility during the correction officer strike in March.

A bill that would require post-traumatic stress disorder benefits for dispatchers and corrections officers be equivalent to other first responders has passed the New York state Assembly.

State Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara's office says the bill would ensure PTSD-related services like diagnosis, treatment and support match what is offered to police officers and firefighters by their municipality.

Stephanie Miner was mayor of Syracuse for eight years between 2010 and 2018 — years that were marked by the troubled city’s “upside down” finances due to outsized pension and health care obligations and diminishing tax revenues.

She was also a key confidante of Gov. Andrew Cuomo before a very public falling out.

Artificial intelligence is moving faster than any technology that’s come before it because it learns faster than humans can learn.

If you find that idea scary, you’re not alone.

Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh is putting his weight behind Sharon Owens as she runs in a three-way Democratic primary for mayor.

Walsh, an independent, endorsed Owens, who is currently his deputy mayor, Wednesday outside the Southwest Community Center in Syracuse. Walsh is not able to seek reelection due to term limits. Owens would be the city's first Black mayor if elected.

The father of Gabby Petito, the young woman killed while road-tripping across the U.S. in a van with her fiancé, appeared Wednesday with state legislators in Albany to support a bill that would protect victims of domestic violence.

Joseph Petito, a founder of the Gabby Petito Foundation, joined Sen. Lea Webb, Assemblymember Sarah Clark and others Wednesday in calling for passage of legislation that would require law enforcement officials to include a lethality assessment in standard domestic incident reports.

MALTA, N.Y. – GlobalFoundries is spending an additional $3 billion to expand operations at its Saratoga County chip plant and in Vermont so it can collaborate with Apple and other major tech companies in response to the exploding growth of artificial intelligence, the company said Wednesday.

The announcement will bring GlobalFoundries' total commitments to semiconductor manufacturing, advanced packaging and AI innovation across New York and Vermont to $16 billion.

It has been five years since COVID-19 was first detected, which effectively led to a global shutdown, forcing people around the world to quarantine in their homes.

Now, there is a new, more powerful strain that has been detected in California.

All five candidates on the Democratic primary ballot for Buffalo mayor debated many of the issues facing the city Tuesday night, with the city budget, which includes a hotel bed tax and the sale of the city’s parking ramps, at the top.

Acting Buffalo Mayor Chris Scanlon almost immediately went on the defense last night, discussing the work already done since taking office. He said he inherited a $70 million deficit that has since been cut to around $40 million.

Five hundred Army National Guard soldiers from across New York are deploying overseas for nearly a year with the Troy-based 42nd Infantry Division, the National Guard announced.

Farewell events were held Sunday in Syracuse and Albany and on Long Island for the soldiers, who departed for additional training to prepare to lead Task Force Spartan, a U.S. military posture in Southwest Asia.

Witnesses Tuesday told state lawmakers they must permit New York paramedics to administer opioid drugs that ease the pain of withdrawal as lethal drug contaminants spur a new wave of the opioid epidemic.

New York overdose deaths declined almost 30% in the last year, but drug experts at an Assembly hearing in Albany told lawmakers the prevalence of synthetic opioids like fentanyl, betadine and the horse tranquilizer xylazine are presenting new roadblocks to recovery.

In the 24 hours since Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado announced he would be taking his cratering relationship with Gov. Kathy Hochul to the long-expected next level, challenging her for the state’s top job, the sitting governor hasn’t been short on positive sentiment.

Rep. Pat Ryan posted on X Monday that he is “all in” for Hochul, a year out from the June 2026 primary.

In an interview on “Inside City Hall” a day after declaring his candidacy for governor next year, Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado said “a strong, bold, clear-eyed vision” is needed to lead New York.

Delgado on Monday became Gov. Kathy Hochul’s first official challenger in the 2026 Democratic gubernatorial primary.

Four million dollars was allocated in the New York state budget for support for a program that offers free tuition, fees, books and supplies at the State University of New York's 30 community colleges for adults between the ages of 25 and 55 who want to pursue degrees in high-demand fields.

On Tuesday, SUNY announced that it would add another $1 million in funding for technology to support eligible students, bringing the fund to $5 million.

With the primary election three weeks away, the four Democrats running for Albany mayor are being put through their paces: participating in multiple debates, forums and meet-the-candidate events.

While they’re being grilled, the city’s current mayor has her hands full planning how to spend the $400 million gift from the state of New York. The money is known as CAP — “Championing Albany’s Potential."

A federal appeals court upheld New York’s 2019 law meant to strengthen abortion laws and codify the Roe v. Wade decision into state law.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed a lower court decision on the constitutionality of the Reproductive Health Act. It allows a pregnancy to be terminated after 24 weeks if a woman’s life is in danger or the fetus is not viable. It allows a licensed or certified health care practitioner to perform abortions.

Two correctional officers charged in the death of Robert Brooks at Marcy Correctional Facility argued for their cases to be dismissed in Oneida County Court Tuesday morning.

Matthew Galliher, Nicholas Kieffer and David Kingsley face charges stemming from a Dec. 9 incident at Marcy that was caught on body-worn cameras and triggered widespread outrage. Footage released by the New York attorney general’s office shows correctional officers hitting Brooks while he was restrained. He died the next day at a hospital in Utica.

State lawmakers are considering legislation to create a Bill of Rights for students enrolled in New York's public colleges and universities before they leave Albany later this month.

Lawmakers introduced legislation earlier this year to implement a students' Bill of Rights for all State University of New York and City University of New York institutions.

It’s crunch time at the state capitol, as lawmakers work to get controversial legislative items like the NY HEAT Act, the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act and a slate of prison and immigration reform measures over the finish line before leaders deliver their closing remarks and flee the capital city.

With just days left in the legislative session, for Democrats the race is on to accomplish as much as possible on a compressed timeline thanks to the latest state budget in 15 years. For Republicans in the minority, the mission is to resist where necessary and find common ground where possible.

Because opioid-related deaths fell slightly in 2024, there might be a tendency to take our collective feet off the gas, but Rob Kent, an expert on both national and state drug policy, and president of Kent Strategic Advisors LLC, warns that would be a major mistake.

“Is it a trend or an anomaly? And especially with the uncertainty in Washington, does it continue?” he asked.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s list of sanctuary jurisdictions, which featured numerous communities in upstate New York, no long appears on the department’s website. If you’re looking for the page, it currently shows a “page not found” error message.

The list was released as part of an executive order by President Donald Trump requiring the DHS publish a list of areas that are deliberately obstructing the enforcement of federal immigration laws. The listed areas could lose access to federal funding like grants and contracts if they don’t comply with the law.

New York dairies are getting another boost from state coffers just a week after a little-noticed bill drew widespread scrutiny for its attempt to stifle permits for large dairy farms.

More than 100 dairy farms will split $21 million in state funding through the dairy modernization grant program to implement new equipment and technology.

Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado announced on Monday that he's challenging Gov. Kathy Hochul in next year’s Democratic primary for governor.

In a video, Delgado said there's a need for "bold, decisive, transformational leadership" in New York.

Rochester Mayor Malik Evans said Monday that the city is moving to dismiss the lawsuit the Department of Justice filed against Rochester over its decades-old sanctuary city policy.

The suit, in April, stems from an incident in March when Rochester police officers assisted federal agents in detaining three people during a traffic stop. One of them was charged with illegal entry into the U.S.

MASSAPEQUA, N.Y. — New York is discriminating against a school district that refuses to get rid of its Native American chief mascot and could face a Justice Department investigation or risk losing federal funding, President Donald Trump’s top education official said Friday.

U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, on a visit to Massapequa High School on Long Island, said an investigation by her agency has determined that state education officials violated Title VI of the federal civil rights law by banning the use of Native American mascots and logos statewide.

Five days after Department of Homeland Security police handcuffed one of his staffers, Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., said the incident was “outrageous” and called for the House Judiciary Committee to investigate.

During an interview with CNN on Monday, the congressman accused the DHS of lying about the events that led to one of his aide’s being briefly detained at his New York district office Wednesday.

All eyes will be on the U.S. Senate this week as senators debate what to do after the House of Representatives passed President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act last month.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries are urging senators to vote no. They rallied Sunday in Brooklyn to highlight what they say could happen if the bill becomes law and say those provisions would be detrimental to the state.

Thursday and Friday marked the second annual AAPI Summit at the state Capitolin Albany.

As chair of the state Legislature’s Asian Pacific American Task Force, Assemblymember Grace Lee was a driving force behind two days of panels, keynote speakers and work groups.

This year has been nothing short of busy and chaotic in Washington, D.C. With President Donald Turmp now applying pressure to get his legislative agenda passed, Rep. John Mannion joined Capital Tonight to discuss his first few months in office.

Mannion described how his experience in the state Legislature prepared him to represent a diverse Central New York district. He also shared his thoughts on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security releasing a list of sanctuary jurisdictions across the country, including in New York.

State Sen. James Skoufis was outspoken with his criticism of the state budget process and is pushing for things to change after the latest budget in 15 years. He discusses what conversations are happening within the state Legislature on reforming how the budget gets done.

Skoufis discussed his new role with the Democratic National Committee's "People's Cabinet," and what his future holds within the party.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has accused multiple areas across upstate New York of violating federal immigration law.

They published a list of what it calls "sanctuary jurisdictions defying federal immigration law."

State grants totaling $60 million will help 10 new housing and infrastructure projects take off across the Hudson Valley, Gov. Kathy Hochul said.

Hochul announced a second round of Mid-Hudson Momentum Fund awards Friday in Yonkers.

The three Democratic candidates for Syracuse mayor outline their visions for the Salt City in a debate Thursday evening, each laying out why they are the best candidate to meet the needs of a transforming community.

“Everybody knows I love this city, I always have,” Pat Hogan said, who serves as president pro-tempore on Syracuse’s Common Council. “I love the neighborhoods in this city, the neighborhoods I grew up in, played ball in, raised a family in.”

Troy should have a permanent home for its City Hall soon, Mayor Carmela Mantello said Friday afternoon.

The mayor said her office notified First Columbia the city would not renew its lease of the Hedley Building, where City Hall is located.