New York City

NYC Transit Riders Who Go Maskless Run Risk of $50 Fines

The penalty was put in place last year, but officials now say they plan to ramp up enforcement.

  • By Andre Claudio

Protecting New York City 20 years after 9/11

A look at the controversial counterterrorism efforts that reshaped the NYPD and whether it was all worth it.

  • By Gabe Ponce de León

Flash Flooding Highlights Immediate Dangers of Climate Change – Again

Elected officials and activists say state and local governments need to do more now.

  • By Zach Williams

New York City Council Aides are Officially Unionized, After 21-month Campaign

The Association of Legislative Employees is now the country’s largest legislative staff group in organized labor.

  • By Jeff Coltin

Full FDA Approval of Pfizer Vaccine Prompts Swift Mandates for State, Local Government Workers

Following approval for the vaccine, some leaders across the country immediately tell public employees and college students to get vaccinated now.

  • By Kate Elizabeth Queram

Businesses Challenge One City’s Covid Vaccine Mandate

New York City will require proof of Covid-19 vaccination for entry to restaurants, gyms and entertainment venues. San Francisco and New Orleans have issued similar orders.

  • By Andrea Noble

New York City, California Mandate Vaccines for Public Employees

Public workers must receive the vaccine or submit to weekly testing starting Sept. 13, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday. California Gov. Gavin Newsom made a similar statement.

  • By Kate Elizabeth Queram

The False Hope of the Progressive-Prosecutor Movement

COMMENTARY | Well-intentioned reformers can't fix the criminal legal system. They have to start relinquishing the power.

  • By Darcy Covert, The Atlantic

Pandemic-stricken Mass Transit Would Get $85 billion In Biden Stimulus Plan – a Down Payment on Reviving American Cities

COMMENTARY | New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority was hit hard by a 79% ridership reduction during the pandemic. It needs an extra $8 billion through 2024 to avoid service cuts and layoffs.

  • By Ruth Steiner, The Conversation

Report: Flooding has Devastating Effects on Affordable Housing

People of color, seniors and the disabled are most at risk of flooding's financial and health risks, according to academic research on coastal areas in the U.S.

  • By Brent Woodie

Analysis: US Rent Debt Totals Nearly $20B due to Covid-19

Southern states have the largest share of renters with debt, although cities with the most people behind on rent are in California, New York, New Jersey and Florida, according to a recent report.

  • By Brent Woodie

CDC: 4 in 10 Transgender Women Tested Positive for HIV in Major Cities

The report shows the unequal toll HIV still exerts — with particular consequence for Black women and Latinas.

  • By Shefali Luthra, The 19th
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A Police Union Contract Puts Taxpayers on the Hook to Defend Officers When the City Won’t

A little-known labor contract provision obligates New Yorkers to help pay officers’ legal bills in lawsuits that city lawyers won’t defend.

  • By Jake Pearson, ProPublica

Why America's Great Crime Decline Is Over

COMMENTARY | Even before the recent mass shootings, violent crime was surging to its highest rate in 30 years. Patrick Sharkey illuminates what's happening.

  • By Derek Thompson, The Atlantic

The Hours Americans Reclaimed by Sitting Less in Traffic

As the pandemic cut the amount of commuters and other motorists on the road last year, drivers nationwide saved over 3 billion hours compared to 2019, according to new estimates.

  • By Brent Woodie

Advocates React to The Repeal of New York’s ‘Walking While Trans’ Ban

LGBTQ+ advocates celebrated the end of a decades-old statute that outlawed loitering for the purposes of prostitution, which has been widely seen as "arbitrary and discriminatory.”

  • By Mariel Padilla, The 19th

‘Time to Sprint:’ Concerns Grow in New York That Vaccination Effort is Lagging

The state’s governor and the mayor of New York City on Monday both recognized the need to pick up the pace.

  • By Bill Lucia

New York Leaders Call for Restrictions on UK Flights

STATE AND LOCAL ROUNDUP | Record numbers of Vermonters hunt and fish during pandemic ... Oklahoma recruits out-of-state tourists while feds urge limits on travel ... Hawaii governor warns of deep budget cuts.

  • By Kate Elizabeth Queram

New York Lawmakers Demand NYPD Halt Undercover Sex Trade Stings

A dozen city and state officials also called for the disbandment of vice, the primary division that polices the sex trade; some want investigations into misconduct allegations against the unit, including withholding of evidence.

  • By Joshua Kaplan and Joaquin Sapien, ProPublica

How to Fairly Use Algorithms to Make Tough Decisions

COMMENTARY | With computer power increasingly used to guide policies adopted by states and local leaders, governments need to take steps to ensure the underlying algorithms aren’t biased.

  • By Katherine Barrett & Richard Greene

NYC Health Official Tells Older Residents to Stay Home

At-risk residents in New York City, including people over the age of 65, should limit excursions as Covid-19 cases rise, the city's top health official advised this week.

  • By Kate Elizabeth Queram