Lottery revenue keeps going up, topping out at $8.44 billion in the past year according to New York Lottery figures released today. Nearly $2.9 billion went to state education spending. The figure represents roughly 15 percent of total state aid to local school districts. (The lottery’s fiscal year ends March 31.) That’s a lot of losing QuickDraw […]
To mark May Day, Occupy Wall Street has declared today a general strike, and protests are planned for many locations in midtown and lower Manhattan. Already, we’ve seen and filed numerous reports of public parks and plazas, as well as privately owned public spaces, barricaded against public entry. Whether you’re a pedestrian, protester or both, this map will […]
State ends money-making off ‘tenant blacklist,’ but private vendors continue to sell litigants’ information
City Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications opens guidelines and tech specifications to revision and scrutiny
Last week, Governor Cuomo issued an executive order creating a state health insurance exchange, after State Senate Republicans repeatedly blocked legislative efforts to create an exchange as mandated in the federal Affordable Care Ac. New York is now among 16 states that have created exchanges through executive order, according to the National Conference on State […]
Last week, the New York City Taxi and Limousine Corporation unveiled the Taxi of Tomorrow. It features biker-friendly sliding doors, anti-microbial seats and, to much acclaim, a power outlet and two USB ports to charge electronics. But how safe is it to connect your phone via USB to any old port in a cab? After all, smartphone USB cables […]
Using details on recent real estate sales, we calculate the value to developers of the public plazas on their property
Bronx Defenders survey of hundreds arrested for possession finds most were improperly forced to show drugs to police
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the behemoth that runs not only the city’s subways and buses but also commuter rail and many of the region’s bridges and tunnels, sure looks like a winner this week. Under a state budget deal it will receive $13.1 billion to fully fund its capital plan, which pays for projects like […]
Between midnight and dawn last Thursday, Governor Andrew Cuomo used emergency measures to push a major package of laws through the state legislature. So-called “messages of necessity” were designed to be used only during emergencies and bypass the normal three-day waiting period that allows the public and press to review bills before the legislature takes […]
