Investigations
Who’s Behind the Push to Weaken NYC’s Climate Law?
A “grassroots” homeowners group leading the charge against Local Law 97 has deep ties to a powerful real estate industry association.
Investigations
Investigations
In New York, Access to Lead-Free Drinking Water Doesn’t Come Cheap
The state’s piecemeal approach to funding lead pipe replacement means the safety of your drinking water may depend on your ZIP code.
Investigations
This Westchester Village Says it Doesn’t Collaborate With ICE. Data Tells A Different Story.
Police in Port Chester, a heavily immigrant community, appear to have turned over dozens of people to ICE, including some with no criminal charges.
More Stories
Spekboom restoration draws big money and high stakes in South Africa
This is the first article in Mongabay’s three-part investigation of spekboom-led ecosystem restoration in South Africa. It is part of an award-winning collaboration between independent science writer Leonie Joubert, the Stellenbosch University School for Climate Studies, and the Henry Nxumalo Foundation which supports investigative journalism in Africa. Read parts two and three. GQEBERHA, South Africa […]
‘Losing My Mind’: New York Prisons Are Holding People in ‘Shit Rooms’ With No Running Water
State facilities detain prisoners suspected of ingesting contraband in “special watch” cells for days or weeks.
Mental Health Courts Help Divert People From Jail. Why Don’t More NY Counties Have Them?
Despite efforts to expand the system, more than half of the state’s counties still lack courts that serve people with serious mental illness.
Tunisian phosphate plant linked to illness as fertilizer reaches U.S. and Europe
Dalila grew up in the Tunisian coastal city of Gabès and is accustomed to the heavy, acrid smell from the state-owned phosphate processing plant about a 10-minute walk from her home. On days when noxious fumes fill the air, Dalila rushes to tightly shut the windows and tells her children to hurry indoors. She washes […]
Cocoa expansion pushes into Liberia’s forests
(GRAND GEDEH, Liberia) – Off in the woods beyond the ekki trees, a sharp crack cuts through the buzzing of insects. “It’s a tree falling,” says George Bowey, a baby-faced community eco-guard who works here in the proposed Kwa National Park, a thick tropical rainforest in southeastern Liberia. There are different ways to grow cacao. […]
Union and Troubled Home Care Company Maintained Close Partnership, Records Show
Health care union 1199SEIU helped Public Partnerships LLC take over the state’s home care program, even as it warned some workers could see wage cuts.
Extreme Heat Is Rising. New York’s Cooling Aid Isn’t.
New York’s free air conditioner program ran out of funding before summer, even as extreme heat becomes a deadlier threat.
Budget Allows Hochul to Spend $1.5 Billion Without Normal Review
Fiscal watchdog says independent oversight is needed to avoid waste and fraud.
New York City’s Most Serious Housing Violations Stay Open for Months or Even Years
The Department of Housing Preservation and Development has vowed to go after negligent landlords, but it’s wrestling with a huge backlog of complaints.
Plastics Bill Died in Assembly After Blitz By Lobbyists With Ties to Heastie
A lobbyist who has been romantically linked to Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie led a rally opposing the legislation a week before the speaker declined to bring it to a vote.
‘I Just Need to Hug Him’: Families Say New York Is Illegally Delaying Prison Transfers
The prison system often postpones or rejects incarcerated people’s requests to be closer to their children, jeopardizing family ties.
State Senator Repeatedly Failed Clients in Court, Leading to Evictions and Lost Cases
One expert called Senator Luis Sepúlveda’s record of missed deadlines, incorrect paperwork, and no-shows “professional negligence.”
Business Group Fighting Tax Hikes Shields Information About Funders
Using an exemption to a 2012 law, the Partnership for New York City has revealed the names of donors to its political arm, but not the amount each gave.
New York Gave These Broadway Shows Millions — And They Flopped Anyway
Sold as a pandemic-era emergency program, the state’s theater tax credit has quietly sent hundreds of millions to short-run flops and blockbuster hits.
New York City Had a Chance to Ease Its Staffing Crisis. It Quietly Gave Up.
Civil service exams can slow down government hiring by months or even years. New York City is one of the only areas of the state that hasn’t opted into a program to bypass the process.
A Real Estate Battle Tests the State’s New Superfund Powers
New York environmental regulators have deemed a developer liable for an $18 million Westchester cleanup — but they haven’t yet made the company pay.
FBI Wiretaps, Illegal Drugs, and Dead Horses
The feds gave New York key evidence on horse racing’s largest doping ring. State regulators have done nothing with it for years.
In This Buffalo Suburb, a Brush With Mall Security Can Lead to Arrest by Border Patrol
In at least one case, police may have violated a state court ruling prohibiting local law enforcement from conducting civil immigration enforcement.
Carbon deals raise questions over Indigenous land in the Amazon
BARCELONA — In December 2022, one of Brazil’s largest Indigenous territories and one of the smallest would each sign a 118-page, 10-year contract they would soon come to regret —as would faraway investors looking to capitalize on the billion-dollar carbon and biodiversity markets. In Brazil’s lush westernmost states of Amazonas and Acre, which border Peru, […]
‘This Place Is a Circus’: Eight Months Since a Guard Strike, State Prisons Remain in Crisis
Many incarcerated New Yorkers say the new normal is endless lock-in.
