After THE CITY was the first to expose a pending deal to move the city’s Department for the Aging to a Wall Street building owned by a billionaire donor to Mayor Eric Adams, and later reported that Adams protege Jesse Hamilton steered the deal to that property, First Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer announced a “pause” on the lease g pending a review.
Impact Update
Posted inReal Estate
Council Considers Bills Spurred by THE CITY
The City Council committees on aging, consumer and worker protection, and housing will hold a t oversight hearing Nov. 19 on deed theft, and on two bills that aim to protect homeowners from predatory real estate speculation. The Council’s action was prompted by an investigative series from THE CITY that featured family who found themselves dispossessed from their own homes after investors forced a sale. The investors had purchased shares of homes for pennies on the dollar from far-flung heirs who had inherited the property. One bill, introduced by Councilmember Crystal Hudson (D-Brooklyn), would require purchasers to disclose the market value of similar properties when making an offer. The other, introduced by Councilmember Kevin Riley (D-The Bronx), would require the city to provide asset protection counseling for homeowners and their heirs.
Posted inImpact Update
Council to Assess City Leasing
The City Council’s governmental operations committee, chaired by Councilmember Lincoln Restler (D-Brooklyn), will hold a hearing Oct. 29 examining leases of private real estate by the city Department of Citywide istrative Services.
Posted inImpact Update
City Budget Restores Funding for Community Interpreters
Following reporting by THE CITY on city agencies breaking language access laws, the Mayor’s adopted budget for 2025 restored $3.8 million to a community based-program that will provide in-person interpretation services to city agencies.
Posted inImpact Update
Judge Orders NYPD to Release Misconduct Records
On June 7, state Supreme Court Justice Lyle E. Frank ordered the NYPD to release thousands of pages of internal officer misconduct records, following a lawsuit filed by THE CITY, represented by Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and Davis Wright Tremaine.
Posted inCriminal Justice
Ex-Jails Commish ed Over for Oakland Police Chief Job
Louis Molina, the former head of the city’s beleaguered Department of Correction, was in the running to become the police chief for Oakland, Calif. On Friday, he lost out to Floyd Mitchell, formerly police chief in Lubbock, Texas.
Posted inImpact Update
Heat Relief
Gov. Kathy Hochul’s 2024 statistical finding developed by THE CITY: “When the temperature hits 85 degrees, workers in the City are 7% more likely to be injured on the job. At 95 degrees, this percentage goes up to 8%.”
Posted inImpact Update
High-Stakes Shelter Stats
A THE CITY’s coverage as an example of how the press relies on the data in order to inform the public. Investigators relied on THE CITY as a factual source for their of the political pressures on Mayor Bill de Blasio’s istration to make it appear that the share of families approved to live in shelters remained low.
Posted inImpact Update
The Missing Cannabis Crackdown
After THE CITY exclusively reported that New York State’s Office of Cannabis Management has ceased holding trials of operators cited for unlicensed pot product sales despite a proliferation of illegal storefronts, the Daily News followed with an editorial, headlined “Not fine with no fines,” demanding that the state legislature increase fines and fund stepped-up enforcement. “The consequences for flouting the law now seem to be close to zero,” lamented the News, citing THE CITY’s coverage.
Posted inImpact Update
Council Cites School Arrests Coverage
A proposed City Council revealed that in more than 1,300 incidents documented by the NYPD since 2017, students ended up in handcuffs while they waited for an ambulance to arrive, with some as young as 5 or 6 years old.