Council to introduce Rikers transparency bills

Council to introduce Rikers transparency bills

After having been accused by judges, advocates, lawmakers, oversight agencies, attorneys and others of failing to be transparent about what happens on Rikers Island, the Department of Correction may be legally required to open its records, video recordings and more to an oversight board should two bills set to be introduced in the City Council on Thursday pass into law.

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Adams to depart for South America

Adams to depart for South America

Mayor Eric Adams and several top officials in his administration will leave New York on Wednesday for several Latin American countries, where he won’t be speaking about the merits of New York City, but rather trying to convince potential migrants that if they come to the Big Apple, they might not get what they are looking for. 

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State commission begins to consider raises for judges

State commission begins to consider raises for judges

Judges in New York State soon could see their first pay increase in eight years, or see their salary remain at the same level it’s been at since 2015 depending on the upcoming work of the commission tasked with determining the salaries for lawmakers, the governor, state agency heads and judges in the Empire State. 

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Advocates call on gov to sign Challenging Wrongful Convictions Act

Advocates call on gov to sign Challenging Wrongful Convictions Act

Monday was International Wrongful Conviction Day, and advocates and officials recognized the day of awareness at City Hall Park, continuing their call for Governor Kathy Hochul to sign the Challenging Wrongful Convictions Act into law.

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Floods engulf Queens

Floods engulf Queens

Torrential rainfall and heavy flooding walloped the Big Apple for hours on Friday, causing a number of issues for Queens residents and others in the five boroughs.  In what is becoming a more and more familiar sight for New Yorkers, flood waters invaded everything from city streets, to low lying coastal areas, to subways stations, to the city’s airports. 

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Far more needed to fully fund civil legal services, court officials say

Far more needed to fully fund civil legal services, court officials say

Top court officials throughout the state gathered in Albany last week to hear from attorneys, judges and everyday New Yorkers about the state of civil legal services in New York. Chief Judge Rowan Wilson led the panel, featuring Chief Administrative Judge Joseph Zayas, Presiding Justices Hector LaSalle, Dianne Renwick and Gerald Whalen, Appellate Division Justice Christine Clark and New York State Bar Association President Richard Lewis, tasked with assessing the needs of the civil legal services industry in the state. 

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Gov signs anti-human trafficking bills into law in Queens

Gov signs anti-human trafficking bills into law in Queens

The governor was in Queens on Wednesday to announce a number of new initiatives to fight human trafficking throughout the state. From inside the Glow Cultural Center in Downtown Flushing, Governor Kathy Hochul signed several bills aimed at decreasing instances of human trafficking, which she called one of the “most enduring forms…of exploitation.”

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Several Queens assemblymembers to face challengers

Several Queens assemblymembers to face challengers

The 2024 election for Queens’ Assembly seats may be a ways away – but that hasn’t stopped a number of incumbents and challengers from starting up their campaign efforts. Recent filings with the state’s Board of Elections show a number of potentially interesting Assembly races slated for next year in the World’s Borough.

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State has ‘dire need’ for more judges, city bar says

State has ‘dire need’ for more judges, city bar says

New York State has a “dire need” for more trial court judges, according to a recently released report from the New York City Bar Association. In the report, which was released earlier this month, the city bar association calls on the New York State legislature to work toward repealing the state’s constitutionally prescribed cap on the number of judges that can be elected to the state’s Supreme Courts. 


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Queens pols look to landmark Maspeth firehouse

Queens pols look to landmark Maspeth firehouse

Just over 22-years ago, nearly two dozen firefighters from Maspeth’s Squad 288 and HazMat 1 firehouse were killed after they responded to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, marking the largest loss of life from any single firehouse that day. Now, local officials are trying to get the century-old building where they served designated as a city landmark in their honor.

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DSA endorses Valdez in race for Western Queens Assembly seat

DSA endorses Valdez in race for Western Queens Assembly seat

The New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America officially endorsed Claire Valdez in next year’s race for Assembly District 37 this weekend, potentially setting up a two-way race between the union organizer and embattled legislator Juan Ardila, who has yet to announce his bid for reelection. 

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