Commentary: Being a state legislator is a full-time job
The reputation of the New York Legislature has suffered major blows over the past several decades, with numerous members accused and/or convicted of corruption in connection with financial dealings...
View ArticleCommentary: Pay a living wage to the people who make New York livable
New York is facing a crisis — not one marked by sudden catastrophe, but by the slow unraveling of its social safety net. The state’s 800,000 human-services workers — day care providers who nurture our...
View ArticleCommentary: We have better mental health options than involuntary treatment
New York policymakers and the public are being encouraged to believe that we have to choose between policies that either improve public safety or that protect the rights of people with mental...
View ArticleCommentary: Route 17 project will improve safety, ease traffic and lower...
Mobility isn’t a luxury; it’s a necessity. The Hudson Valley is growing — in population, tourism and business relocations and expansions. Our infrastructure needs to evolve with this reality. Nearly...
View ArticleEditorial: Trump v. law firms
“The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers,” Dick the Butcher says in Shakespeare’s “Henry VI, Part II.” While it’s one of the most memorable lines in the Bard’s output, what’s less well...
View ArticleCommentary: Housing vouchers will give children the stability they need to...
New Yorkers don’t always agree on much, but one thing is undeniable: Our state is in the midst of a housing and affordability crisis. Everything costs more — groceries, electricity, health care, even...
View ArticleCommentary: The state Supreme Court system needs more judges. But how...
There is a growing statewide crisis in the New York state Supreme Court. Whether it’s litigating a personal injury case, medical malpractice, a matrimonial case, a commercial claim or a myriad of...
View ArticleEditorial: A Supreme Court ruling worth celebrating
Might last week’s ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court regarding make-your-own gun kits sold online be the final nail in the coffin of the cottage weapons industry known as “ghost guns”? One can only...
View ArticleChurchill: Soccer in downtown Albany? Here's plan 2.0
Remember the plan to build a soccer stadium and more in Albany’s bleak and dreadful Parking Lot District? That proposal for a stadium-centric entertainment district hasn’t gone away. On the contrary,...
View ArticleCommentary: Pass the CARE Act to protect incarcerated mothers and their...
Under the Trump administration, Americans are looking to the states to safeguard their fundamental rights and reproductive health. That’s why New York must pass the Compassionate and Reproductive...
View ArticleCommentary: Why does local food initiative leave breakfast off the menu?
Raised on a farm in Cayuga County, I grew up eating fresh food grown and preserved by my grandparents. We were surrounded by close-knit neighbors who helped one another during the busy haying season....
View ArticleEditorial: Mask ban doesn't belong in the budget, or anywhere else
Gov. Kathy Hochul is still pushing to ban wearing masks in public and, with negotiations ongoing, hopes to include the restriction in the state's budget. That's a bad idea, for more than one reason....
View ArticleCommentary: State lawmakers, have you forgotten about the opioid crisis?
Recently, a leader in the addiction care field said to me: “Our field is in trouble. Not the normal trouble. Real, serious trouble.” I knew what they meant. Addiction care providers are beaten down...
View ArticleEditorial: Death by thousands of cuts
On Tuesday morning, scores of federal workers lined up outside the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, D.C. The impediment to entry: The swipe cards many of...
View ArticleCommentary: Seneca Meadows landfill is not the problem. Overconsumption is.
As the state Department of Environmental Conservation continues to weigh permit renewals for Seneca Meadows landfill in the Finger Lakes, I urge regulators to keep an important distinction in mind:...
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