NEW: A report by the state comptroller finds New York City has room for improvement in its AI governance. Among the issues identified: risk assessments of AI tools aren't required, and tools are still only self-reported by agencies. www.cityandstateny.com/policy/2026/...

State audit finds room for improvement in NYC’s AI governance

A new report from state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli found New York City has only partially implemented 2023 recommendations on how government should use AI.

cityandstateny.com

My latest for City & State!

Annie McDonough@anniemcdonough.bsky.social · 3w ago

SCOOP from @fariharahman.bsky.social Pre-K and 3-K providers haven't been paid their regular advance payments ahead of the school year, forcing some to dig into their own pockets and apply for loans. www.cityandstateny.com/policy/2026/...

SCOOP from @fariharahman.bsky.social Pre-K and 3-K providers haven't been paid their regular advance payments ahead of the school year, forcing some to dig into their own pockets and apply for loans. www.cityandstateny.com/policy/2026/...

Weeks away from the start of school, 3-K and pre-K programs are without funding

Several providers said they’ve had to dig into their own pockets or apply for loans to be able to open their doors on Sept. 10.

cityandstateny.com

Mayor Zohran Mamdani is AI avoidant, telling us earlier this year he doesn't use tools like ChatGPT if he can help it. But the city government he inherited was increasingly embracing AI, and the new admin has yet to set a plan for how it should be used. www.cityandstateny.com/policy/2026/...

Mamdani’s government has started to embrace AI. Will he?

The personally AI-avoidant mayor faces calls to both expand use of cutting-edge technologies and put in guardrails to curb their usage.

cityandstateny.com

Driverless cars may not be coming to New York this year, but Waymo’s brief false start has opened an existential debate that labor and their allies aren’t going to give up easily. Wrote about the (possible) future for this week’s cover. www.cityandstateny.com/policy/2026/...

Across NY, debate about the inevitability of driverless cars begins

Waymo is crouched at the gates, and labor and worker advocates are hell bent on keeping them out.

cityandstateny.com

New: City Hall has hired an AI and privacy expert in a senior tech role. Rashida Richardson will support DM for Operations Julia Kerson and CTO Lisa Gelobter on AI – which, like it or not, was never going to begin and end with that one failed chatbot. www.cityandstateny.com/politics/202...

City Hall hires expert on AI and privacy

Rashida Richardson, an alum of the White House and Federal Trade Commission, will work with the Mamdani administration on AI, among other tech issues.

cityandstateny.com

State Sen. Andrew Gounardes is drafting legislation that would ban the sale of AI chabot-enabled toys for kids – a real thing that currently exists, but which he likened to an episode of "The Twilight Zone" www.cityandstateny.com/policy/2026/...

Gounardes wants moratorium on sale of AI chatbot-enabled kids’ toys

After passing the RAISE Act, state Sen. Andrew Gounardes is drafting regulation aimed at keeping ChatGPT out of teddy bears.

cityandstateny.com

Hearing @mayor.nyc.gov will be announcing Lisa Gelobter, a technologist with a national profile (including serving in the Obama admin), as the city's next Chief Technology Officer this afternoon. Last CTO, Matt Fraser, resigned at end of last year. Ruby Choi has been acting CTO since.

🚨 SCOOP🚨: NYC Mayor Mamdani appoints Phylisa Wisdom, progressive Jewish leader, to run the Mayor's Office to Combat Antisemitism. forward.com/fast-forward...

Mamdani appoints Phylisa Wisdom, progressive Jewish leader, to run Office to Combat Antisemitism

Mayor Zohran Mamdani has appointed Phylisa Wisdom, a progressive Jewish leader, to lead the Office to Combat Antisemitism.

forward.com

NEW: Gov. Hochul announces former NYC Council Speaker Adrienne Adams as her running mate to form a historic all-female majority party ticket in NY. Rare city and state joint byline with @anniemcdonough.bsky.social www.cityandstateny.com/politics/202...

Hochul taps former NYC Council Speaker Adrienne Adams as her running mate

Gov. Kathy Hochul picked Adrienne Adams to be her lieutenant governor for an all-female ticket.

cityandstateny.com

Kamar Samuels is Mamdani's pick to lead the DOE, three sources with knowledge of the plan tell City & State. Big city team scoop by @hollypret.bsky.social, @anniemcdonough.bsky.social and @sahalied.bsky.social www.cityandstateny.com/personality/...

Mamdani to name Kamar Samuels as schools chancellor

The Manhattan superintendent will lead the nation’s largest public school system.

cityandstateny.com

New: Last summer, the New York City Council accidentally paid former staffers who didn't work for the body at the time. The council now says the former staffers have to pay them back. The former staffers are pissed. More here: www.cityandstateny.com/politics/202...

The New York City Council accidentally paid former staffers. Now the council is demanding repayment.

“I was shocked and horrified,” said one former staffer who is being asked to repay more than $800.

cityandstateny.com

Scoop from @anniemcdonough.bsky.social: City Council Member Carmen De La Rosa is dropping her own bid to be City Council Speaker and instead backing her colleague Crystal Hudson for the position. It's a sign that progressives are consolidating behind Hudson: www.cityandstateny.com/politics/202...

Carmen De La Rosa to drop speaker bid and back Crystal Hudson

The move could help consolidate support for a more progressive candidate for City Council speaker.

cityandstateny.com

Cuomo just clarified that he meant ONLY the last four years because of Hochul, a person he only minutes ago said he could work well with because he had picked her as his LG (though tried to ditch her at least twice)

Chris Sommerfeldt@c-sommerfeldt.bsky.social · 11mo ago

Cuomo, speaking about how he'd deal with state elected leaders as mayor, says "the city has been getting screwed by the state" (quite ironic, given Cuomo was governor until 2021).

More video of the tank on Lafayette a short while ago outside 26 Federal Plaza, and federal agents making arrests of counter protesters.

SCOOP: DSA-backed City Council Member @cmalexaaviles.bsky.social is exploring a primary challenge to Rep. Dan Goldman in NY-10. Avilés is meeting with @socialists.nyc's Electoral Working Group next week to discuss her potential congressional run. Read more at @cityandstateny.bsky.social:

Alexa Avilés exploring challenge to Rep. Dan Goldman in NY-10

The DSA-backed City Council member has been talking to allies about potentially challenging the incumbent representative.

cityandstateny.com

Curtis Sliwa wants all four major mayoral candidates to stand on the City Hall steps to jointly call for a ban on horse-drawn carriages. On the very off chance that that doesn't come to fruition, we rounded up where the candidates stand on the issue. www.cityandstateny.com/policy/2025/...

Where do NYC mayoral candidates stand on banning horse-drawn carriages?

One guess where Curtis “Protect Animals party” Sliwa stands.

cityandstateny.com

Albany’s ‘3 people in a room’ are all with Zohran Mamdani. The Democratic mayoral nominee is set to drive that point home with an appearance alongside state Senate Majority Leader (and early endorser) Andrea Stewart-Cousins tomorrow. www.cityandstateny.com/politics/202...

Albany’s ‘3 people in a room’ are all with Zohran Mamdani

They want him to be mayor. Will they support his agenda?

cityandstateny.com

Just now, 11 state and city lawmakers were arrested by DHS police on the 10th floor of 26 Federal Plaza after a hour of demanding access to the ICE lock up on the same floor. @thecity.nyc

TB control, building bus lanes, cleaning parks - the MMR shows how staffing shortages hindered city services. It also showed how new hires can improve them. DVS reached more veterans and some ACS specialists' case loads declined thanks to increased hiring www.cityandstateny.com/policy/2025/...

Tuberculosis control, bus lane construction, bathroom cleaning: Where staffing problems continued to hurt city services

An updated review of city agency performance in fiscal year 2025 highlights how staffing shortages contributed to delayed or diminished city services – and where the city saw some improvements.

cityandstateny.com

Andrew Cuomo's "Zohran's Law" would 1) require new rent-stabilized tenants to be rent burdened to live in those units and 2) not apply to Zohran Mamdani. More w/ @rebeccaclewis.bsky.social here www.cityandstateny.com/politics/202...

‘Zohran’s Law,’ Cuomo’s very political housing proposal, would not apply to Zohran

The rule pitched by Cuomo’s campaign would means test incoming tenants in rent-stabilized units.

cityandstateny.com

Eric Adams is trying to thread an independent mayoral bid through the eye of a needle. Zohran Mamdani has the wind at his back But if there's a time for Adams to shine, it’s on the campaign trail More on the 2 candidates' retail chops w/@sahalied.bsky.social www.cityandstateny.com/politics/202...

For Zohran Mamdani, Eric Adams is a different kind of rival

If Andrew Cuomo was more of a rarified cardboard box, Adams is a true street campaigner.

cityandstateny.com

Zohran Mamdani aimed to assemble a new coalition of South Asian and Muslim voters to pull off a longshot victory in the Democratic primary. He accomplished much more than that. Took a look at his strong performance with Asian American voters here ⬇️ www.cityandstateny.com/politics/202...

Zohran Mamdani’s Asian American coalition

The Assembly member who is well positioned to become New York City’s first Asian American mayor won with the support of the rapidly growing AAPI electorate.

cityandstateny.com

He’s taking in donations again. His campaign website is live. His scandal-scarred advisers are back in public view. And most importantly, he’s got an opponent he thinks he can beat. More on Mayor Eric Adams' reelection kickoff w/ @sahalied.bsky.social here. www.cityandstateny.com/politics/202...

Eric Adams, surrounded by faith leaders, officially launches his reelection campaign

It would take an act of God for this man to be reelected, and if he is to be believed, there just might be one.

cityandstateny.com

Zohran Mamdani stuns New York City. Andrew Cuomo calls to congratulate him on his victory. More here with @sahalied.bsky.social, in a story that will be updated. www.cityandstateny.com/politics/202...

And ultimately – Zohran Mamdani stuns New York

The 33-year-old democratic socialist Assembly member outperformed everyone’s expectations – emerging on election night with a decisive lead.

cityandstateny.com

Read the story that had my editors saying "you wrote 3,000 words about this? that's way too much" www.cityandstateny.com/politics/202...

Many expect Zohran Mamdani to take the WFP line if he loses to Cuomo. That’s far from a sure thing

Mamdani could run in the general election as the candidate of the Working Families Party, but he and the Democratic Socialists of America don’t bother with unwinnable races.

cityandstateny.com

Had a great time talking with Frank Festa @ballotpedia.org this morning about the non-stop thrill ride that is the 2025 mayoral race! Catch the episode here before the next unexpected twist in the race makes it out of date. www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wCi...

NYC Mayoral Primary 2025: Cuomo, Mamdani, RCV, and the Democrats’ Next Chapter

YouTube video by Ballotpedia

youtube.com

NY Governor Kathy Hochul inside 26 Federal Plaza now, seeking answers from DHS/ICE about the arrest of NYC Comptroller Brad Lander, who is still being detained. @thecity.nyc "How long is this going to take, I don't think he has a long rap sheet," Hochul says to agents.

The mayor refused to answer questions on this as he walked out of the briefing room

Gwynne Hogan@gwynnefitz.bsky.social · last yr.

Here's a longer video of Brad Lander's detention just now inside 26 Federal Plaza as he tried to walk a man out of immigration court, by masked federal agents.

Lander just got detained by federal agents as he tried to escort a man out of the courtroom. Lander was taken in an elevator with masked agents, along with one member of his NYPD security detail.