New York Focus
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New York Focus is a nonprofit newsroom investigating power in the Empire State. Subscribe to our newsletter: http://nysfocus.com/newsletter
Sepúlveda’s professional and ethical missteps as a lawyer warrant his dismissal, lawyer David Kaminsky argued.
Lawyer Seeks to Boot State Sen. Luis Sepúlveda From Court Case
Sepúlveda’s professional and ethical missteps as a lawyer warrant his dismissal, lawyer David Kaminsky argued.
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Here’s what we know about the latest changes initiated by the Trump administration and what’s ahead for numerous immigrant children in New York as they scramble to prepare for these hearings.
NY Lawyers Fear Trump Blitz Will Speed Up Child Deportations
The Trump administration is accelerating asylum proceedings as legal aid funding expires, leaving immigrant children less time to prepare.
nysfocus.com
More than 40 mental health courts have sprung up across New York state since the early 2000s, part of a growing effort to provide alternatives to incarceration. But while it has expanded in recent years, its reach remains modest.
In New York, Mental Health Diversion Depends on Your County
Half of New York counties lack mental health courts, limiting treatment-based alternatives to jail.
nysfocus.com
Immigrant children who crossed the border into the United States without their parents are facing a barrage of changes that could increase their odds of being deported. Attorneys tell New York Focus they are scrambling.
NY Lawyers Fear Trump Blitz Will Speed Up Child Deportations
The Trump administration is accelerating asylum proceedings as legal aid funding expires, leaving immigrant children less time to prepare.
nysfocus.com
In 2024, a New York nursing home chain agreed to pay $45M, increase staff, and hire independent monitors in a landmark settlement with the state. We've uncovered multiple violations since the settlement as residents continued to suffer.
Nursing Home Chain Violates $45M Settlement With New York
New York Focus found multiple violations of the attorney general’s settlement with Centers Health Care, including staffing failures and resident harm.
nysfocus.com
Several high-profile AI programs do not appear in the state’s first-ever effort to track its own use of artificial intelligence, New York Focus found.
New York Is Struggling to Track Its Own AI Use
In New York’s first effort to track its AI use, only 13 of the state’s roughly 100 agencies reported using AI in a way that could “directly impact the…
nysfocus.com
The first-of-its-kind proposal came in response to a New York Focus report about a Western New York school district’s plan to use one as a teaching assistant.
New York Bill Would Ban Humanoid Robots in Schools
After a New York Focus report on Salamanca City Central School District’s plan, lawmakers proposed banning humanoid robots in schools statewide.
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Mental health courts have expanded in recent years as an off-ramp to incarceration for defendants in need of treatment. But about half of New York’s 62 counties still don’t have one.
In New York, Mental Health Diversion Depends on Your County
Half of New York counties lack mental health courts, limiting treatment-based alternatives to jail.
nysfocus.com
In NY’s first-ever effort to track its own AI use, only 13 of the state’s roughly 100 agencies reported using AI in a way that could “directly impact the public.” However, New York Focus found several high-profile AI programs do not appear on the list.
New York Is Struggling to Track Its Own AI Use
In New York’s first effort to track its AI use, only 13 of the state’s roughly 100 agencies reported using AI in a way that could “directly impact the…
nysfocus.com
A Western New York school district is evaluating whether to proceed with deploying an AI teaching assistant this fall. We asked to interview Sally, the AI teaching assistant's virtual avatar. The creator, Realbotix, agreed. Here's the conversation.
I Interviewed Realbotix’s AI Teaching Assistant. Here’s What Happened.
A New York school district is weighing whether to use an AI teaching assistant this fall. We interviewed "Sally" to see how it would interact with…
nysfocus.com
In 2024, a New York nursing home chain agreed to pay $45M, increase staff, and hire independent monitors in a landmark settlement with the state. New York Focus has uncovered multiple violations since the settlement, as residents continued to suffer.
Nursing Home Chain Violates $45M Settlement With New York
New York Focus found multiple violations of the attorney general’s settlement with Centers Health Care, including staffing failures and resident harm.
nysfocus.com
New York lawmakers introduced a first-of-its-kind bill to ban humanoid robots from classroom instruction statewide. It comes in response to a New York Focus report on an upstate school district’s plan to use one as a teaching assistant.
New York Bill Would Ban Humanoid Robots in Schools
After a New York Focus report on Salamanca City Central School District’s plan, lawmakers proposed banning humanoid robots in schools statewide.
nysfocus.com
Immigrant children who entered the United States without their parents are facing a barrage of changes — newly initiated by the Trump administration — that could increase their odds of being deported. Attorneys tell New York Focus they are scrambling.
NY Lawyers Fear Trump Blitz Will Speed Up Child Deportations
The Trump administration is accelerating asylum proceedings as legal aid funding expires, leaving immigrant children less time to prepare.
nysfocus.com
A New York Focus investigation uncovered multiple violations since Centers Health Care reached a landmark settlement with the state in 2024. Here’s what we found.
Nursing Home Chain Violates $45M Settlement With New York
New York Focus found multiple violations of the attorney general’s settlement with Centers Health Care, including staffing failures and resident harm.
nysfocus.com
ICE and Border Patrol agents are stalking the workers of the Sungrow tomato plant in Ontario, New York. “They were like alligators. They swooped in and devoured them,” one worker said. Workers still there say they’re living in “Jason Bourne-type mode.”
Immigration Agents Are Picking Off These Tomato Plant Workers
ICE and Border Patrol are stalking a Sungrow greenhouse and packing facility 20 miles outside of Rochester, prompting workers to flee.
nysfocus.com
just a devastating dispatch from @nysfocus.com about the acceleration of kids having to argue for asylum alone, without an attorney, and then most of them getting deported nysfocus.com/2026/07/31/t...
NY Lawyers Fear Trump Blitz Will Speed Up Child Deportations
The Trump administration is accelerating asylum proceedings as legal aid funding expires, leaving immigrant children less time to prepare.
nysfocus.com
A Western New York school district is evaluating whether to proceed with deploying an AI teaching assistant this fall. We asked to interview Sally, the AI teaching assistant's virtual avatar. Realbotix, the creator, agreed. Here's the conversation.
I Interviewed Realbotix’s AI Teaching Assistant. Here’s What Happened.
A New York school district is weighing whether to use an AI teaching assistant this fall. We interviewed "Sally" to see how it would interact with…
nysfocus.com
In New York’s first-ever effort to track its own use of artificial intelligence, only 13 of the state’s roughly 100 agencies publicly reported using the technology in a way that could “directly impact the public.”
New York Is Struggling to Track Its Own AI Use
In New York’s first effort to track its AI use, only 13 of the state’s roughly 100 agencies reported using AI in a way that could “directly impact the…
nysfocus.com
Immigrant children who entered the United States without their parents are facing a barrage of changes — newly initiated by the Trump administration — that could increase their odds of being deported. Attorneys tell New York Focus they are scrambling.
NY Lawyers Fear Trump Blitz Will Speed Up Child Deportations
The Trump administration is accelerating asylum proceedings as legal aid funding expires, leaving immigrant children less time to prepare.
nysfocus.com
Earlier this month, New York Focus had the opportunity to interview Sally, an artificial intelligence-powered tool the Salamanca City Central School District had planned to introduce to students this fall alongside a humanoid robot.
I Interviewed Realbotix’s AI Teaching Assistant. Here’s What Happened.
A New York school district is weighing whether to use an AI teaching assistant this fall. We interviewed "Sally" to see how it would interact with…
nysfocus.com
“The Delivery Protection Act is not protecting me or my neighbors, it’s making our lives harder.” The ad was posted by a group called New York Delivers. Amazon supplied almost all the funding for the campaign.
Amazon Bankrolled $5M Campaign Against NYC Delivery Bill
Amazon supplied almost all the funding for a campaign presented as a coalition of New York City workers, small businesses, and national carriers.
nysfocus.com
Here’s an up-close look at the workers living in “Jason Bourne-type mode” on the outskirts of Rochester amid what locals say is the largest wave of immigration enforcement activity in recent memory.
Immigration Agents Are Picking Off These Tomato Plant Workers
ICE and Border Patrol are stalking a Sungrow greenhouse and packing facility 20 miles outside of Rochester, prompting workers to flee.
nysfocus.com
In November 2024, Centers Health Care — the 37-facility nursing home chain that owns Buffalo Center — agreed to pay a $45 million fine, increase staff, and hire independent monitors in a landmark settlement with the state.
Nursing Home Chain Violates $45M Settlement With New York
New York Focus found multiple violations of the attorney general’s settlement with Centers Health Care, including staffing failures and resident harm.
nysfocus.com
In NY’s first-ever effort to track its own AI use, only 13 of the state’s roughly 100 agencies reported using AI in a way that could “directly impact the public.” However, New York Focus found several high-profile AI programs do not appear on the list.
New York Is Struggling to Track Its Own AI Use
In New York’s first effort to track its AI use, only 13 of the state’s roughly 100 agencies reported using AI in a way that could “directly impact the…
nysfocus.com
ICE and Border Patrol agents have arrested at least six people in a kind of slow-motion raid that has drawn little outcry but upended life for immigrants who work in this corner of western New York, where the Rochester suburbs give way to farmland.
Immigration Agents Are Picking Off These Tomato Plant Workers
ICE and Border Patrol are stalking a Sungrow greenhouse and packing facility 20 miles outside of Rochester, prompting workers to flee.
nysfocus.com
Despite a landmark $45 million dollar settlement with the New York attorney general, residents of a notorious nursing home chain have continued to suffer abuse and neglect. My investigation: nysfocus.com/2026/07/29/n...
Nursing Home Chain Violates $45M Settlement With New York
New York Focus found multiple violations of the attorney general’s settlement with Centers Health Care, including staffing failures and resident harm.
nysfocus.com
Just gutting: “In fact, when faced with aggressive enforcement, a common response by nursing homes is to threaten to close, and leave their patients with nowhere to go, multiple experts told New York Focus.”
New York Focus@nysfocus.com · last wk.In 2024, a New York nursing home chain agreed to pay $45M, increase staff, and hire independent monitors in a landmark settlement with the state. New York Focus has uncovered multiple violations since the settlement, as residents continued to suffer.
Under New York state law, both the Board of Regents and SUNY trustees can approve new charter schools. But SUNY can also overrule the Board of Regents' rejections. It has done so over 50 times since 2017, intensifying NY’s charter school power struggle.
The Fight for Control Over NY’s Charter Schools Is Escalating
A New York Focus analysis found SUNY overruled state education officials at least 51 times, intensifying New York’s charter school power struggle.
nysfocus.com
Amazon supplied almost all the funding for a campaign presented as a coalition of New York workers, small businesses, and national carriers. The company's donations are by far the largest it has ever reported making to a lobbying effort in the state.
Amazon Bankrolled $5M Campaign Against NYC Delivery Bill
Amazon supplied almost all the funding for a campaign presented as a coalition of New York City workers, small businesses, and national carriers.
nysfocus.com
