Akash Mehta

new york focus logo and headline that says: The New York State Police Are Feeding ICE a Gang Database

A late-night debut!

New York Focus was featured on @lastweektonight.com's episode on gang databases.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlR8...

As Zohran Mamdani faces an onslaught of Islamophobia, Eric Adams' team told organizers of an event celebrating a far-right Hindu nationalist who has called for economic boycotts of Muslims that he would be their guest of honor.

Andrew Cuomo won 11 out of 13 majority-homeowner districts — but Mamdani swept the floor in renter-heavy areas, where turnout surged.
nysfocus.com/2025/07/04/r...

For: Support Local Journalism: Polarization Graphic Support Local Journalism How does local journalism strengthen democracy? Less Polarization More Voting More Attention from Representatives We created a directory to help you find local journalism in your area worth reading and supporting. Ready to look for sources in your area? tiny.cc/localdirectory MEDIA AND DEMOCRACY PROJECT logo

Another excellent editor on our panel is Akash Mehta @akashmehta.bsky.social of NY Focus @nysfocus.bsky.social an “independent nonprofit newsroom investigating power in the Empire State”

#SolutionsJournalism

Good Local News Panel
Info: www.mobilize.us/medi...
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How Hotels Became New York’s Go-To Fix for Homelessness Statewide spending on hotels has more than tripled in recent years. The shift away from shelters has prevented families from accessing services like child…

NEW: Hotels and motels have quietly become New York’s most common solution for emergency shelter for homeless people outside NYC.

Many stay in dilapidated rooms without the social services that shelters are required to provide.

With @propublica.org and support from @economichardship.bsky.social.

Each year, New York pads its state budget with hundreds of millions of unclaimed dollars.

But that money — now $20 billion! — is still owed to its original owners. Other states are more proactive in returning theirs, and a comptroller candidate wants to do the same.
nysfocus.com/2025/06/18/w...

New York Focus Honored for Coverage of Prison System The Legislative Correspondents Alumni Association recognized Chris Gelardi with its award for the year’s best state government reporting — the second year…

New York Focus has been awarded the Walter T. Brown Award for excellence in coverage of New York state government for the second year in a row 🤩
nysfocus.com/2025/06/10/n...

the most dangerous reporters in the state, I'm telling you

🚨New York just handed a major public contract to a health insurer with a history of lawsuits and unpaid claims.

Our latest investigation shows who’s paying the price: home care workers and their doctors. The company’s own employees call the company’s practices “shitty” and “very disheartening.” 🧵

An Upstate Orchard Is Putting New Farmworker Protections to the Test New York’s farm labor law was meant to transform life for agricultural workers. One apple farm shows how hard that may be.

In Wolcott, NY, a farm that refused to bargain with its union is now refusing to follow a contract reached in arbitration.

It's one of a few contracts NY farmworkers have won since they gained the right to unionize in 2019 -- and a big test for the state labor board.

nysfocus.com/2025/05/24/n...

What’s in the 2025 New York State Budget? Here’s Everything You Need… Our searchable database breaks down what was proposed and what made it in this year's budget among key topics like education, family policy, criminal…

After a MASSIVE lift poring over thousands of pages of the NYS budget, the team at @nysfocus.bsky.social has put together this comprehensive budget guide. It's in-depth, searchable, and easy to understand — completely the opposite of how the state presents it. nysfocus.com/2025/05/10/n...

📰 Local And Vocal
The green shoots that are breaking stories, winning awards, and reimagining journalism close to home.
🗣️ @roziebreen.bsky.social @akashmehta.bsky.social Andrew Lack, Geordie Greig
📆 Livestream 7 May: sirharrysummit.org/watch
🔗 Full agenda: tinyurl.com/322jwf8y
#sirharrysummit

For a Yonkers Political Dynasty, a Succession of Blurred Lines Mayor Mike Spano has stated his administration has not been lobbied by his powerful brother’s firm. Emails indicate otherwise.

Important story from @nysfocus.bsky.social on how business and politics get done in New York State’s fourth largest city
nysfocus.com/2025/04/30/y...

EXCLUSIVE: Thousands of NYC Parents Are About to Lose Child Care… Absent more money from the state, city officials warn that they will hit a funding cliff as early as April.

Julia's original story: nysfocus.com/2025/02/28/n...

Hochul announced $400 million in new child care funding (covering both NYC and upstate), and called on NYC to match the state's commitment. The total gap has been estimated at $900 million.

"Late in the budget process, we heard from families in NYC about a looming crisis, about the availability of child care vouchers. So we stepped in to address it." —@governor.ny.gov

Proud of @juliarock.bsky.social for uncovering and repeatedly reporting on this, weeks before anyone else did.

The New York State Police Are Feeding ICE a Gang Database For 20 years, state police have been quietly building a database of suspected gang members — and they're feeding it to Donald Trump's administration.

NEW: As Trump’s administration rounds up hundreds of immigrants it claims are gang members, New York state police are quietly feeding him a 5,000 person gang database built on speculative criteria like tattoos and clothing.

As Trump rounds up immigrants and sends them to rot in El Salvador based on threadbare evidence of gang ties, the State Police are quietly feeding ICE a database of New Yorkers identified as gang members based on criteria like tattoos and clothing.

Sackets Harbor ICE Raid Shows the 'Reality' of New York Dairy Country The detention of three children and their mother shocked the town. It also highlighted just how much the region’s key industries depend on immigrant…

NEW: Residents of Sackets Harbor, NY were shocked after immigration authorities detained three children and their mother on a dairy farm.

The incident highlighted just how much key industries upstate depend on workers with few paths to citizenship.

Top New York Judge’s Son, and His Boss, At Center of Ethics Dispute A Queens court’s failure to reveal a romance has sparked accusations of bias.

The son of a top New York judge is at the center of a controversy over an undisclosed romance.

Meanwhile, the top state judge, Joseph Zayas, has himself appointed his son's girlfriend and boss to prestigious positions

nysfocus.com/2025/04/09/n...

NYPD Stop-and-Frisks Soared in 2024 Officers recorded over 25,000 stops last year, a 50 percent increase over the previous year. Nine in ten people stopped by the NYPD last year were Black…

Officers recorded over 25,000 stops last year, a 50 percent increase over the previous year. Nine in ten people stopped by the NYPD last year were Black or Latino.
--New from @nysfocus.bsky.social
nysfocus.com/2025/04/02/n...

Former Comptroller calling on oversight agencies to investigate flagship Eric Adams tech project, following our story

Cuomo Failed to Disclose Lobbyists Who Bundled Donations Donors solicited by at least three undisclosed bundlers — Tonio Burgos, Jim Whelan, and Rick Ostroff — were told their gifts would be matched with public…

SCOOP: Andrew Cuomo's campaign failed to disclose its bundlers, and set up fundraising webpages incorrectly telling donors that their gifts were eligible for public matching funds.

Cuomo Failed to Disclose Lobbyists Who Bundled Donations Donors solicited by at least three undisclosed bundlers — Tonio Burgos, Jim Whelan, and Rick Ostroff — were told their gifts would be matched with public…

New: Cuomo failed to disclose lobbyists who fundraised for his mayoral bid nysfocus.com/2025/03/20/a... w/ @juliarock.bsky.social

Cuomo Failed to Disclose Lobbyists Who Bundled Donations Donors solicited by at least three undisclosed bundlers — Tonio Burgos, Jim Whelan, and Rick Ostroff — were told their gifts would be matched with public…

The REBNY chair, corporate lobbyist Tonio Burgos, and others are bundling for Cuomo — but the campaign didn’t disclose it.

Donations raised by lobbyists aren’t supposed to be matched with public funds, but that’s harder for CFB to enforce if not disclosed…

nysfocus.com/2025/03/20/a...

Fraudster-Linked Company Set to Begin Massive Home Care Contract The company used to help employers avoid paying for workers' benefits. Now it’s slated to administer health insurance for tens of thousands of low-wage…

Stunning scoop from Sam. Hochul’s home care plan has been subject to remarkable scrutiny — yet the company picked to take over insurance was founded by someone convicted of fraud, and has made millions helping home care companies get out of paying their workers benefits.
nysfocus.com/2025/03/20/h...

Does Eric Adams’s $100 Million Website Do Anything? The mayor enlisted an army of contractors to build a one-stop benefits platform. Two years and $100 million later, the website is a skeleton of what it…

NYC CTO Matt Fraser destroyed the city's digital service by declaring that Salesforce would abandon user research and build the "MyCity" platform faster and cheaper than city-employed developers. Three years and $100 million later, MyCity remains a mirage.

Does Eric Adams’s $100 Million Website Do Anything? The mayor enlisted an army of contractors to build a one-stop benefits platform. Two years and $100 million later, the website is a skeleton of what it…

The current administration of New York City isn’t just corrupt. It’s also wildly incompetent. Here @nysfocus.bsky.social provides a perfect illustration of how that unspools.
nysfocus.com/2025/03/19/m...

Does Eric Adams’ $100 Million Website Do Anything? The mayor enlisted an army of contractors to build a one-stop benefits platform. Two years and $100 million later, the website is a skeleton of what it…

NEW: Over the past two and a half years, Mayor Eric Adams’ administration has spent tens of millions of dollars building an online tool it says will transform all social services in New York City.

Two years and $100 million later, the MyCity portal is a skeleton of what it was supposed to be.

Your Guide to the 2025 State Budget Fight We read the governor’s, Senate’s, and Assembly’s budget proposals — so you don’t have to.

Budget guide here: nysfocus.com/2025/03/17/n...

More on the child care cliff here: nysfocus.com/2025/03/12/c...