Ken Girardin

New York City’s police department has come under criticism in recent days, with some city officials saying NYPD funding should be reduced. But many of the same New York City Council members parroting calls to “defund” the NYPD were just a year ago pushing Mayor Bill de Blasio to give city cops a big pay hike. It’s a reminder that New York’s elected officials, no matter how principled, routinely don’t want to say “no” to public-sector unions. Read More

New York school districts are seeking voter approval of budgets that would raise their per-pupil spending by an average of more than four times the projected inflation rate. Most districts have proposed property tax hikes as high as the maximum allowed without supermajority overrides under the tax cap law. Read More

In the wake of George Floyd's death under a kneeling Minneapolis police officer, some New York State lawmakers are renewing calls for legislation designed to uncover police disciplinary records. But less than a year ago, state senators in both parties voted in favor of union-backed legislation that would make it harder to fire New York police officers credibly accused of using excessive force or other offenses. Read More

As if the coronavirus hadn’t done enough to disrupt education in New York, Governor Cuomo has injected even more confusion and uncertainty into the public school budgeting and board selection process across the state. Read More

New York State is deploying several thousand contact tracers, workers tasked with interviewing COVID-stricken residents and notifying the people they may have infected. But Governor Andrew Cuomo is taking a notable step that will likely make the effort faster and more efficient: he’s having someone else do the hiring. Read More

New York’s statewide teachers union is exploiting a lack of direction from Governor Andrew Cuomo to force an early end to the school year. Read More

For the first time, Governor Andrew Cuomo has invoked his broad powers under a 2019 environmental law as part of his efforts to block a natural gas pipeline. Read More

#NYCoronavirus: New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) has a $1 trillion list of federal stimulus funding proposals—with specifics that illustrate both the union’s thirst for taxpayer money and its desire to influence public policy well beyond the classroom walls. Read More