The 2024-25 New York state budget features $500,000 allocated for the review and update of Holocaust curricula in schools, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Assemblymember Nily Rozic announced.

This comes roughly two years after legislation was passed requiring the state Department of Education to examine whether the Holocaust is being properly taught in schools. That survey showed all school districts that were required to include Holocaust education in its curriculum did so. The 2022 review also showed most districts taught students about the Holocaust in social studies and English Language Arts (ELA) classes, not through specialized courses or events.

The Capital Region will receive almost $11 million in federal funding to help with public housing improvements, Rep. Paul Tonko announced Wednesday.

Six area housing authorities received a total of $10,762,770 in grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to support affordable housing renovations. It's part of $3.17 billion awarded to 2,756 public housing authorities across the nation.

Sen. Zellnor Myrie, a Democrat who represents parts of Brooklyn, said Wednesday he is seeking a run against Mayor Eric Adams.

The progressive lawmaker announced that he has formed a committee to consider a mayoral candidacy in 2025 and has begun fundraising.

Former President Donald Trump's alleged hush money payments trial took a dramatic turn Tuesday as adult film star Stormy Daniels took the witness stand.

Daniels faced a barrage of personal questions related to her alleged sexual encounter with Trump in 2006, with prosecutors delving into explicit details, including descriptions of the former president's underwear.

Child care advocates say they are disappointed with what was included in the final enacted state budget, and say it doesn't address the depths of the crisis here in New York.

Meanwhile, they are looking ahead thanks in part to a long-awaited report from New York’s Child Care Availability Task Force released last month that offers recommendations which align with many priorities advocates are pushing. Some are already supported by legislation and one significant recommendation was already vetoed by Governor Kathy Hochul last year.

Rep. Dan Goldman has introduced legislation aimed at enhancing the federal government’s ability to investigate potential cases of antisemitism and discrimination on college campuses.

His bill would allocate an additional $280 million to the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education, which Goldman, a Jewish Democrat representing lower Manhattan and part of Brooklyn, says currently “does not have sufficient funding to conduct the number of investigations that are now necessary with the rise of antisemitism on campus.”

Gov. Kathy Hochul was doing damage control Tuesday after suggesting Monday that some Black children in the Bronx do not know what a computer is.

“We will be the best. We will be the first, and I want others to follow because right now, we have, you know, young Black kids growing up in the Bronx who don’t even know what the word computer is. They don't know,” Hochul said Monday at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills.

There are dangerous chemicals, including PFAS, in some personal care products and cosmetics that many people use on a daily basis, according to a coalition of environmental organizations.

A package of bills would ban or force the removal of the carcinogens and give the commissioner of the New York State Department of Health more say in what chemicals can be used in the products.

A senior White House adviser made a stop in Syracuse on Tuesday.

Tom Perez, director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, was part of a roundtable discussion on the importance of transportation equity and mobility as well as community involvement. He highlighted the $180 million federal money aimed to go toward reconnecting communities and neighborhoods for the Interstate 81 viaduct project.

Combating gun violence around the state. That's the call from advocates at a rally held Tuesday at the state Capitol. It comes as officials in Western New York continue investigating a violent weekend.

Six people were shot and killed in Rochester over the weekend. Six teens were shot in Buffalo at a party, and a 14-year-old girl died. And Tuesday morning, a man was shot and killed outside a Buffalo bar.

In an interview with Spectrum News 1 Wisconsin on Tuesday ahead of the start of the 13th day of his hush money trial, former President Donald Trump said that he will “probably” testify in the case.

“I would like to,” Trump, speaking from New York, told Spectrum News’ Anthony DaBruzzi before launching into a laundry list of now familiar complaints about the case, the judge overseeing it and the gag order preventing him from talking about witnesses.

The New York hush money trial against Donald Trump is underway, the first criminal case against a former president in U.S. history.

Trump faces 34 charges of falsifying business records around purported efforts to cover up his alleged infidelity with an adult film actress during his 2016 presidential campaign. The former president has pleaded not guilty and denied any wrongdoing.

Before it was knocked off the ballot by a state Supreme Court justice Tuesday, New York voters were set to decide in November on Proposition 1, also known as New York’s Equal Rights Amendment.

The ERA would solidify abortion rights in the state constitution and expand protections against discrimination against women and LGBTQI+ individuals, among others.

A New York judge on Tuesday blocked a politically important abortion rights amendment from appearing before voters on the November ballot, dealing Democrats a setback as the party moved to focus battleground races in the state around abortion access.

State Supreme Court Justice Daniel J. Doyle found that state lawmakers failed to follow procedural rules around passing constitutional amendments, incorrectly approving the amendment before getting a written opinion on the language from the attorney general.

One year from today on May 7, 2025, all New Yorkers will be required to have a REAL ID to board a domestic flight and access certain federal facilities.

There are several types of ID now available: standard, REAL ID and enhanced. REAL ID will get you on flights within the United States and enhanced allows you entry to Canada without a passport.

Worksport Ltd. will invest $6 million and expand its state-of-the-art facility in the Town of West Seneca, adding 280 new jobs over the next five years, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Tuesday.

The company, which manufactures tonneau covers and solar-powered systems for pickup trucks, currently produces approximately 50 covers daily, but the addition of new manufacturing lines will allow the company to produce up to 900 covers per day.

Retired law enforcement and federal regulators from multiple states penned a letter to New York leaders Monday warning against a proposal to allow direct shipments of craft alcoholic beverages to consumers as lawmakers fight for the measure to clear the Legislature in the last month of session.

Lawmakers have long mulled changes to the state's Alcohol and Beverage Control law, which includes provisions that date back to the Prohibition era in the early 20th century. They're pushing hard for legislative leaders to bring a bill to the floor to permit cideries, distilleries and other small beverage producers to ship to customers across the state — as wineries have done for more than 20 years.

One month away from the scheduled end of the legislative session on June 6, some members of the Democratic-controlled state legislature say they should analyze the responses to pro-Palestinian protests across New York college campuses.

They were trying to close a multi-billion dollar state budget deal when the first of the demonstrations erupted on Columbia University’s campus on April 17.

LACKAWANNA, N.Y. -- New Environmental Protection Agency rules imposed last year require communities to replace all of their lead pipe service lines within the next decade.

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said places like Erie County are among the most impacted in the country.

Democratic U.S. Sen. Kirstin Gillibrand is seeking a third full term as the junior senator from New York, but first she’s got to go through Mike Sapraicone.

Sapraicone is a former New York City police detective who currently runs a private security firm called Squad Security.

Tim Kennedy is now a congressman.

The Western New York Democrat was sworn in Monday evening as the newest member of the House of Representatives.

CLYMER, N.Y. — Brittany Gerould is the general manager of The Dutch Village Restaurant in Clymer, one of seven completely dry towns and villages in New York state, meaning there's no selling or buying of alcohol.

"The business model has really functioned quite well without it," said Gerould.

As farmers and advocates continue to wait for Republicans and Democrats to come to an agreement on a new version of the Farm Bill, the House and Senate agriculture committee chairs have released their overviews.

The 2018 Farm Bill expired in December but was extended through the rest of 2024 because lawmakers could not agree on an updated version. However, with costs rising, particularly since 2018, farmers have pushed lawmakers to renew the bill quickly.

Rochester's Genesee Brewery is set to undergo a $50 million modernization project, its parent company FIFCO USA announced Monday.

The project will increase the brewery’s capacity with the installation of new tanks and equipment. Plans call for the facility to help supplement the Canadian production and shipment of Labatt Blue and Labatt Blue Light lines of beer, making this the first facility to produce these lines in the United States.

A motion by the group Renew 81 For All to be heard by New York state's highest court has been denied by the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court.

The decision, made Friday, comes after an appeals court reversed a lower court's ruling in February that halted the demolition on the Interstate 81 project in Syracuse, dismissing the argument that environmental impact statements must account for potential regional traffic and population changes that the $100 billion Micron project will make in the coming years, as well as other air quality reviews.

A $400 million increase in federal funding is available for security in places of worship, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced Sunday.

The boost in money comes as concerns rise over threats against Jewish and Muslim communities, fueled in part by the Israel-Hamas war.

Virtually every day of his hush money criminal trial, former President Donald Trump talks about how he can’t talk about the case.

A gag order bars Trump from commenting publicly on witnesses, jurors and some others connected to the matter. The New York judge already has found that Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, repeatedly violated the order, fined him $9,000 and warning that jail could follow if he doesn't comply.

Republican elected officials want the Democratic-led state Legislature to commence a hearing assessing Columbia University's response to the nearly three-week long pro-Palestinian protests on campus.

"We do need to get to the bottom of this," State Sen. Jack Martins (R-Long Island) told reporters Friday outside Columbia’s entrance on West 116th and Broadway, which is currently limited to students and faculty.

State lawmakers want to expand the types of alcoholic beverages that can be directly shipped to New York consumers and how restaurants buy alcohol in the state before legislative session ends in about five weeks.

The $237 billion state budget extended to-go alcoholic beverages for five years through 2030, and allows movie theaters that serve food to get a liquor license. Several lawmakers plan to make alcohol-to-go permanent in the future.

Climate activists took to the streets Friday in Albany to demand big banks stop funding fossil fuel projects.

“Climate Change is a human rights issue. It’s an urgent issue, and that’s why I’m here to show my support,” said Leah Penniman, co-founder of Soul Fire Farm. “As a farmer, we are directly impacted by climate chaos. We have been seeing mild winters, droughts, flooding, pest outbreaks, and farm workers are among those who are most disproportionately impacted.”

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said the state needs to invest in young people in order to invest in its future.

The minimum award for New York's Tuition Assistance Program has been $500 for roughly 25 years. Hochul said an increase was long overdue.

New York state has a new $237 billion budget that includes a record-breaking amount of education aid, increased penalties for retail theft, plans to tackle the opioid crisis and money to spur housing construction, among other items.

It was the state’s first spending plan spearheaded by new Budget Director Blake Washington.

This week, the NYPD descended upon Columbia University, the City College of New York and Fordham University, arresting hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters. The department has faced scrutiny over the move, as the Adams administration points to “outside agitators” being key to organizing the protests. NY1 investigative reporter Courtney Gross and political reporters Bobby Cuza and Dan Rivoli examined the protests, the actions of the NYPD and the response by university officials. They also discussed if the protests drew attention to the cause or whether the dialogue has only been about how the protestors were dealt with.

After that, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office asked for a retrial for Harvey Weinstein, after the movie producer’s 2020 rape conviction was overturned by an appeals court last week. The “Off Topic” team discussed the potential difficulty the prosecution faces, as well as how overturning this case is a significant blow to the #MeToo movement.

As New York state works to cement its place as a leader in artificial intelligence, experts in the field gathered in Albany for a discussion organized by the Business Council of New York State on how to best use the technology in the business world.

While a business-focused conference, when it comes to AI, it's difficult not to get into political implications – whether it’s how the rise of artificial intelligence is impacting political communications, or how leaders are trying to shape the ways in which the technology will impact New York’s economy.

Monday marks “Minority & Women Owned Business Advocacy Day” in New York state.

A press conference will take place on the topic at the state Capitol at noon, and networking opportunities will be available between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. in the Legislative Office Building for the businesses, which are commonly known as MWBEs.

The New York state budget from a progressive perspective is a mixed bag, according to one of the co-directors of the influential Working Families Party.

In a conversation with Capital Tonight, New York Working Families Party Co-Director Jasmine Gripper lauded the full funding of campaign finance reform which helps boost small campaign donors, as well as the restoration of education aid.

BUFFALO, N.Y. - An April report by the New York Civil Justice Institute finds in most cases, the insurances costs in the state are higher than anywhere else in the country.

Scott Hobson, of Big I New York, an industry advocacy group, said while high premiums are always an issue, the report lays out an even bigger concern.

Without wielding the gavel or holding a formal job laid out in the Constitution, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries might very well be the most powerful person in Congress right now.

The minority leader of the House Democrats, it was Jeffries who provided the votes needed to keep the government running despite opposition from House Republicans to prevent a federal shutdown.

All 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives are up for reelection in November, including the 26 in New York. Spectrum News political reporters will be providing updates throughout the campaign season on New York's congressional races.

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A brewing rematch in a congressional district that could determine which party controls the U.S. House of Representatives is quickly turning bitter and personal.

In New York’s expansive 19th Congressional District, which stretches from Tompkins County in the west to Rensselaer County in the east, Republican Rep. Marc Molinaro is trying for a repeat of 2022, when he beat Democrat Josh Riley.

Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday defended the level of NYPD response this week when officers disbanded several pro-Palestinian encampments on college campuses across New York City.

Officials at Columbia University, City College of New York and Fordham University all requested police assistance after making the decision to remove protesters from their campuses.

The police response to the pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University is putting in stark relief public fractures in the Democratic coalition on Capitol Hill.

Police in riot gear ended a student takeover Tuesday of a building on the campus.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers will prioritize legislation in the 18 remaining days of session to require the state to purchase more potent overdose reversal drugs for first responders and the public in efforts to reduce the number of New Yorkers who die by overdose.

More than 6,300 people died by overdose in the state in 2022 — peaking due to the prevalence of fentanyl-laced drugs, synthetic opioids and an increase in substance use.

People aged 65 and over are the fastest-growing segment of New York state’s population, but according to AARP, the nation's largest organization dedicated to empowering older Americans, you wouldn’t know it from this year’s enacted New York state budget.

“Older adults were, for the most part, left out of the budget,” Beth Finkel, AARP’s New York state director, told Capital Tonight.

New York lawmakers are in the process of considering a bill that would close what they call a loophole in how sex crimes can be prosecuted. They say current state law allows someone accused of rape to use the victim’s voluntary intoxication as a legal defense.

William Rivera, interim executive director of the New York State Coalition Against Sexual Assault, calls language in current New York state law creating that loophole “codified victim blaming.”

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- It's been more than nine months since migrants from New York City began arriving by bus to several Erie County hotels.

State Sen. Sean Ryan, D-Buffalo, said 539 individuals continue living in those suboptimal conditions today.

Nearly 300 people were arrested at Columbia University and the City College of New York late Tuesday as police broke up pro-Palestinian protests and an occupation at the two campuses, officials said Wednesday.

At a news briefing, NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell said 282 people were arrested in connection with the protests, including 173 people at City College and 109 people at Columbia.

Congressman Ritchie Torres introduced a bill that would allow the Department of Education to impose a “third-party antisemitism monitor” for any institution of higher education that receives federal funding.

Torres coined the legislation the COLUMBIA act — Columbia being an acronym for College Oversight and Legal Updates Mandating Bias Investigations and Accountability Act.

AMHERST, N.Y. — Whether it's to stay active or enjoy a good meal, seniors like 79-year-old Mary Strefeler have been going to the Amherst Senior Center in Erie County for years.

"It's more for socialization, meeting up with people [and] discussions around the lunch table," said Strefeler.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has nominated former state Assemblyman Walter Mosley to serve as the next secretary of state, the governor announced Wednesday.

Mosley would replace Robert Rodriguez, who is leaving the office on May 8 to begin a new role as acting president and chief executive officer of the state Dormitory Authority.

The families of Flight 3407 are applauding members of the U.S. House and Senate on presenting a new bipartisan FAA re-authorization bill.

The flight crashed on Feb. 12, 2009, in Clarence Center, just outside of Buffalo. All 49 people on the plane were killed. There was one casualty on the ground.

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Democratic state Sen. Timothy Kennedy won a special election Tuesday for the New York congressional seat vacated by Democrat Brian Higgins.

Kennedy easily defeated Republican Gary Dickson for the upstate New York seat, helped by a 2-to-1 Democratic registration advantage in the district, which includes Buffalo, Niagara Falls and several suburbs.

Tuesday is the special election for the seat representing New York's 26th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. It includes parts of Erie and Niagara counties and the cities of Buffalo, Lackawanna, Niagara Falls, Tonawanda and North Tonawanda.

The early voting period ended on Sunday. Nearly 11,000 votes were cast from April 20-28.

Many of New York state’s mayors are celebrating a bump in state funding for their municipalities in the state budget.

AIM, or aid and incentives for municipalities, will see a $50 million boost in unrestricted funding for cities, the first in 15 years.

Votes were being cast Tuesday in a special election to fill New York’s open 26th Congressional District in and around Buffalo. The seat had been held by Brian Higgins for 19 years until he stepped down in February to become president and CEO of Shea’s Performing Arts Center in Buffalo.

Democratic state Sen. Tim Kennedy and Republican Gary Dickson are running in Tuesday's special election, which is not considered competitive by the Cook Political Report, which rates the seat a "Solid D" district with a Cook partisan voting index of D+10.

The New York state Department of Agriculture and Markets and Office of Temporary and Disability Services (OTDA), unveiled a $1.1 million funding injection for two vital Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program’s Nutrition Education and Obesity Prevention (SNAP-Ed) grant schemes.

The grants, geared toward bolstering access to fresh, affordable foods in marginalized communities across New York state, is designed to reinforce the state’s commitment to combating food insecurity and supporting its agricultural industry.

Mark Grisanti, a judge on the New York Court of Claims who is also an acting justice of the state Supreme Court, will not be removed from the bench following a confrontation between Buffalo officers back in 2020.

The state Commission on Judicial Conduct recommended in a 6-4 vote that Grisanti be censured.

A court ruling will allow former Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren to stay on the primary ballot for the office of Rochester City Court judge.

Paperwork from Monroe County Supreme Court shows a suit was filed by Democrat and local attorney Michael Geraci, who is also running for the city court judge seat, when Warren appeared on both petitions for city judge and also a party committee seat. The documents say Warren's name was penciled in without her consent for the latter position by another person in the party and the judge ordered that petition be struck.

Monroe County District Attorney Sandra Doorley has issued an apology, saying she is taking "full responsibility" for her conduct during a traffic stop last week that was caught on camera. The incident prompted Gov. Kathy Hochul on Monday to refer the case to the Commission on Prosecutorial Conduct.

Lawmakers from across Rochester and Monroe County have been calling for investigations after the town of Webster on Friday released body camera footage showing Doorley being uncooperative as an officer pulled her over on April 22.

Testimony is set to resume Tuesday in the Manhattan criminal hush money prosecution of former President Donald Trump.

Trump's defense team includes lead attorney Todd Blanche.

As state lawmakers weigh ideas to aid New York's struggling health care workforce, physical therapists across the state want the Legislature to consider their solution to ease the burden — though it will be a tall order to convince policymakers before session ends in five weeks.

Members of the state chapter of the American Physical Therapy Association met with state lawmakers about legislation last week that pertain to physical therapy care. At the top of their list is a bill to end restrictions on how long they can treat a patient without a referral.

The New York State Police have traveled an especially bumpy road over the past couple of years. In 2022, then-Superintendent Kevin Bruen stepped down after Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office began investigating allegations of his handling of workplace complaints.

The following year, a separate investigation was launched into Bruen’s acting successor about whether he mistreated employees. Steve Nigrelli denied the allegations, but opted to retire because the governor had informed him he was no longer in the running for the permanent superintendent position.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- New York State's Commission on Prosecutorial Conduct is an idea more than a decade in the making.

Finally passed in 2018, a lawsuit led to an updated bill approved in 2021, allowing the commission to move forward. Russell Neufeld, of Accountability NY, an oversight advocacy group, said it's almost fully realized.

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Non-competes are clauses in employment contracts meant to stop employees from working for or starting with competing companies within outlined geographic and time limits.

Hodgson Russ litigation partner Jody Galvin said the agreements are traditionally legislated by states.

President Joe Biden signed a bill last week that could lead to a ban of TikTok nationwide.

While the potential of a TikTok ban is still a little way’s away, small business owners are concerned that banning the app could negatively impact their businesses.

In a letter, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., urged his counterpart in the chamber’s Republican majority, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to put a bipartisan bill aimed at fighting antisemitism up for a vote.

Earlier this month, a bipartisan group of House and Senate lawmakers — Sens. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., and James Lankford, R-Okla., and Reps. Kathy Manning, D-N.C., Chris Smith, R-N.J., and Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa. — introduced the Bipartisan Countering Antisemitism Act, a bill that would establish a National Coordinator to Counter Antisemitism within the White House.

We’re only a couple of months away from swimming pools and lakes opening for the season. But for cities across upstate, a shortage of lifeguards continues to be a challenge.

It’s been an unfortunate but familiar sign across many city and county parks: Lifeguard shortages are forcing pools to be closed — some for the entire summer.

New York's newly minted budget commits $10 million to train thousands of teachers in literary science to revamp their reading instruction strategies as the state's literacy rates suffer — plummeting nationwide since the COVID-19 pandemic.

State leaders are taking action to ensure teachers will help elementary schoolers become skilled readers after state Education Department data shows only about half of New York students scored "proficient" in English Language Arts exams last year.

Once again, the NY HEAT Act did not make the state budget. The bill is at the very top of environmentalists’ priorities.

The NY HEAT Act would align utility regulations with the state’s emissions reduction targets and remove a residential customer’s legal entitlement to utility gas services, but maintain the entitlement for electric service.

Renewable energy projects in New York have been taking more than three years to receive siting permits due to application delays, according to an audit released Thursday by state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli's office.

The audit of the Office of Renewable Energy Siting (ORES), which was created in 2020, found permit applications were often delayed due to missing or insufficient documentation.

New York can move ahead with a law requiring internet service providers to offer heavily discounted rates to low-income residents, a federal appeals court ruled Friday.

The decision from the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan reverses a lower court ruling from 2021 that blocked the policy just days before it went into effect.

The New York state Child Care Availability Task Force released its latest report Friday highlighting progress and initiatives that it says has enhanced child care services in the state.

The report comes after the state budget recently passed by the New York Legislature that continues the ongoing four-year $7 billion investment to expand access to affordable child care and invest the child care workforce.

A bipartisan pair of lawmakers from New York introduced legislation Friday to impose antisemitism monitors on college and university campuses that receive federal funding.

U.S. Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., and Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., introduced the bill as demonstrations by thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters disrupt college campuses across the country.

Shannon Thomas thought he was in trouble when he got a call from his manager Monday night.

He wasn’t.

Utica University professor Clemmie Harris is ending his campaign for the Democratic nomination in the race for New York's 22nd Congressional District.

Harris wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, said the move was a result of a dispute over ballot signature requirements with another candidate, DeWitt Town Councilor Sarah Klee Hood.

This week, tensions have risen at Columbia University as students continue protesting the Israel-Hamas War. Negotiations between students and faculty to dismantle the encampment that students have set up on campus have been ongoing. Meanwhile, on Wednesday, House Republicans joined Speaker Mike Johnson on campus to call for the resignation of Columbia University’s president, Minoushe Shafik. All this, as faculty and students of the university senate are expected to vote to censure Shafik. NY1 investigative reporter Courtney Gross and political reporters Bobby Cuza and Kelly Mena weigh in on the campus protests and how the NYPD and city have reacted to them.

After that, Mayor Eric Adams released his executive budget on Wednesday, which included restorations of cuts made to the NYPD but did not include restored library funds. Many city lawmakers pushed back and said the Adams administration’s budget announced months ago had too many unnecessary cuts, and library advocates warn these cuts will lead to reduced service. The “Off Topic” team discusses the budgeting dance between City Council and Adams, and what this means for libraries going forward.

New York lawmakers said they will prioritize enhancing the state's consumer protection laws before session ends after the bolstered law Gov. Kathy Hochul originally wanted in the budget didn't make the final $237 billion spending plan.

With the state budget completed last weekend, lawmakers are working on items they can campaign on back home before November's critical elections.

Former tabloid publisher David Pecker resumed his third day of testimony Thursday. Pecker faced questions from prosecutors over what they say was a conspiracy with Trump and his longtime lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen to help Trump's presidential bid by killing unfavorable stories about him.

Also, for the first day, Pecker was cross-examined by Trump's legal team.

Landlords of rent-stabilized apartments in New York City are saying this year’s budget was a lost opportunity.

Jay Martin, executive director of CHIP-NYC, the Community Housing Improvement Program, which represents the owners of New York City’s 400,000 rent-stabilized rental properties, told Capital Tonight’s Susan Arbetter that the math doesn’t add up.

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- New York state has already announced its Empire AI Consortium, named the University at Buffalo as the program's hub and even secured private contributions.

However, UB Vice President of Research and Economic Development Venu Govindaraju said it wasn't until lawmakers passed the budget over the weekend, including $250 million for the initiative, that it officially became a reality.

President Joe Biden traveled to Syracuse, N.Y., on Thursday -- home of his law school alma mater, Syracuse University -- to announce $6.1 billion in federal funding for Micron Technology to boost the production of advanced memory computer chips.

Biden hailed the CHIPS and Science Act -- a 2022 bill championed by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., that aims to boost domestic manufacturing -- for luring Micron to Central New York, where the company, the president said, plans "to build the biggest semiconductor manufacturing site in all of America.”

For the second time in a year and a half, President Joe Biden visited Syracuse on Thursday to tout Micron's coming investment in the region, this time announcing a preliminary agreement between the Department of Commerce and Micron to provide up to $6.14 billion in direct funding to support both Micron’s new semiconductor plant in the town of Clay, as well as another fab in Boise, Idaho.

Biden's visit also coincides with the announcement that Syracuse has been named as one of four “Investing in America Work Hubs.” The others being Milwaukee, Philadelphia and Michigan. It comes after a first round of hubs were designated by the White House, including centers in Phoenix, Arizona, and Columbus, Ohio, that focus on semiconductor training.

An increase in teen depression and mental health disorders over the last decade has largely been attributed to the widespread adoption of the smartphone by adolescents. Parents are obsessively worrying about screen time and the effects it could have on their children.

One such parent is Zephyr Teachout, attorney, author, political candidate and associate professor of law at Fordham University. Teachout joined NY1’s Errol Louis to discuss the dangerous and addictive content teens are being fed by social media platforms. They also talked about the government’s role in regulation, the status of the TikTok ban and how the algorithm preys on children’s weaknesses.

As school districts begin to prepare their budgets, they now have a better idea of what they are preparing for.

Questions surrounding foundation aid clouded much of the first part of the year and raised questions about if districts would see their funding levels drop.

A TikTok video put Abbey Kowalec and her business on the map.

“I find that when someone reaches out to me, the first thing they say is, ‘Oh, I found you on TikTok,’” Kowalec said. “I would say 70 to 80% of my customer base comes from TikTok.”

More than three years into President Joe Biden’s term, White House National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi says the administration has made “historic progress at a massive scale” in combating global warming.

“But,” he continued, “there's still a lot of work to be done.”

This week, former President Donald Trump’s fate is on the docket in two separate courtrooms: The hush money case in New York City continues. Plus, arguments regarding Trump’s claim of absolute immunity from prosecution take place Thursday before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Separately, a critically important case called Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany v. Vullo, dealing with the mandatory coverage of abortion, was argued earlier this month in New York’s highest court.

Mayor Eric Adams insists that things are looking up.

“The city is not coming back folks. The city is back,” Adams said Wednesday.

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- In a Siena College poll released this week, 66% of New York voters who answered the survey said they support requiring high school athletes can only compete against others of the gender they were assigned at birth.

While 83% of Republicans and 77% of independent voters support the idea, even a slight majority of Democrats are in favor.

President Joe Biden is making his second trip to Syracuse in less than two years on Thursday. This comes after the recent announcement that Micron will receive $6.1 billion in federal funding through the CHIPS and Science Act.

The last time Biden visited Syracuse, he came to Onondaga Community College (OCC). A professor discussed the memory chips Micron will produce, and how OCC is growing a pipeline of workers to build them.

Abortion rights activists aren't pleased with New York's budget that passed over the weekend — saying Wednesday the $237 billion spending plan will not assist health care providers experiencing large gaps to cover medication abortions for Medicaid patients.

Reproductive rights continue to be a national conversation after the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday on an Idaho abortion ban and nearly two years after the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

New York’s mental health court system will soon see an extra $33 million investment for treatment services, as part of the newly minted $237 billion budget.

“[I] just took a tour of former cells, holding centers, that are now going to be turned into rooms of healing where we can address people and help them get on a healthy path towards recovery,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said at the Midtown Community Justice Center on Wednesday.

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — In celebration of Earth Week, the New York State Commissioner of Agriculture visited Western New York to announce the availability of grant funds for climate-resilient farming.

Commissioner Richard Bell announced that $28.75 million is being made available to farmers through the Climate Resilient Farming Grant for 2024. He announced the Providence Farm Collective in Orchard Park.

A coalition of attorneys general led by New York's Letitia James is calling on Congress to expand access to in vitro fertilization and other reproductive health services.

The group wants lawmakers to pass the Access to Family Building Act.

New York local government sales tax collections increased 1.6%, totaling $5.6 billion, in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the same period last year, state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli’s office said Wednesday.

It is the lowest rate of growth in the first quarter since 2021, the comptroller added.