A bill that would restrict private businesses in New York City from using facial recognition on customers has won the backing of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration and a majority of the City Council, sponsors and supporters said Friday.
Advocates and lawmakers announced the momentum at a rally outside Madison Square Garden, whose owner, James Dolan, has used the technology to track visitors and bar attorneys pursuing litigation against the venue.
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As biometric identification becomes more commonplace in New York, private companies are more easily able to collect data on New Yorkers’ lives – and advocates and some elected officials believe this should stop.
They fear the information, which includes individuals’ faces, names and voices, could land in the hands of law enforcement agencies, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or hackers, either intentionally or through data breaches.
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The city will finally open a vacant preschool — on which it has spent millions in renovations and rent — to students this fall, officials said Monday morning.
Parents had been urging the city to open the school at 129 Van Brunt St. for months — through petitions, social media videos and interviews with news outlets, including NY1.
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Inside Government is a Q&A series that gives New Yorkers a glimpse inside the role of the elected officials who represent them. This edition of Inside Government with PoliticsNY, sponsored by AARP New York City, features New York City Council Member Shahana Hanif. Council Member Hanif represents the 39th Council District in Brooklyn which includes Kensington, Windsor Terrace, Park Slope, Gowanus, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, the Columbia Waterfront and portions of Boerum Hill and Borough Park.
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Fueled by the expansion of protected bike lanes and bike-sharing systems like Citi Bike, cycling is increasingly becoming a preferred mode of transportation for many New Yorkers.
According to data from the NYC Department of Transportation, the number of daily cycling trips rose 64% between 2013 and 2023. A survey from the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene found that more than 762,000 New Yorkers ride a bike regularly.
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An oversight hearing into New York City’s response to both of this year’s major snowstorms took place at City Hall on Friday.
The City Council started digging into what worked and what didn’t work in the city’s storm response.
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“No New Yorker should be isolated in their home because the path outside was left inaccessible,”
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New York City lawmakers are pushing to ban private businesses from using biometric tools like voice and facial recognition software to track the public.
The City Council on Monday held a hearing on proposed legislation that seeks to rein in the type of “Big Brother” surveillance that has grown more common in apartment buildings and grocery stores like
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The democratic socialist organization now controls four seats on the New York City Council.
The New York City Democratic Socialists of America just doubled its official presence in the New York City Council. On Friday, the group formally admitted Council Members Chi Ossé and Shahana Hanif to its City Socialist in Office bloc, which already included Council Members Tiffany Cabán and Alexa Avilés.
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Two more New York City Council members withdrew their support this week for Intro. 303, the “No More 24” bill that would ban 24-hour workdays for home healthcare workers, bringing the number of co-sponsors who have abandoned the bill up to five since April.
Council Member Elsie Encarnacion (D-Bronx) pulled her support for the bill on Monday, while her colleague in the chamber, Ty Hankerson (D-Queens), formally withdrew his support on Tuesday evening.
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New York City Council members said Friday that this time, irresponsible dog owners across the city have really stepped in it.
Local lawmakers gathered on May 15 at Tompkins Square Park Dog Run, along with New York City’s Dog Mayor, Deputy Dog Mayor and the new Dog Speaker to drum up support for a collection of new bills aimed at
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