STORIES

An accidental experiment during COVID suggests too many children are removed to foster care

Some experts warned of an "epidemic of abuse" as children were confined at home. But that never happened. 

​Tensions high at a Brooklyn middle school as teachers spar with principal

Forty-one staff members signed on to a union animus grievance in the largest such dispute in the union's history. 

A Brooklyn middle school integration plan shows some patterns are hard to break
Other districts could learn from what worked — and what didn’t — in Brooklyn’s District 15.

‘Ghosts of capitalism’: the push to dismantle America’s decrepit dams
Derelict dams criss-crossing the country’s rivers and tributaries disrupt the paths of migrating fish and pose a flood hazard.

Family lawyers are disappearing in rural New York

A dearth of attorneys practicing family law in rural areas means struggling families are at risk of having their children placed in foster care. 
A Multimillion-Dollar Payday, at the Carwash 
Wage-theft cases are notoriously hard to prove, and they almost never pay out. But for some of the most marginalized laborers in the city, justice was served.

This Simple Solution Keeps Kids in School, out of Handcuffs
Telling kids they can never make a mistake was at the root of the problem.

The Proven Way to Keep More Innocent Teens From Confessing to Murder (and Why Police Won't Adopt It)
Standard interrogation, which includes badgering and lying to suspects until they confess, is psychological torture for the young and mentally frail. Now there's a better way.

How Game Theory Helped Improve New York City's High School Application Process
Three economists tackle an eighth-grade problem.

The Bronx Zoo's Loneliest Elephant

Animal welfare advocates say it's inhumane to keep a highly intelligent, social animal alone. The zoo thinks she's fine where she is. 

Big Oil Wants New York’s Cow Manure
​Biogas credits are incentivizing the expansion of factory farming in New York—and might end up increasing carbon emissions.

Hochul, Plastics Industry and Green Groups Battle Over Recycling Proposal

Rather than try to improve Hochul’s proposal, some environmentalists want to scrap it and instead concentrate on a forthcoming bill from Assemblymember Steve Englebright.

Is Briana Waters a Terrorist?

In an alarming case, U.S. attorneys exploit post-9/11 counterterrorism laws to prosecute an environmental activist.

A Bronx Tale

Parks are blossoming and fish spawning along an urban river that was once an industrial dump site overflowing with sewage.