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Tuesday Headlines: Benevolent Fearmongering Edition

More climate downers and other news.
Tuesday Headlines: Benevolent Fearmongering Edition
Breathe in the poison folks. Photo: Ruben de Rijcke

Here at Streetsblog, we don’t believe in stoking fear and anger…unless it serves the public interest.

Protesters, advocates and even a few charlatans spent chunks of this year fighting back against what they saw as Gov. Hochul waiving the white flag on climate. The governor was ultimately successful in easing emission reduction mandates in the same legislative breath as the state budget, a process that drew demonstrations and arrests down the hall from her Albany office.

Many didn’t realize, amid all the finger-pointing and conflagration, that the states’ abdication of urgency on climate ties it to an archaic, expensive highway design logic. Ultimately, it will ensure we keep putting more cars on the road and increase greenhouse gas emissions.

Read more about what changes to the climate law mean for roadway boondoggles here.

Elsewhere in the Empire State:

  • A 19-year-old man was struck and killed by a LIRR train at the Valley Stream station yesterday. (Newsday)
  • Rideshare and taxi drivers regularly face the problem of finding somewhere to piss. (The Daily News)
  • More travel chaos could be in store for today as nearly 50,000 train tickets to World Cup matches remain unsold. (The New York Post)
  • Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-Manhattan) is leading his lefty challenger Darializa Avila Chevalier by 8 points in what is shaping up as a heated primary. (The Post)
  • Protestors are facing new restrictions from Hochul. (Gothamist)
  • Low-income communities of color in New York City face the greatest traffic danger, according to a new study. (amNY)
  • Speaking of a Schneps outlet, its editorial staff has unionized after years of stagnant wages. (Hell Gate)
  • Accessibility upgrades at the Saratoga Springs Amtrak Station should be ready by next summer. (NCPR)
  • Veteran lawmakers in Albany are vacating key leadership roles. (WXXI)
  • Now that car insurance has been fiddled with (as we covered to the point of delerium), the Scaffold Law may be the next target for special interests. (State of Politics)
  • Assembly Member Grace Lee (D-Manhattan) and former Assembly Member Yuh-Line Niou are contesting an open state Senate seat. (NY1)
  • A handful of Western New York entities failed to file their lobbying paperwork properly with the state. (The Buffalo News)

Photo of Austin C. Jefferson
Before becoming Albany Bureau Chief in late 2025, Austin C. Jefferson was a state politics reporter for City & State NY, covering state government, elections and major legislative debates. His reporting has also appeared in the Daily Freeman, Chronogram Magazine and The Legislative Gazette. Having grown up in the Hudson Valley, he's always happy to argue about where Upstate New York truly begins.

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