Wednesday Headlines: Killer Cornwall Copper Edition

An off-duty Westchester County corrections officer struck and killed a pedestrian in Cornwall on Aug. 31, and now the state Attorney General’s Office of Special Investigation is doing what it’s required to do whenever a cop’s car — marked or not, on the clock or off — ends up killing someone: taking a look. The officer was turning right off State Route 32 onto Quaker Avenue around 10:30 p.m. when the pedestrian was hit; he died five days later. Under Executive Law 70-b, that’s enough to trigger Office of Special Investigation’s review regardless of whether the officer was working, whether the person struck was armed, or whether either of them had any prior contact with law enforcement. The victim has yet to be named.

Elsewhere in the Empire State:

• Rochester’s Zoning Alignment Project is holding public meetings and taking online comments as the city moves toward finalizing a rewrite of its 2003-era zoning code to align with the “Rochester 2034” comprehensive plan. (Rochester Democrat & Chronicle)
• The Onondaga Lake Parkway will close in both directions between Park Street and Oswego Street from Sept. 20 to Sept. 27 for work on the notoriously low, frequently-struck railroad bridge over the roadway. (Syracuse.com)
• A peer-led 2024 survey of Tompkins County’s unhoused youth, presented at a Human Services Coalition forum, found respondents most wanted empathy, mental health access, and living wages, while researchers acknowledged the snowball-sampling method skewed the demographic data. (Ithaca Times)
• An Albany County sheriff’s investigator is accused of running more than 4,000 unauthorized Flock license-plate camera searches, including on a former girlfriend, fueling a push for statewide rules on the technology’s retention and oversight. (NY1)
• Rep. Mike Lawler (R-Rockland County) is facing Democratic scrutiny over more than $720,000 in payments from campaign and advocacy groups he’s led to Checkmate Strategies, a consulting firm he co-founded and sold last year. (The Times Union)
• A 25-year-old Poughkeepsie man was charged with manslaughter and DWI after police say he struck and killed a 35-year-old e-bike rider on Salt Point Turnpike and tried to flee before being caught. (The Poughkeepsie Journal)
• Gov. Hochul is touting an expanded Energy Affordability Program that could save eligible households up to $500 a year on utility bills; Blakeman’s campaign has dismissed the effort as a token gesture ahead of the governor’s race. (The New York Post)
• Mayor Mamdani is making the $30-an-hour rate temporarily offered during February’s blizzard the standard base pay for NYC’s emergency snow shovelers this winter, with overtime pushing it to $45 after 40 hours. (amNY)
• Ahead of the city’s first legally mandated streets plan under Mamdani, advocacy groups are pushing City Hall to commit to clearer, faster progress on bus lanes, protected bike networks, and pedestrian space after years of missed targets under the previous administration. (The City Reporter)
• The on-duty death of a third NYC cab driver in as many months — medallion owner Jagjit Singh, found dead in the West Village — is renewing calls from the Taxi Workers Alliance for health screenings and policy changes addressing the grueling hours and financial stress drivers face. (The City Reporter)
• Long Island lawmakers, contractors, and labor and first-responder groups are calling for a roughly 10-mile expansion of Sunrise Highway’s third lane from Patchogue to Center Moriches, citing a “significant increase in traffic” on the corridor. (Newsday)