Blair Horner

This past weekend, New Yorkers began to go to the polls to vote in the 2026 election. On the ballot, there are elections for Congress, statewide offices, the state legislature, and many local offices. That last one is new — a new law moved many races for local office to even-numbered years in an effort to boost voter participation.

Quietly, last month, the New York State Democratic Committee transferred $10 million to Governor Hochul’s re-election campaign war chest. You heard that right: $10 million. And the move was entirely legal.

We’ve known since ancient times that exposure to lead is a public health threat. Aging infrastructure, old paint in buildings, emissions from cars, and, sadly, drinking water have all been sources of lead exposure in the United States. But exposure to lead is of particular concern when it comes to children.

It’s that time of year when leaves are turning color, autumn is around the corner, and colleges have opened across New York.

In less than two months, in fact, New Yorkers will be able to start going to early voting polling centers and submitting mail-in ballots - that is if the President’s efforts to derail mail-in voting fail.

The costs to New Yorkers will go beyond the damage to the public’s health and environment; it will hammer our wallets too.

“Stealing” an election is, of course, a criminal act, and there is no evidence to support the claim. Campaign rhetoric aside, what is the debate about and what would it mean to voters?

New York moved to the head of the pack in protecting consumers from looming rate hikes resulting from the inadequately regulated boom in data center construction.

There is an old political adage: “Money is the mother’s milk of politics.” It means that political power flows from large war chests to candidates and to lobbying efforts that influence government decisions.

Everywhere you look, there is a growing concern over the threats posed by A.I. data centers. We have relied on data centers for years, but the burgeoning construction of new, more massive ones has hit a nerve in an increasingly cost-conscious America.