New York News

WAMC's David Guistina speaks with Melissa Mangini, editor-in-chief of the Albany Business Review, about how the coronavirus pandemic is impacting construction projects across New York state. 

New York state lawmakers finished up the state budget Friday morning, three days after the deadline. One area of contention was making changes to the state’s bail reform laws. In the end, lawmakers compromised.

Upstate officials have different views on how to contain the spread of COVID-19, with some asking people with positive cases or coming from downstate areas to stay away.

Capital Region Congressman Paul Tonko is criticizing the Trump administration for mixed messages on its response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Democrat from New York’s 20th District spoke to constituents on a telephone town hall Wednesday night. WAMC’s Southern Adirondack Bureau Chief Lucas Willard was on the line.

WAMC's David Guistina speaks with Jim Kevlin, Editor and Publisher of Hometown Oneonta, The Freeman's Journal, and AllOtsego.com, about some of the most notable cases of coronavirus in Otsego County. As of Tuesday, 19 people have tested positive and one person has died from COVID-19. 

It’s no secret by now that medical supplies are in dangerously short supply as hospitals in the Northeast try to battle the coronavirus pandemic. Engineering students at the University at Albany are trying to pitch in by 3-D printing face shields.

The COVID-19 outbreak has already proven to be a significant event in world history. And now one local organization wants to collect and preserve the stories of ordinary people living through it. 

The cities of Saratoga Springs and Schenectady are taking action to discourage large gatherings in a time of social distancing.

WAMC's David Guistina speaks with Jeff Wilkin of The Daily Gazette about reports that a resident at Kingsway Manor Assisted Living in Schenectady, New York has died of the coronavirus. 

WAMC's David Guistina speaks with Mike Goodwin of The Times Union about reports that some Capital Region officials are worried local hospitals could be overwhelmed by coronavirus patients in and around New York City. 

The New York state budget is due Wednesday. Lawmakers, facing a massive deficit, are meeting at the State Capitol, which is off limits to the public, as yet another legislator tests positive for the coronavirus.

Governor Andrew Cuomo has extended the mandatory closure of all non-essential businesses and the ban on gatherings in New York for another two weeks, through April 15. That time period includes the Passover and Easter holidays. Cuomo also says he’s convinced the governor of Rhode Island to call off a policy of using that state’s police force to question New Yorkers who enter Rhode Island and forcing them to quarantine.

WAMC's David Guistina speaks with Yancey Roy, Albany bureau chief for Newsday, about how the coronavirus pandemic is expected to impact the New York state budget due Wednesday. 

On Friday, President Trump signed the $2.2 trillion stimulus bill to support the country’s COVID-19 response.

Several New York State lawmakers and a co-chair of the state Board of Elections are pressing for New York to expand its absentee voting laws to allow for more mail-in balloting, and to postpone the April 28 presidential primary until late June.

A man who pulled a gun on Newburgh City Police late Friday afternoon was shot and killed by officers.

WAMC's David Guistina speaks with Melissa Mangini, editor-in-chief of the Albany Business Review, about how some businesses are shifting their operations to produce masks and ventilators amid the coronavirus pandemic in New York. 

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, facing a state budget deadline in less than a week, is out with a new proposal to try to cope as the state faces a multibillion dollar budget gap, and much uncertainty with much of the economy shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has estimated that the state needs at least 30,000 ventilators to meet projections during the COVID-19 crisis, which has already hospitalized thousands in the state.

WAMC's David Guistina speaks with Jim Kevlin, Editor and Publisher of Hometown Oneonta, The Freeman's Journal, and AllOtsego.com, about how the coronavirus pandemic is impacting plans for this summer's youth baseball season in Cooperstown, New York. 

New York lawmakers have just one week until the state budget is due. They say despite the coronavirus outbreak, they intend to meet the deadline, and will use precautions to avoid meeting in large groups. They face a daunting task of putting together a spending plan while a multi-billion dollar deficit grows each day.

Members of the business community in Saratoga County got an update on the $2 trillion federal stimulus bill today from Congresswoman Elise Stefanik and the Small Business Administration.

Governor Andrew Cuomo says he’s been working closely with President Trump’s son-in-law and top White House aide Jared Kushner to get New York ventilators as coronavirus cases continue to escalate.

Officials in rural Montgomery County, New York updated the public on the spread of COVID-19 Tuesday afternoon.

WAMC's David Guistina speaks with Jeff Wilkin of The Daily Gazette about how Capital Region hospitals are responding to the growing coronavirus pandemic in New York.