Education
N.Y. Budget Deal Includes School Cellphone Ban and Public Safety Changes
Gov. Kathy Hochul on Monday announced the framework of a roughly $254 billion state budget agreement, ending a monthlong stalemate over public safety issues that the governor had insisted on including in the fiscal plan.
The budget deal, which will now go to the Legislature for a full vote, includes changes to make it easier to remove people in psychiatric crisis from public spaces to be evaluated for treatment, and eases so-called discovery requirements for how prosecutors hand over evidence to criminal defendants in the pretrial phase.
Ms. Hochul also successfully pushed for an all-day ban on students having cellphones in schools. But another of the governor’s policy priorities relating to the restriction of the wearing of masks was whittled down by legislators over concerns that it would be selectively enforced and infringe on people’s civil liberties.
“We worked through some really challenging issues,” Ms. Hochul said at a news conference Monday afternoon. “We refused to be drawn into the toxic, divisive politics of the moment.” Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins, the majority leader, and Carl E. Heastie, the Assembly speaker, were not present at the announcement.
The changes related to criminal justice and mental health were major priorities of Mayor Eric Adams and district attorneys from New York City, who appeared several times with Ms. Hochul to push for the proposals. She made them clear priorities, frustrating lawmakers who were forced to pass several so-called budget extenders to keep the government running after the April 1 deadline passed.
Ms. Hochul did not provide many details on what exactly would be changed and to what degree, saying that her aides would iron out the final details with legislative leaders in the coming days.
Other changes may yet be in store, depending on the severity of the rolling cuts to federally subsidized programs, the specter of which has heightened anxiety among lawmakers. Most concede that a special legislative session may be needed to reckon with the shortfalls once Congress passes its budget. Ms. Hochul and others have been saying for months now that it is essentially impossible to plan until they fully understand the cuts.
“We can only devise a budget based on the information we have at this time,” Ms. Hochul said, adding the state had already been hit with about $1.2 billion in cuts.
“There’s a possibility that we’ll have to come back later this year and update our budget in response to federal actions,” she added.
Still, New York’s budget agreement, which will be fleshed out and voted on next week, dealt only glancingly with the transformed fiscal picture that could be on the horizon a few months from now — a bleak outlook made even more uncertain by President Trump’s tariff-driven global trade war.
State Democratic leaders have stressed that congressional Republicans seem all too willing to cut entitlement programs such as Medicaid and Social Security.
Yet the budget proposal called for New York to spend $17 billion more than last year, made possible in part after state officials disclosed earlier this month that tax revenues and the state’s general fund closed the fiscal year with billions more dollars than expected.
Ms. Hochul, who is keenly aware of voters’ frustrations with rising costs for basic goods like food and housing, is up for re-election next year. Several Democrats are considering primary challenges, and several prominent Republicans, including Representative Elise Stefanik, are also weighing bids.
In effort to boost her flagging political prospects, she stuffed her executive budget proposal in January with populist efforts to “put money back in people’s pockets.” It included a $3 billion tax refund that would have seen New Yorkers receive between $300 and $500 and a generous expansion of the state’s child tax credit program.
The framework agreement with the Legislature included the governor’s proposed child tax credit of up to $1,000 for families with a child under 4, but the refund was scaled back in negotiations, amid pushback over whether that was the best use of so much cash. Now about $2 billion will be devoted to the program, with New Yorkers receiving between $200 and $400, depending on their income.
Similarly Ms. Hochul had promised no increases to state income taxes, although she proposed an extension of an existing tax on residents making more than $1.1 million through tax year 2032, and relief for many middle-class New Yorkers earning up to $323,000 per year as joint filers. The budget agreement reached on Monday maintains the tax cut but includes an increased payroll levy on companies with more than $10 million in revenue.
This largess would help fund the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s $68 billion five-year plan to make systemwide infrastructure upgrades. Smaller companies will see a cut in their payroll tax burden because of the deal. The M.T.A., the state and New York City will each kick in $3 billion to fund the plan. Ms. Hochul also said that $1.2 billion that had been previously allocated for renovating Penn Station will go toward safety improvements and stopping fare evasion.
“It’s a fair plan that asks the most from large employers, but also calls on the city, state and M.T.A. to step up,” said Kathryn S. Wylde, president of the Partnership for New York City, a business group.
Mr. Heastie said the framework agreement included changes to the state’s campaign finance matching system. Donations larger than $250 are currently disqualified from the matching program; the agreement provides for the state to match the first $250 of any donation up to $1,000.
The budget deal also includes a change to the law to allow candidates for governor and lieutenant governor to run together as a ticket, rather than in separate primaries as they do now. The current lieutenant governor, Antonio Delgado, recently announced he would not seek another term in the role and is considering challenging Ms. Hochul in next year’s primary.
Stefanos Chen and Jay Root contributed reporting.
Education
Opinion | 13 George Washington Interpreters on Embodying an Icon
In our national memory, George Washington is a mythic figure, cast in metal, carved in stone. His leadership, first as general, then as president, is so intertwined with the roots of this country that it is sometimes hard to separate the man from the idea of America. How does one imagine the living presence of such an icon, much less embody him?
There is a small fraternity of men bold enough to try. At historical parks and commemorations from Virginia to Seattle, these interpreters (their preferred term) transform themselves into Washington. Each has his own approach, but what all their representations seek to capture is a legacy that has endured from his time to ours. If America, at least in part, is an idea, then our national project becomes, like theirs, an act of interpretation, an imperfect attempt to translate some idealized vision into the messy reality of our own time.
— Ezekiel Kweku
“By some strange quirk
of genetics, I have
Washington’s exact
dimensions. Where my
sleeves fall on my wrist,
the size of my chest, the
size of my thighs, where
the breeches fall to my
knees, are all identical.”
John Koopman, 67, often performs
while riding his horse, Bear. He
has portrayed Washington for 20 years.
James Fryer, 70, wears a replica of a general’s uniform that Washington designed himself. He recently completed training to portray Washington for the nonprofit Historic Philadelphia.
“Some people portray George as a marble statue. I don’t do a marble George. I am interested in talking to everyone, even those who yell at me because George was a slave owner. I want to respect them, try to educate them, or maybe even inspire them.”
Vern Frykholm, 77, was moved to bring his interpretation of Washington to Washington State, where he lives, after seeing a 2011 performance in Pennsylvania.
Dean Malissa, 73, signs his personal
correspondence, including emails,
as Washington did: “Your Most Humble
and Obedient Servant.” He became
the Official George Washington
at Mount Vernon in 2004, and held
that role for nearly 20 years.
“I describe him sometimes as just a dude. I look at him and think, I could see myself in the same world, making similar bad decisions or similar good decisions.”
Daniel Cross, 39, portrayed a young Washington at Virginia’s Colonial Williamsburg until last year. He now works with organizations around the country.
Curt Radabaugh, 62, has 13,000 history books in his personal library, including several hundred about Washington. He is a veteran of the U.S. Marines and a retired police officer.
“He’s a mentor, a father
figure, and not only in the
sense that he’s a patriarch
of the country. Because
I grew up without a
father, he kind of became
my surrogate father.”
Brian Hilton, 58, says he researches
Washington’s era every morning before
his children get up and at night after
they go to bed. He is a high school history
teacher near Richmond, Va.
Daniel Shippey, 57, partners on interpretations with his wife, Kelly, who portrays Martha Washington. Kelly researched 18th-century hair techniques to create her husband’s costume hairstyle. They live in Virginia.
“You’re playing the myth of George Washington as well as the historical figure. I make his voice a little firmer and deeper than it probably was in real life. I play him a little funnier than he probably was. In reality, if you came to see him, he probably wouldn’t talk to you as much as I do.”
Doug Thomas, 53, is Washington’s second cousin nine times removed.
John Godzieba, 67, has reenacted
the crossing of the Delaware as
Washington every Christmas for the
past 16 years at Pennsylvania’s
Washington Crossing Historic Park.
“In many ways I don’t look like him. My eye color is wrong. My nose is wrong. My hair color is wrong. I wouldn’t have cast myself in this role.”
Ron Carnegie, 64, has portrayed Washington at Colonial Williamsburg for 20 years.
Ryan Williams, 37, is a veteran who specializes in playing a young Washington during the French and Indian War. He lives in Virginia.
“Some people portray
Washington almost
like a superhero.
I like to bring out that
he has faults. He’s a
person like you or me.”
Michael Grillo, 64, is a historical
tailor who hand-sews his own clothes
for reenactments. He also makes
period props, including two American
battle flags and pewter mugs
engraved with Washington’s crest.
Martin Schoeller is a photographer and director known for his close-up portraits of everyone from world leaders and celebrities to female bodybuilders. For this project, he used a large format camera to photograph 13 historical interpreters of George Washington — many of whom arrived in full uniform — over three days in Virginia and New York City.
Additional reporting by Tenzin D. Tsagong. Interviews have been edited and condensed for length and clarity. Top quotes from Brian Hilton, Daniel Shippey and Daniel Cross.
Produced by Sara Barrett, Danny DeBelius and Sam Whitney. Additional production by Olivia James.
Education
This Little Robot Cleans Windows
One task the robots can take from us? Cleaning. Especially hard-to-access windows. So when writers Caroline Mullen and Evan Dent found this little guy — whose government name is “EcoVacs Winbot Mini” — they were intrigued. Could he clean the uncleanable? Caroline and Evan put their robot friend to the test at both the Wirecutter office and a high-rise apartment. Is a robo-window cleaner more effective than scrubbing yourself?
Education
Video: School Year Cut Short and Aid Delivery Slowed Amid Fuel Crisis in Cuba
new video loaded: School Year Cut Short and Aid Delivery Slowed Amid Fuel Crisis in Cuba
By McKinnon de Kuyper
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