Politics

Hochul, Zeldin’s final campaign push and pay transparency’s rocky debut

Rounding up the week’s political news.

Vice President Kamala Harris, Gov. Kathy Hochul and Hillary Clinton campaigned this week in New York City.

Vice President Kamala Harris, Gov. Kathy Hochul and Hillary Clinton campaigned this week in New York City. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

Several months after New York officials finalized a plan to make the state’s fleet of nearly 50,000 school buses electric by 2035, 51 new bright yellow vehicles are now officially slated to hit New York City’s streets as early as next school year. The endeavor is being funded through a $18.5 million federal grant from the Environmental Protection Agency. And while the new electric buses will only account for about 1% of the city’s 5,000 school buses, officials say it’s an important first step toward rolling back the use of heavily polluting diesel fuel, which traditional school buses use in far larger amounts than regular cars. The 51 electric buses may only be the first too – more money could be allocated in the future, and the state still has the 2035 deadline to meet. Read on for more recent important news here.

All hands on deck

As the New York gubernatorial race officially hit the final stretch, Gov. Kathy Hochul and Rep. Lee Zeldin’s campaigning efforts intensified. In the final week and a half, Both candidates traversed across the state, held rally after rally where they urged New Yorkers to hit the ballot box, and attempted to enlist allies behind the scenes. While Hochul made appearances at events like the Brooklyn Democratic Party Gala and rallied with Reps. Jamaal Bowman and Adriano Espaillat in an attempt to increase Black and Latino enthusiasm, Zeldin drummed up support from several Brooklyn-based Orthodox Jewish groups, which could lead to thousands of additional votes. In a sign of how close the race seems to have gotten, the Democratic Governors Association made a rare entry into New York by forming an independent expenditure committee in hopes of boosting Hochul’s bid. A surge of high-profile political stars have also streamed into the state to support the candidates further illustrating New York’s status as a battleground state. While Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin campaigned for Zeldin, touting his unprecedented success in the deep blue New York, former President Barack Obama, Vice President Kamala Harris and former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton joined their voices with Hochul. 

Pay transparency’s rocky debut

Big news for literally anyone applying for a job in New York City: Employers are now legally required to include job postings under a new law that took effect Nov. 1. That means advertisements for jobs that are “publicized to a pool of potential applicants” must now include both the minimum and maximum amounts that employers are allowed to pay. City officials have touted the law as something that’ll bolster pay equity, thus correcting longstanding inequalities and discrimination – at least in theory. Less than a week into its rollout, many companies were circumventing the new rules by posting overly broad salary ranges, making it impossible to glean information on other employees’ salaries. While the law requires businesses to post “a good faith salary range” that an employer “honestly believes”  they are willing to pay, enforcement will likely be tricky, and whether or not the city will crack down on the broad ranges remains to be seen.

Trump sues AG 

In an attempt to shield records from the trust that owns the Trump Organization, former President Donald Trump filed a lawsuit against state Attorney General Letitia James, alleging that she’s engaging in a “war of intimidation and harassment” and that she’s abusing her power by investigating him. The lawsuit, which was filed in a Florida court on Nov. 2, follows James’ decision to file a $250 million civil lawsuit against Trump in September, which claimed that the former president falsely inflated his net worth to obtain loans for his family organization.

Absentee voting lives on

With early voting already underway and thousands of absentee ballots already distributed, a state appeals court sided with Democrats in two cases to uphold New York’s absentee voting ballot laws for the coming general election. In both cases – the first involving New York Republican and Conservative parties suing the state for “unconstitutional measures'' on how the state validates ballots, the second centering on whether people should continue to be allowed to vote with an absentee ballot if they are afraid of contradicting COVID-19 or other illness – the court unanimously shut them down due to the lawsuits’ timing. With the election less than a week away, thousands and thousands of absentee ballots have already been cast. Overturning the absentee ballot laws, the court wrote, would impose “impossible burdens” on election boards to carry out the election in “a timely and fair manner.”

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.