A coalition of public defender groups sent a letter to Gov. Andrew Cuomo demanding that the state vaccinate incarcerated people against COVID-19. The public
Dozens of Buffalo-area restaurants sue Cuomo for shutdown order
Sen. Patrick M. Gallivan also is a petitioner in case challenging Cuomo s executive order
FacebookTwitterEmail
Sen. Patrick Gallivan joined more than 90 restaurants and bars in a lawsuit challenging Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo s shutdown order requiring them to close at 10 p.m. (Will Waldron/Times Union)Will Waldron
ALBANY State Sen. Patrick M. Gallivan and more than 90 Buffalo-area restaurants have filed a petition challenging Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo s executive orders that have required restaurants and bars to close between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.
The petition, filed in state Supreme Court in Erie County on Wednesday, alleges the governor s order, issued in November as coronavirus cases began surging in western New York, is not supported by findings, studies or evidence.
Some claim NYS pushed aside a previously developed vaccine distribution model involving counties that apparently worked for a previous serious flu outbreak - H1N1.
New York lawmakers say they are pressing for upgrades in state vaccine program
State Senator Sean Ryan, who is a Democrat from Buffalo, describes the current distribution process as clunky and disjointed. Author: Ron Plants Updated: 11:21 PM EST January 25, 2021
BUFFALO, N.Y. As local governments wait for New York State to distribute more COVID-19 vaccines, the state is in turn pointing its finger at the federal government for errors and shortages when it comes to distribution.
But as we wait for some kind of answer why isn t more being done on the state level to fix things?
2 On Your Side is asking state lawmakers what they can do.
.
As COVID-19 rampages across New York, many localities are confronting another public health disaster: drastic spikes in drug overdoses and new cases of HIV. Fatal overdoses have doubled relative to last year in Albany and Onondaga County, and in 2020 the Rochester area reported more new cases of HIV than had been reported during the previous four years.
Yet medical professions say that widespread access to sterile syringes, a key tool for combatting both problems, is greatly hampered by the fact that the vast majority of New Yorkers cannot legally possess syringes.
Under New York law, syringe possession is a class-A misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail and a monetary fine. Thousands of New Yorkers have been arrested for syringe possession over the past decade, mostly on Long Island and upstate, according to data obtained by New York Focus/City & State from the Division of Criminal Justice Services. Public health experts and harm reduction advocates say that t