A threat on a school bus from an alienated young man united dozens of agencies to answer a single question: Is it possible to stop potential mass shooters before they commit a crime? Source: New York Times
Posts published in “Law and Legislation”
Susan Xenarios, Who Transformed Rape Crisis Response, Dies at 79
By Gotham Rex on September 19, 2025
She helped found New York City’s first rape crisis center after encountering indifference when she herself was assaulted. Then she took on New York State laws. Source: New York Times
In Rebuke of Eric Adams, City Council Overrides 3 Vetoes
By Gotham Rex on September 10, 2025
Measures eliminating criminal summonses for unlicensed vending and giving higher pay to grocery delivery workers had been overruled by the mayor. Source: New York Times
Inside a High-Stakes Fight to Limit Social Media’s Hold on Children
By Gotham Rex on March 29, 2024
A push by leading Democrats to restrict how social media companies use algorithms to serve content to children has been met by a high-stakes lobbying effort. Source: New York Times
State Finds NYC’s Foie Gras Ban Violates Farmers’ Rights
By Gotham Rex on December 16, 2022
A ruling by the state Department of Agriculture and Markets may stop the city from implementing a law that prohibits the sale of the fattened livers of geese and ducks. Source: New York Times
Behind New York City’s Shift on Mental Health, a Solitary Quest
By Gotham Rex on December 11, 2022
The psychiatrist E. Fuller Torrey has been advocating tougher involuntary psychiatric treatment policies for 40 years. Now it’s paying off. Source: New York Times
A Times Square Hotel Was Set To Become Affordable Housing. Then the Union Stepped In.
By Gotham Rex on December 7, 2022
An influential hotel workers’ union is flexing its power at a key moment in the city’s recovery, affecting major projects from casinos to homeless shelters. Source: New York Times
How New York City Became a Free-for-All of Unlicensed Weed
By Gotham Rex on November 23, 2022
Shops selling weed have proliferated since the state legalized cannabis last year, thriving in confusion over their legality and a lack of enforcement. Source: New York Times
New York Enacts 2-Year Ban on Some Crypto-Mining Operations
By Gotham Rex on November 22, 2022
National cryptocurrency industry groups had lobbied Gov. Kathy Hochul to veto the environmental ban, fearful that other states could follow New York’s lead. Source: New York Times
Hundreds of Women Set to Sue New York Over Prison Sex Abuse Allegations
By Gotham Rex on November 16, 2022
A law that takes effect on Nov. 24 allows people to sue over years-old assaults long past the criminal statute of limitations. Source: New York Times
Judge Blocks Licenses for Some Cannabis Dispensaries in New York
By Gotham Rex on November 11, 2022
The move affects 63 of the 150 licenses that the state planned to issue. Source: New York Times
Why New Jersey Is Weighing a New Bill to Curb Guns
By Gotham Rex on October 14, 2022
Since the Supreme Court overturned stringent gun laws in several states, 300,000 residents of New Jersey have applied for permits to carry guns in public. Source: New York Times
New York City’s First Cannabis Boss Wants to Combat ‘Cannaphobia’
By Gotham Rex on October 12, 2022
Dasheeda Dawson, a native New Yorker, returns home to direct the effort to build cannabis businesses and to absorb the illegal market into the new legitimate one. Source: New York Times
An Abortion Ban With Unexpected Consequences for Older Mothers
By Gotham Rex on October 7, 2022
Older women are more likely to carry fetuses with genetic disorders that often can’t be detected until 15 weeks of pregnancy, beyond the limit set in a Senate proposal. Source: New York Times
Biden Visits IBM to Promote Investments in U.S. Semiconductor Production
By Gotham Rex on October 6, 2022
President Biden traveled to Poughkeepsie, N.Y., to connect a $20 billion investment by IBM to the bipartisan bill meant to spur production of critical microchips. Source: New York Times