Elaine Rivera

New York, NY —

Governor Paterson has signed a bill that drastically overhauls the state's nearly 50-year-old Rockefeller drug laws. WNYC's Elaine Rivera reports.

REPORTER: Paterson signed the bill at a Queens drug treatment center. In addition to expanding drug courts and drug treatment, the law gives judges more sentencing ...

New York, NY —

It's the end of an era in New York state. Governor David Paterson has signed a bill that will radically overhaul the state's 46-year-old Rockefeller Drug laws. Paterson says the struggle to overturn the law - seen by drug reformers as among the harshest in ...

New York, NY —

For the first time, the New York State Senate has created a formal Puerto Rican/Latino caucus to address the needs of the state's largest minority community.

With five Puerto Rican state senators, the largest ever in the legislative body's history, Majority Leader Malcolm Smith announced that ...

New York, NY —

The selection of a new borough president doesn't seem to be raising much interest in the Bronx today. A special election is underway to fill the seat vacated by Adolfo Carrion, who's now director of the White House office of Urban Affairs. Poll coordinator Shirley ...

New York, NY —

The New York Jets will move their summer training camp from New Jersey to SUNY Cortland in central New York.

REPORTER: Joined by university officials in making the announcement today, Governor Paterson said the Jets' decision to train on the university grounds will create an economic ...

New York, NY —

Some of the fiercest opposition to Governor Paterson's same-sex marriage bill is coming from a fellow Democrat. Bronx State Senator Ruben Diaz is also an evangelical minister. WNYC's Elaine Rivera has more.

REPORTER: Diaz says Paterson insulted all people of faith by introducing the bill so ...

New York, NY —

Republicans had their annual fundraising dinner last night and they say they're going to do everything they can to resurrect the state party. WNYC's Elaine Rivera reports:

REPORTER: It was a packed house at the Sheraton Towers banquet, as Republicans from around the state came to ...

New York, NY —

Despite the dismal economy, New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand says now is the time to produce an affordable health care plan for Americans. Gillibrand attended a roundtable in Harlem with health care reform advocates today.

GILLIBRAND: If we can address health care reform now, more of ...

New York, NY —

With Adolfo Carrion's departure to join the Obama administration voters will head to the polls a week from tomorrow, for a non-partisan special election to fill the Bronx Borough President's seat. And the favorite son appears to be Assemblyman Ruben Diaz Junior. He comes from ...

New York, NY —

New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand continues her New York City tour with constituents as she visits a group of Hispanic clergy Saturday in the Bronx. WNYC's Elaine Rivera reports.

REPORTER: Gillibrand will be one of several elected officials to address the Hispanic Clergy Organization at their ...

New York, NY —

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is reaching out to the city's seniors and touting a plan to help them out. WNYC's Elaine Rivera reports:

REPORTER: New York's junior senator toured three Brooklyn senior citizen centers to announce a three-point plan that she says would provide better care to ...

New York, NY —

Yesterday, nearly 20,000 people toured the new Yankee Stadium during an Open House. Most were in awe of the grandiose billion-dollar structure, but others remained ambivalent about what the facility can do for people in the Bronx. WNYC's Elaine Rivera reports.

Slideshow: The ...

The New York Yankees hosted a special preview tour of the new stadium on April 1. Here New York Yankees Chief Operating Officer Lonn Trost offers highlights of the venue, from the comfy chairs and gourmet cuisine to multimedia historical touches:

The structure: "We've readopted the gates from 1923: two, four, six and eight."

Capacity: "The capacity is 52,325 but there is also standing room within that."

Comfort: "Every seat has a five-inch cushion. Every seat on the field level will be covered when the team is on the road with tarps."

Kids keep score: "The auxiliary scoreboards you can see in right center and left center are to be operated by hand, we will have children operate them."

New York, NY —

A new report says New York and New Jersey are the only states where inmate populations have dropped. The Sentencing Project, a prison reform group, says New York saw a 12 percent decline, and New Jersey an 11 percent decrease, since 2001. Executive director, Marc ...

New York, NY —

City Comptroller Bill Thompson has halted the filing of a contract to expand a Brooklyn city jail, saying the contracting process was corrupted and he wants more information. Thompson, joined by elated elected officials and community groups, says the city's Department of Design and Construction ...

New York, NY —

A human rights group says New York State's prisons engage in cruel and inhuman punishment when it comes to their drug-addicted inmates. Human Rights Watch says inmates found with drugs are put in disciplinary segregation, known as the "box," for 23 hours a day for ...

New York, NY —

Education advocates are in Albany to lobby Governor Paterson and state legislators to make sure funding cuts to schools are kept at a minimum.

Speaking via cell phone from the Capitol, Geri Palast of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity, says there's no reason for draconian cuts ...

New York, NY —

New York Senator Charles Schumer has changed his mind about same-sex marriage and says he now fully supports it. WNYC's Elaine Rivera reports:

REPORTER: Gay marriage advocates are lauding Schumer's reversal, saying his support will give them momentum to pass state legislation. Alan Van Capelle, executive ...