Worldwide Information Blogger Luc Schrijvers: WORLD WORLDWIDE US USA - New York NY - New York City NYC - THE CITY SCOOP - How ‘landmark’ is Hochul’s prison reform bill?

dinsdag 23 december 2025

WORLD WORLDWIDE US USA - New York NY - New York City NYC - THE CITY SCOOP - How ‘landmark’ is Hochul’s prison reform bill?

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Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025

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Dear New Yorkers,

Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a long-sought package of prison reform bills into law Friday, calling it “landmark” legislation that would improve safety for staff and incarcerated people alike.

But days later, the scope and significance of the measure is still being fiercely debated, with some advocates saying that while it amounts to real progress, it falls well short of the systemic overhaul New York’s troubled prison system desperately needs.

“This is a serious step forward, but it is not the end of our struggle,” said state Sen. Julia Salazar (D-Brooklyn), a prime sponsor of the legislation. “The final package does not include everything we sought.”

In an interview with THE CITY, Salazar pushed back on some activists who said the legislation had been gutted. “I’m not thrilled that any of it was changed, but I can assure you, the bill has not been gutted,” she said.

Weather 🌨️

The dreaded wintry mix. Rain and snow in the morning, then rain in the afternoon with a high of 38.

MTA 🚇

In The Bronx, no 4 train service between Kingsbridge Road and Woodlawn from 9:45 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Find all the MTA’s planned changes and the latest delays here.

Alternate side parking 🚙

It’s in effect today, Tuesday, Dec. 23.

By the way…

Yesterday THE CITY reported on conditions outside Newark’s Delaney Hall and how families waiting to see detained migrants had to endure frigid temperatures without shelter. Hours later, workers were seen erecting walls on a waiting room structure.

Our Other Top Stories

Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has promised to have 1 percent of the city budget go to the Parks Department — but so did Eric Adams, who never came close. Three experts and advocates — Katie Denny Horowitz of NBK Parks, Anthony Samma of the Alliance for Flushing Meadows Corona Park and John Surico of the Center for an Urban Future — discuss all that and more with FAQ NYC host Katie Honan.

The Trump administration on Monday renewed their campaign against two offshore wind projects in New York waters. Citing unspecified national security risks, the U.S. Department of the Interior “paused” the leases for the Empire Wind and Sunrise Wind projects, both already under construction.

Reporter’s Notebook

Hospital Nurses Authorize Strike

Approximately 20,000 nurses at a dozen private hospitals voted to authorize a strike if they do not reach a deal on a new contract with their employers by a Dec. 31 deadline, their union, the New York State Nurses Association, announced Monday.

Ninety-seven percent of nurses approved the strike vote at some of the city and region’s most prominent hospitals, from Mount Sinai Hospital to NewYork-Presbyterian Columbia University Medical Center. Nurses are negotiating enforceable staffing ratios, raises, improved on-the-job safety and safeguards from the use of artificial intelligence.

NYSNA members most recently went on strike in 2023, when nurses at Mount Sinai and Montefiore Medical Center walked off the job for three days.

— Claudia Irizarry Aponte

Biden Alum to Head Consumer Agency

Sam Levine, a former director of consumer protection at the Federal Trade Commission, will be the next commissioner of the city’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani announced Monday.

Levine is the second alum of the administration of former President Joe Biden to join Mamdani’s City Hall team, after he appointed former acting U.S. labor secretary Julie Su to deputy mayor of economic justice last week. Another Biden appointee, former FTC chairperson Lina Khan, is Mamdani’s transition co-chair.

Levine will head the agency that in recent years has been a leader in regulating food delivery apps and some of the nation’s largest corporations. Under its current commissioner Vilda Vera Mayuga, DCWP secured a landmark $38 million settlement against Starbucks and led the rollout of a first-in-the-nation minimum pay rate for app-based food delivery workers.

— Claudia Irizarry Aponte

Things To Do

Here are some free and low-cost things to do around the city this week.

Tuesday, Dec. 23: Prepare for your U.S. citizenship exam with a study group at the Wakefield Library in The Bronx, from 1 - 2 p.m.
Wednesday, Dec. 24: Check out a terra cotta sculpture garden featuring turn-of-the-century architectural styles at the H.H. Biddle House in Staten Island, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Tuesday, Dec. 22 through Jan. 11: The Holiday Train Show is on at the New York Botanical Garden in The Bronx. Model train fans, get tickets here.

THE KICKER: New York Attorney General Letitia James and Senator Bernie Sanders will swear Zohran Mamdani in as mayor. James will conduct the formal swearing in on midnight, New Year’s Day. Sanders leads a ceremony in the day.

Thanks, as always, for reading. Make it a great Tuesday.

Love,

THE CITY