In The News-New York State

NY Releases Cybersecurity Regulations to Support Water Infrastructure, Security and Resilience

 Governor Kathy Hochul this week detailed New York’s multi-agency effort to safeguard it’s water infrastructure, highlighted by the development of cybersecurity regulations for water and wastewater systems.

As directed by the Governor in her 2025 State of the State, the New York State Department of Health (DOH) and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) have released proposed cyber regulations for water and wastewater systems for public comment. In coordination, the Department of Public Service (DPS) also released proposed cyber regulations across water-works corporations, other public utilities, and cable television companies for public comment. 

In commenting on the Governor’s proposal, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand explained, “Protecting our nation’s water systems against cyber-attacks is a vital component of our national security, but the sector has long struggled to implement necessary cybersecurity protections.   I am grateful that these new regulations will drive necessary change in this sector and help defend our state from crippling attacks targeting essential services…”

According to the Governor, the agencies worked together to align definitions and provisions within each agency’s regulatory and operational requirements, worked to minimize duplicative or conflicting requirements, and streamlined processes. They also aligned regulations with guidance issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency for securing information technology and operational technology environments.

Under the proposals, regulated water and wastewater systems will be required to evaluate risks, deploy cybersecurity controls, and implement network monitoring and logging for the largest systems. Regulated entities will also be required to develop and maintain response and recovery plans to support continuity of operations in the event of cyber-attacks and to report cybersecurity incidents.

 “We must do all we can to protect our vital water infrastructure assets, like dams and drinking water, from cyber-attack,” Senator Chuck Schumer said.   … When it comes to fighting off cyberattacks, we must work arm-in-arm with state and local governments to prevent future hacks.”

DEC will accept public comments until September 3, 2025; DOH until September 14, 2025; and PSC until September 14, 2025. Once adopted, regulated entities will have until January 1, 2027 to comply with DEC and DOH regulations focused on operational technology and until January 1, 2026 to comply with PSC regulations focused on information technology.

In addition, the Environmental Facilities Corporation (EFC) is establishing a new cyber grant program and technical assistance for the water and wastewater systems sector. This new grant program will provide competitive grants to support cybersecurity risk assessments and initiatives in line with the new proposed regulatory requirements. 

Comptroller DiNapoli: State Agency Overtime Costs Increased 10.2% in 2024

New York State agency overtime costs increased 10.2% in 2024 for a total of $1.3 billion, while the number of overtime hours increased by 7.8%, or 1.8 million hours higher than the previous year, according to the annual report  by State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.

The size of the state workforce, not including SUNY and CUNY, grew from 2023 by 3.7% in 2024, or 5,330 positions, to an average annual total of 151,309. This was the second year in a row the workforce increased, but the headcount is still below 2019 levels.   Fifteen years ago, it was over 177,000.

“Overtime continued to grow in 2024 despite increases to a workforce that remains below pre-pandemic staffing levels,” Comptroller DiNapoli said. “New York needs to continue to attract and retain a range of diverse employees, and agencies need to ensure the use of overtime hours is justified and services are delivered safely and effectively for residents.”

Key Findings include:

• The number of overtime hours increased for the eighth consecutive year in 2024, as overtime earnings increased for the eighth time in a ten-year period after a decrease last year.
• Three agencies accounted for about two-thirds of the state’s overtime in 2024. The Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (Corrections), the Office for People With Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD), and the Office of Mental Health (Mental Health) comprised 23% of the workforce but accounted for 66.7% of the overtime hours and 64.5% of the overtime earnings logged by all state agencies in 2024.
• In the 2015 to 2024 period, Corrections, OPWDD, and Mental Health experienced greater-than-average workforce reductions of 22.7%, 5.7%, and 3.5%, respectively. Average annual overtime hours per Corrections employee grew 26.3% from 2023 to 325 annual overtime hours in 2024, with the increase coinciding with a workforce reduction of more than 1,000 in that year.
• Of the major agencies with overtime costs, most had increases in overtime hours and earnings in 2024, including growth of about 11% or more at eleven major agencies. Along with the increase of almost 1.3 million hours at Corrections, there were major rises in the number of hours at the Department of Transportation (241,000), State University of New York (226,000), Division of State Police (190,000), Mental Health (107,200), the Unified Court System (101,000) and the Office of Children and Family Services (98,500). There were also high proportional increases at the Department of Labor (435%), and New York State Veterans’ Homes (30.7%).
• Two agencies saw notable declines in overtime hours worked: OPWDD (-652,900) and the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (-25,300).
• 2023 was the first year new hiring outpaced attrition in the state workforce in over a decade. In 2023, there were 17,504 new hires, the highest in the 10 years covered by this analysis, while attrition declined by 9.5% to 14,699. In 2021, 2022, and 2023, attrition from the workforce has been driven largely by people leaving rather than retirement. In 2023, the State launched the NY HELPS program, temporarily allowing State agencies to make appointments to positions typically filled on an open-competitive basis to candidates meeting the minimum qualifications of the position.

In 2024, total state payroll costs were $21 billion. Overtime earnings comprised 6.3% of total payroll spending in 2024, higher than the 5.4% average from 2015 through 2023. Overtime earnings as a share of total payroll grew from 4.6% in 2015 to 6.3% in 2024, as total overtime hours increased over this time by close to 7.7 million hours, or nearly 46%. Pay rates increased from 2015 to 2024 contributing to a growth of 85% in overtime earnings, from $716 million in 2015 to $1.3 billion in 2024, or an 8% average annual increase.

 In The News-New York City

City Proposes Changes to ICAP Tax Abatements

Storage Facilities Out; Parking Facilities Limited; Governors Island In

To comply with statutory changes enacted in the FY2026 New York State Budget, the New York City Department of Finance (“DOF”) is proposing changes to the City’s Industrial and Commercial Abatement Program (“ICAP”) in relation to the treatment of parking facilities and storage facilities, as well as projects on Governors Island.   

ICAP offers property tax abatements for up to 25 years for eligible industrial and commercial buildings that are built, modernized, expanded, or otherwise improved.  The proposed rules, required by Chapter 55 of the Laws of 2025, would:

• Generally prohibit the use of ICAP benefits for self storage and storage warehouse facilities and limit the applicability of ICP to parking facilities.   Specifically, unless a parking facility is associated with residential construction work in a separate tax lot and such residential construction work is subject to financial assistance from the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, a parking facility is ineligible for ICAP benefits.
• Provide for projects on Governors Island to be eligible for enhanced ICAP benefits.

Under the parking facilities rules, DOF proposes to use the following criteria to determine whether there is a sufficient link between a parking facility and residential construction work.   DOF proposes to require that applicants provide documentation for at least two of the three criteria:

• Whether the parking facility and the residential construction work are in separate tax lots within the same building or structure; 

• Whether the parking facility would create parking that is necessary for the residential construction work to be in compliance with zoning requirements for off-street parking; and 
• Whether there is a contractual or business relationship linking the parking facility and the residential construction work or preferential rates or exclusive rights to parking are offered to residents of the residential construction work. 

Specifics of the proposed parking lot rules are:

1. Parking facilities. (1) No benefits shall be granted for construction work on real property where any portion of such property is used as a parking facility, except where a parking facility is associated with residential construction work on a separate tax lot and such residential construction work is subject to financial assistance from the department of housing preservation and development. (2) A parking facility is associated with residential construction work if: (i) the department of housing preservation and development certifies to the department that the residential construction work is receiving financial assistance from the department of housing preservation and development; and (ii) the applicant demonstrates that it meets two or more of the following three clauses: (A) such parking facility and such residential construction work are in separate tax lots within the same building or structure; (B) the developer of such parking facility executes an affidavit affirming or the department of housing preservation and development certifies that the creation of such parking facility will generate parking that is necessary to satisfy requirements under the zoning resolution for offstreet parking accessory to such residential construction work; and (C) either (i) the developer of such parking facility executes an affidavit affirming or the department of housing preservation and development certifies that the construction of such parking facility and such residential construction work were authorized or financed as part of the same transaction; or (ii) the developer of such parking facility executes an affidavit affirming that such parking facility will offer preferential rates or exclusively offer parking facility services to residents of the residential building that will be constructed as part of such residential construction work.

In addition, the proposed rule authorizes greater tax incentives for development on Governors Island.   Beginning January 1, 2026, Governors Island shall be designated a special commercial abatement area for the purposes of ICAP.

DOF will hold a public hearing on the proposed rule at 11 a.m. on August 20, 2025.  In addition, interested parties may submit comments to the NYC Department of Finance through the NYC rules website at http://rules.cityofnewyork.us. The deadline to submit written comments is August 20, 2025.

City Charter Review Commission Approves Five Ballot Questions for the November Elections

The New York City Charter Revision Commission voted this week to add five measures for New York City voters to consider in November:

FAST TRACK AFFORDABLE HOUSING

The first question proposes a new fast track public processes for affordable housing. First, it would create a new action at the Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA) that could grant relief from zoning for publicly financed affordable housing projects. Building on an existing BSA power, this action would provide a “significantly streamlined” approval process for affordable housing projects that meet certain conditions.

It would also establish a new, streamlined public review procedure for applications that deliver affordable housing in the community districts that permit the least affordable housing. Building on the Fair Housing Framework established by the City Council in 2023, the Affordable Housing Fast Track would “cut review time in half” for projects that would deliver affordable housing in the 12 Community Districts that permitted the least affordable housing in a five-year period, beginning January 2027.

SIMPLIFY REVIEW OF MODEST HOUSING AND INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS

The second question proposes to create a new Expedited Land Use Review Procedure (ELURP) for certain land use changes, including modest increases in how much housing is allowed, acquisition and disposition of land to facilitate affordable housing, and climate resiliency projects. According to the Commission, this new process would enable the types of smaller or categorically-beneficial projects that New Yorkers say they want to see, but that full ULURP makes functionally impossible or far too costly today.

ESTABLISHING AN AFFORDABLE HOUSING APPEALS BOARD 

In its third question, the Commission proposes replacing the Mayor’s veto at the end of ULURP with a new Appeals Board, made up of the relevant Borough President, the Speaker of the City Council, and the Mayor. The Appeals Board would have the ability to reverse City Council decisions on certain land use matters only if two out of three officials agree. According to the Commission, by elevating borough-and city-wide perspectives in the land use process, this change would strike a better balance between local input and citywide needs, and provide a pathway for land use changes in parts of the city where the practice known as “member deference” has housing development.

CREATING A DIGITAL CITY MAP

The four question proposes centralizing and digitizing the City Map, which currently consists of five different sets, one for each borough, totaling over 8,000 individual paper maps. The proposal would consolidate the official City Map into a single map and digitize it.  According to the Commission, the proposal could allow reviews that can take as much as a year to be done nearly instantaneously.

MOVE MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS TO EVEN-NUMBERED YEARS

In its fifth question, the Commission proposes moving the City’s primary and general election dates to even-numbered years, when presidential elections are held, to improve voter turnout, make local democracy more inclusive, and save taxpayer money. According to the Commission, even-year elections in New York see significantly higher turnout than odd-year elections — more than double, on average — and peer cities see significantly higher turnout in local elections held in even years. This change would also require a further change to the New York State Constitution before it could go into effect.

Briefs

Comptroller DiNapoli Identifies Fixes Needed in NYC’s High School Matching Process

New York City Public Schools (NYCPS) needs to do more to ensure students are matched to high schools in line with existing regulations, according to an audit released by New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. The audit found that NYCPS did not always follow required placement policies, which set how certain groups of students should be prioritized.

According to the Comptroller, each year, more than 70,000 eighth graders apply to high school, ranking their program choices. NYCPS uses a matching algorithm to match students with high school programs. Admission depends on factors like available seats, program priorities and the student’s lottery number. The audit reviewed selected aspects of NYC’s high school admissions process from the 2018–2019 to 2024–2025 school years, excluding specialized high school admissions.

Comptroller DiNapoli’s findings included:

• Students in Temporary Housing Not Properly Prioritized: The matching algorithm used only one address per student, which meant as many as 7,000 students in shelters or temporary housing may not have received geographic priority for schools near both their current and former homes, as required by NYCPS policy.
• Low-Income Students Overlooked: NYCPS used free or reduced-price lunch eligibility data to identify low-income students. But because every NYC student can receive meals, NYCPS does not always collect the required paperwork, so some children may not be identified as low-income to receive priority for schools with diversity in admissions policies.
• Manual Placement Problems: Auditors found that more than 200 students should have been manually placed into schools but were either not or were placed in ways that contradicted NYCPS’ own rules. 
• Lack of Policies and Procedures: NYCPS lacks formal written policies guiding how the placement algorithm is run, how offers are approved, or how exceptions should be handled. 

Mayor Adams Announces New Drone Operations Committee

New York City Mayor Eric Adams this week announced the new Drone Operations Committee and appointed Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Kaz Daughtry as chair. 

Deputy Mayor Daughtry and committee members — comprised of city agency heads — will spearhead a citywide effort to coordinate drone operations across key agencies, including the New York City Police Department (NYPD), the Fire Department of the City of New York, New York City Emergency Management, the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, the New York City Department of Buildings, the and New York City Department of Environmental Protection. Agency heads will retain operational control over their respective drone programs.

According to the Mayor, this effort is aimed at expanding on the city’s existing drone programs, including the NYPD’s ‘Drone as First Responder’ initiative, which allows drones to autonomously deploy from police precincts and arrive at scenes within minutes. New York City also deploys drones to monitor beaches for distressed swimmers and sharks during the summer, prevent injuries and fatalities from subway surfing, monitor large-scale events, track criminal suspects attempting to flee, assess damage after incidents, and protect critical infrastructure.

Federal Department of Justice Sues New York City, Mayor Eric Adams Over Sanctuary City

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Thursday afternoon that the Department of Justice is suing New York City and Mayor Eric Adams over the city’s sanctuary laws.  The lawsuit, filed in the Eastern District of New York, claims the city’s policies have “allowed dangerous criminals to roam the streets and commit dangerous crimes within the community.”

The department asserted that the city’s sanctuary policies are “intentional effort” to obstruct federal immigration enforcement and should be declared unlawful under the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause.

“New York City has released thousands of criminals on the streets to commit violent crimes against law-abiding citizens due to sanctuary city policies,” Bondi said, in published reports. “If New York City won’t stand up for the safety of its citizens, we will.”

Mayor Adams Expands Public Safety Communications With ‘NYC Public Safety’ Account on Citizen App to Keep New Yorkers Informed

New York City Mayor Eric Adams this week launched a new city-run account, “NYC Public Safety” on Citizen, a free app that provides users with real-time notifications about nearby emergencies and ongoing incidents. The account will compile public safety alerts and notifications from across public safety agencies to share public safety updates and incident information directly with Citizen users — including more than          3 million subscribers across the five boroughs.

The NYC Public Safety account will publish public safety-related announcements, alerts about major incidents or weather emergencies, safety tips about crime patterns and scams, and updates to high-profile incidents. The city will also be able to send geo-targeted push notifications to users citywide based on neighborhood, zip code, or borough. This initiative has been launched at no cost to the city.

Additionally, designated public safety agencies — including the New York City Police Department (NYPD), the Fire Department of the City of New York, and New York City Emergency Management (NYCEM) — will be granted secure access to a dashboard that allows authorized personnel to view and download user-submitted videos from incident scenes, potentially aiding investigations and after-action reviews. NYPD and NYCEM also operate accounts on Citizen to share alerts with New Yorkers.

 Member Governor Hochul Announces One-Stop-Shop for Military, Veterans, and Family Members Interested in SUNY

Governor Kathy Hochul announced the launch of a one-stop-shop for active duty servicemembers, veterans, and family members currently enrolled or interested in attending any SUNY college or university. 

The landing page: www.suny.edu/military, includes information on available credit for military service and experience, tuition assistance, specialized scholarships, and dedicated campus services like veteran lounges and associations for all 64 SUNY campuses. The website also connects veterans with services offered by the counties where each campus is located.

Governor Hochul has recently announced expanded access to an affordable education through the Veterans Tuition Assistance Program, which went into effect on July 1.

Thirty-seven SUNY campuses offer academic credit for military service and experience, and the new website includes connecting visitors to an easy-to-use search for available credit for military experience and training. Additionally, SUNY campuses have tailored support available including student veteran associations and military and veteran offices, and counties throughout New York State have programs and staff available as well.

Coming Up

New York State

*There are currently no meetings listed at the time of publication*

New York City

Monday, July 28th 

Committee on Criminal Justice, Council Chambers – City Hall, 10 a.m.