New York Focus is a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom covering state and local politics in the Empire State.

Launched in October 2020, New York Focus aims to help make government more transparent by publishing in-depth journalism that cuts through the noise to explain how the state really works.

New York State’s legislative process is notoriously opaque to outsiders and murky even to its own rank-and-file legislators. New York scores at the top of state corruption rankings. As the pandemic deals fresh blows to an already depleted local news landscape, New Yorkers increasingly lack the information and resources to hold their representatives accountable.

The lack of coverage is particularly dramatic at the state level. Power in New York is centralized in Albany, where the governor and legislature spend more money each year than 90 percent of the world’s countries. Yet most of New York’s accountability news focuses on New York City. New York Focus is the state’s only nonprofit news organization focused on state politics.

They investigate power and report stories that would otherwise go untold, guided by the belief that politics is not a sport. Decisions made in New York’s executive mansions, legislative chambers, state administrative offices, courts, nonprofits, union halls, and campaign headquarters don’t stay there. They determine how many New Yorkers sleep on the street each night; how large public college classes are; how many hospital beds are available during a pandemic.

The organization are particularly interested in pitches related to housing and homelessness, climate x and environment, criminal justice, labor, fiscal policy and economic development, and the administration of Governor Kathy Hochul.