The City’s Attorney: What the Corporation Counsel Does

By Stephen Louis

On December 5, 2024, Muriel Goode-Trufant, is expected to be approved by the City Council as New York City’s Corporation Counsel. Ms. Goode-Trufant was nominated for the office by Mayor Eric Adams, and already serves as Acting Corporation Counsel. She appeared before the City Council’s Rules Committee for a confirmation hearing on November 20. As Corporation Counsel, Ms. Goode-Trufant will be the head of the New York City Law Department, one the … <Read More>


Must Defendants Unlock Their Cellphones? What The Law Says

By Pei Pei Cheng de Castro & Jennifer Hopkins

On November 6, 2023, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reportedly executed a search warrant for New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ electronic devices.1

Mayor Adams was allegedly carrying two work-related cellphones but did not have his personal cellphone with him. When Mayor Adams produced his personal cellphone the next day pursuant to the warrant, his phone was unsurprisingly locked and required a passcode to … <Read More>


Could Public Space Stewards Help Make New York City More Livable?

By Mark Chiusano

For obvious reasons I was recently revisiting a small controversy over the usage of public space in a certain midtown Manhattan building: Trump Tower.

In 2016, Donald Trump and New York City went back and forth over whether the building had to keep some public benches in the lobby. During construction decades earlier, the tower had been allowed to rise higher in exchange for a little bit of public space (some of <Read More>


What is the Future of Outdoor Dining in New York City?

 

By Mark Chiusano

The outdoor dining setup at Artesano on Chambers Street had some of the soaring dignity of its location. Patrons savoring the high-end Peruvian food could look through an arched, see-through roof at the classical limestone exterior of the David N. Dinkins Municipal Building, topped by the towering gilded statue “Civic Fame.”  

It did not feel like eating in the street. It was an “extension of our restaurant,” said Roman Cervantes, a <Read More>


Q&A: Mayor Eric Adams’ Indictment and NYC Campaign Finance Matters

On September 26, 2024, Mayor Eric Adams was indicted on five federal charges including bribery, conspiracy, and campaign finance offenses. To better understand the context of the alleged campaign finance-related crimes, New York Law School’s Center for New York City and State Law offers the following Q-and-A between Ben Max, the Center’s executive editor, and Amy Loprest, a Senior Fellow at the Center and the former longtime Executive Director of the New York City Campaign <Read More>


How To Vote in New York

by Jordan Karpoff and Jeffrey M. Wice

Election Day — November 5, 2024 — is fast-approaching. In New York. The last day to register to vote in this year’s elections is October 26. 

Once you are registered to vote, you can vote in-person during the eight-day early voting period or on Election Day, or you can vote by mail through the ‘absentee voting’ process. Mail-in ballots must be postmarked no later than Election Day or <Read More>