New York State Government

A 35-foot humpback whale, weighing about 32 tons, washed ashore on a New York beach on Monday. The massive mammal was discovered in the early morning hours along Lido Beach, on the southern shores of Nassau County. Along with the sadness of one of these giants of the ocean dying, is the concern that this is the 10th such beaching on Long Island in 2 months.

Former Governor Andrew Cuomo got the Start-Up NY program rolling in 2014. The program offered a decade of tax-free status to tech companies that would set up operations in New York State and create partnerships with colleges and universities in the region.

In November, Kathy Hochul became the first woman elected governor in New York State history. Hochul has weathered the storm, after taking office in the middle of Andrew Cumomo's tumultuous last term. The 57th governor of the Empire State delivered her State of the State address last week. So, what do Hochul's constituents think of the governor's job performance? A new Siena Poll has the answer.

New York State has some of the greatest varieties of fishing opportunities in the country. From world class fly fishing for trout to floating a worm off of a lake dock for crappie, the Empire State has plenty of cool places to drop-a-line! The Department of Environmental Conservation announced "Free Fishing Days" for 2023. The free days are sure to provide the awesome experience of being a New York State angler.

There are nearly 100,000 volunteer firefighters in New York State. According to the Firefighters Association of the State of New York, those volunteers provide service hours that save the citizens of the Empire State over $3.8 billion per year. It's difficult to quantify what those volunteers really saved those that they have served. Then there are the volunteer Ambulance & EMS workers, jobs so stressful their numbers are tumbling each year. In December, Governor Kathy Hochul signed a bill introduced by Democratic Assemblyman Ken Zebrowski and state Sen. Elijah Reichlin-Melnick that may be a way of keeping those volunteers.

People have found over the years that laundry detergent can be deadly, if ingested. It's not really a surprise. It seems more of a shock that some are ignorant enough to eat laundry products in the first place, but we live in a strange world. Even if we are not ingesting the products, most of us don't want to be washing our clothes with a possible cancer causing ingredient, either. That's why New York State's Department of Environmental Conservation put a cap on a chemical compound found in some popular laundry detergents. Is yours one of them?

In many counties in New York State, condominiums and co-ops are taxed at a lesser rate than single-family homes. The tax break has been a big reason that condos have been a popular retirement choice in the Empire State. New York City and Nassau County have separate assessment laws due to overall population. Some, now former, state legislators proposed a bill that would change that tax advantage for new condo and co-op owners in the rest of New York State. The governor, enjoying her first elected-inauguration days ago, did not agree with the proposed tax.