Happy Monday in New York City, where the long-awaited state budget is nearing its seventh week of tardiness. 

But some lawmakers insist that the end is finally in sight. Last week, Governor Kathy Hochul announced a tentative agreement on a $268 billion budget framework, which includes a number of victories for the governor’s affordability agenda, including a rollback of the state’s landmark 2019 climate law.

The 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act mandates that New York cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030 and 85% by 2050. At the time, commentators widely hailed it as one of the most ambitious climate measures in the country. But in recent months, Hochul has been adamant that the current benchmarks impose prohibitive costs on New York energy consumers.

“New York has led, and will continue to lead, on clean energy and climate,” Hochul announced at a press conference. “But reality has been harsh. We cannot meet the current timelines without driving energy costs higher. The facts bear that out, and I cannot let that happen.” 

Under the new budget agreement, the state would push back its emissions reduction goals to 60% by 2040, while maintaining the target of an 85% reduction by 2050. Hochul also announced that the state will adopt a new formula for measuring greenhouse gas emissions that calculates impact over a 100-year time span rather than 20 years. The new metric will make methane and other pollutants appear less damaging on paper, effectively lowering the emissions counted against the state’s targets. 

The announcement immediately drew outrage from the state’s climate activists, who once counted themselves among the governor’s fiercest allies. Just seven months ago, in October 2025, Hochul was named one of the top 100 climate leaders in the world by Time magazine. 

“It’s embarrassing that the Governor of New York’s climate agenda amounts to ‘no we can’t!’ when the Governors of Texas, Virginia, Illinois and California — who also live in Trump’s America — continue to build out renewables and lower costs for struggling Americans,” Liz Moran, New York policy advocate at Earthjustice, said in a statement.

Despite the governor’s assurances that the budget agreement is all but finalized, some members of the state legislature claim that key sticking points in their negotiations, including the new climate provisions, remain very much in flux.

“Even on the policies that she put out there today, some of these things are still incomplete,” State Assembly Leader Carl Heastie told Gothamist on the day of Hochul’s announcement. “We don’t even have final language on [the climate law].”

Brooklyn Youth Chorus, founded in 1992 by Artistic Director Dianne Berkun Menaker, hosted its annual gala on Thursday, May 7, honoring Brooklyn storytellers, platforming artists affected by the Red Hook warehouse fire, and fundraising a goal of $250,000. 

“Brooklyn Youth Chorus, by its very name, has chosen to identify with a place. Brooklyn has that magical duality of being both widely diverse and sprawling yet also so deeply connected to community,” said Berkun Menaker. “We wanted this evening to be a celebration of our many storytellers who inspire us. We are here together, doing something we love, in community, towards a common goal.” 

Read more about the event.  

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