LEGAL: Attorney General Tish James filed a lawsuit Thursday against the anti-abortion group Red Rose Rescue for the disruption of healthcare services around the state of New York.
The group have been accused of trespassing into medical facilities and clinics, preventing patients for getting reproductive care and refusing to leave until they are physically removed by law enforcement.
James said on Thursday the office is “seeking civil penalties and damages.” James referred to Red Rose Rescue as “terrorist.” The office wants to request a 30 feet buffer zone from the court preventing Red Rose Rescue come near medical facilities around the state.
SOCIAL MEDIA: Adams referred to social media as a new Trojan horse that has “snuck up on us” and “captured our young people” during a summit Thursday on the topic.
“Those of us who are lovers of Greek mythology, I believe that this is the Troy War,” Adams said. “We must identify the Trojan horses, not allow them into the fortress of our families and in our city and our country.” City Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan said the goal of the summit — part of the Adams administration’s three-pronged mental health agenda — was to explore research, policy, public health interventions and litigation to minimize the harms of social media on children’s mental health. — Maya Kaufman EDUCATION: All New York City public school students and staff will shift to remote learning and work Friday due to a decline in air quality as a result of the Canadian wildfire smoke, the Department of Education announced Thursday. Friday is a prescheduled clerical day as well as a nonattendance day for students in most schools with the exception of schools serving grades 6-12 or 9-12. All early childhood contracted programs with a scheduled service Friday also have the option to transition to remote learning. Attendance decreased by nearly 3 percentage points Wednesday, to 84.69 percent. Attendance was 87.5 percent on Tuesday. — Madina Touré SCHOOL AID: The New York State Education Conference Board issued a letter this week calling on Hochul, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie to support a formal review of the foundation aid formula. The ECB represents seven of the state’s leading public education organizations. The board supports a State Education Department-led study, first reported by POLITICO, that will look at the foundation amount, pupil needs index, regional cost index, and expected local contributions. They noted that they would like to see even districts protected by the state’s “save harmless” policy continue to see state aid increase every year. “Without updates to the formula, state aid will lag behind the actual cost of providing students with a high-quality education. Over time the great progress in recent years will be lost,” ECB Chair John Yagielski said. — Katelyn Cordero HEALTH CARE: Hospitals across New York City are seeing a slight uptick in asthma-related visits to the emergency department as smoke from Canadian wildfires continues to affect the air quality, the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene reported Thursday afternoon. “While we are seeing higher than usual asthma-related visits to the Emergency Department, these visits and calls are still in the low hundreds and our hospital and health care systems are fully able to respond to patients,” department spokesperson Pedro Frisneda said in a statement. “This is an important reminder to stay indoors as much as possible, with the windows closed. If you must be outside, a high-quality mask may help.” There were 309 asthma-related visits to emergency departments across the city yesterday, up from 162 visits the day before — a level last seen in April, according to the most recent available Department of Health data. — Maya Kaufman MEDICARE ADVANTAGE BATTLE: Lander declined to register the city’s contract with health insurer Aetna to shift roughly 250,000 retirees into a Medicare Advantage plan. Lander said the Comptroller’s Bureau of Contract Administration “carefully” reviewed the contract and returned it to the city’s Office of Labor Relations without registering it. Retirees recently sued the city to block the new Medicare Advantage plan. The city signed the Medicare Advantage contract with Aetna at the end of March. “Pending litigation calls into question the legality of this procurement and constrains us from fulfilling our Charter mandated responsibility to confirm that procurement rules were followed, sufficient funds are available, and the City has the necessary authority to enter into the contract,” Lander said in a statement Thursday. — Madina Touré
| 
