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In its Fiscal Year 2024 Budget, New York State passed significant measures expanding access to affordable housing across the State, moving the ball forward on Governor Kathy Hochul’s ambitious plan to “make the Empire State a more affordable, more livable, safer place for all New Yorkers.”  These measures include tax exemptions for creating affordable housing, protections against insurance discrimination for affordable housing property owners, and support for developing [...]

The rapid growth in e-commerce has transformed global trade and brought producers and consumers closer together than ever before. The e-commerce revolution, accelerated by the COVID pandemic, resulted in the need for society to develop additional infrastructure to get packages to consumers more quickly and more efficiently. It has transformed the way people live, work and shop in the 21st century. Our lawyers are on the front lines of this global revolution. Our extensive experience in [...]

Posted By: Terresa Bakner, Charles Gottlieb and Jordyn ConwayIntroduction:On May 25, 2023, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) released an opinion, in Sackett v. EPA, seeking to clarify the definition of “Water of the United States” (WOTUS) for the purposes of federal regulation. [1] The decision, written by Justice Alito, confronts years of uncertainty and confusion regarding the “significant nexus” test that has been relied on by the Biden, Trump, and [...]

STATE ISSUESThe Governor of the State of NY has addressed State regulated wetlands in his budget bill proposing to do away with the regulatory freshwater wetlands maps and merely have them in place for educational purposes. This means that like the Army Corps, the State DEC staff will be able to go out in the field and identify areas as wetlands even if they do not show up on a map. Moreover, although to a degree the DEC staff have already begun doing this when reviewing how State mapped [...]