By Ryan Johnson New York state lawmakers could pass as early as Wednesday one of the nation’s most ambitious plans to slow climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050. That would make it the second U.S. state to aim for a carbon-neutral economy, following an executive order signed by former California […]

By Ryan Johnson Most of our political evils may be traced to our commercial ones.” – James Madison to Thomas Jefferson, 1786 When the 55 delegates to the Constitutional Convention convened in Philadelphia in 1787, foremost among their concerns was addressing the growing tendency among states to tax or inhibit their neighbors’ commercial trade. New […]

Yesterday, New York governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law a statewide ban on single-use plastic bags. It is estimated that New York uses 23 billion plastic bags every year with 50 percent of those plastic bags ending up in landfills and around the city and waterways. Governor Cuomo signed the legislation on Earth Day, which […]

A new state budget is taking aim at single-use bags in an effort to reduce pollution, though exceptions will be allowed. NEW YORK STATE is on the verge of banning plastic shopping bags, becoming the second U.S. state, after California, to ban them outright. The ban, which is part of the state budget bill expected […]

If it attracts Austrian startups to the United States, then the Silicon Valley is often the big goal. This is not always useful. New York is home to big banks, hedge funds and insurance companies — a paradise for fintechs. Even interior design, fashion or media startups are better off here than in the deep tech region […]

New York State is officially launching a cryptocurrency task force aimed at helping the state understand cryptocurrencies and their underlying blockchain technology. Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a bill last month creating the task force to study cryptocurrencies, other forms of digital currency and blockchain technology, according to a press release issued Wednesday by the bill’s sponsor, Assemblyman […]

US President Donald Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen has pleaded guilty to lying to Congress in relation to the Russia inquiry. Mr Cohen admitted misleading lawmakers about talks over a Trump property deal in Moscow during the presidential race. Mr Trump said his former right-hand man was “lying” to seek a reduced sentence. In August, […]

At a recycling plant in Brooklyn, fat, stealthy rats were more than a match for feral cats, scientists found. New York rats are big and bad. They sit calmly on the subway tracks, ignoring discomfited commuters on the platform. They stroll through Central Park as if they owned the place. They pretty much rule the […]

Located in Manhattan, this hotel offers easy access to the city’s hottest neighborhoods. Cost: Rooms $349, suites $599. Drive time: 2 hours, 30 minutes. The scoop: Though it just opened last June as the totally refurbished and newly named James, this distinctively designed Beaux Arts building has been a hospitality landmark in Manhattan’s North Madison Square (NoMad) Historic […]

Harry Zhou, former general counsel and compliance officer for Huobi US, spoke with CCN about the latest report from New York’s attorney general on cryptocurrency exchanges. Zhou helped set up the legal framework in New York for cryptocurrency exchanges, namely the application and regulations for the BitLicense. He represented Huobi for comments on the BitLicense proposal and is […]