The Newsroom Demystifying Albany

With an annual budget of over $250 billion, New York State’s public spending exceeds that of most countries. Decisions made in Albany impact New Yorkers across the state in nearly every aspect of their lives. Akash Mehta wants to close the distance between state residents and their representatives in Albany by providing accessible and in-depth coverage of state government. At the age of 22, Akash launched New York Focus - an independent nonprofit newsroom. Over the past five years they have built a staff of 15 and have broken stories ranging from Andrew Cuomo’s sexual harassment lawsuits to secretive state senate committees exerting a heavy hand on which bills make it to the floor for a vote. NYS Focus’ Editor-in-Chief Akash Mehta joins Central Current’s Executive Director Maximilian Eyle on this episode of It’s Happening Here. Read New York Focus’ coverage and sign up for their free newsletter at nysfocus.com. Central Current’s reporting can be found at central current.org