This is a great site by the state Education Department that has the history of New York since the 17th century. A reporter can search more than 130 million documents for a historic perspective of an issue.
This is the official state website for the Attorney General’s office. As the “People’s Lawyer,” the Attorney General serves as the guardian of the legal rights of the citizens of New York, its organizations and its natural resources. This site also offers links to resources like the charities registry which protects both donors and beneficiaries from misuse of charity assets, consumer fraud and tenant’s rights.
This is a state government site that has information on the state’s financial plans as well as the budgets and spending of different state agencies. This page also explains the budget process in layperson’s terms which makes it easier to get details across to your audience.
This is the state agency mandated to investigate any matters concerning public peace, safety, justice, corruption, fraud, organized crime and money laundering. Reporters can get information on public hearings being conducted by the commission and read any public reports they’ve issued. This site could be useful when working on organized crime stories and others.
This is the central personnel agency for state and local government. The agency also provides a variety of human resources services. Reporters can use this site if working on a story about irregular hiring practices or a topic that touches on equal opportunity employment.
The Governor (Andrew Cuomo, at present) is the chief executive officer of the state. This website is designed to make it easier and more efficient for New York State citizens and businesses to interact with state government. Reporters can get information on what the governor is currently working on, his speeches and press releases, etc.
This is the official site for one of the branches of the NY State Legislature. Here reporters can get live coverage of legislative proceedings, legislative reports from different committees, as well as search legislative information and bills. The website has a list of all the Assembly members and a calendar of all scheduled public hearings.
The official NY Dept. of State website. They do a lot of stuff that helps support communities all over the state from funding to keeping records, to being a consumer watchdog.
This official State Senate website gives New Yorkers a chance to participate in their state government process and know who their representatives are. Reporters can use this site for information on what’s going on in the State Senate. Reporters can also watch the day’s legislative session live from Albany by visiting this link. Also click on Senators to find their individual websites.
This is the state agency that manages the states real property inventory, oversees more than 10,000 state buildings and designs and builds state facilities. The agency also contracts for goods, services and technology. Reporters can use this site if looking for information on any state building that is in the news. The site can also help a reporter working on a story about improper contracting practices.
New data portal opening in March, 2013, with numerous state databases, ranging from child care centers to traffic patterns to crime trends to farmers markets. You’ll be amazed at what is here.