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☆ How a California hedge fund bulldozed the state's labor laws to impose some of the harshest noncompetes on Wall Street
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-03 | by ( Alex Morrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +23 min

That's partly why so few quantitative trading firms reside in California, whose labor-friendly laws have long favored employee mobility and competition. Exhibit A: The Voleon Group, a prominent quantitative-trading firm based in Berkeley, California, that manages about $5 billion in assets. The hedge fund has bulldozed past state prohibitions to not just impose noncompetes, but impose some of the harshest noncompetes in the entire industry, according to seven former employees, industry experts, and documents detailing the firm's restrictive covenants. Like so many other quant-trading firms, Voleon took care to protect its edge. Other employees Insider spoke with have a less generous view, with several describing the company as stingy — a third ex-employee bemoaned the company as "notoriously cheap" on compensation.

Persons: Kathy Hochul's, haven't, Michael Kharitonov, Jon McAuliffe, Shaw, — Kharitonov, McAuliffe, Voleon, —, Harry Lipman, Rottenberg Lipman Rich, Lipman, bemoaned, noncompetes, Martin Wainwright, Howard Aiken, Wainwright, hasn't, It's, Jessica Riggin, Rukin Hyland, Riggin, specter, James Hannaway, Sanford Heisler Sharp, Hochul, Rob Bonta, Sen, Anna Caballero, foisting, Caballero, Voleon's Organizations: New, Gov, University of California, Stanford, UC Berkeley, Wall Street, Google, Citadel, Sigma, That's, Big Tech, Darwin, MIT, Berkeley, California, Labor Locations: New York, California, Berkeley , California, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, Voleon, Delaware, Washington ,

☆ The Brooklyn landlord everyone hates could soon come to your neighborhood. Tenants warn these private equity groups are raising rent and ignoring maintenance issues.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-16 | by ( Eliza Relman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Private equity firms have bought up hundreds of smaller apartment buildings in trendy New York neighborhoods. Private equity firms own a very small, but growing, fraction of American real estate. Some argue that private equity, hedge funds, and other institutional investors are a convenient target and are being unfairly blamed for the nation's worsening housing affordability crisis. The recent increase in private equity purchases, particularly of single-family homes, has drawn scrutiny, including from Congress, over the last few years. Democrats also couldn't reach agreement on measures that would have boosted tenant protections, including rent stabilization and eviction protections.

Persons: Kathy Hochul's, Hochul Organizations: Service, Carlyle Group, The New York Times, Conway Capital, Peak Capital Advisors, Times, Institutional, New York Gov, Democrats Locations: New York, Brooklyn, Wall, Silicon, gentrifying, Queens, Bushwick, Bedford, Stuyvesant, Williamsburg, Ridgewood , Queens, York City, Brooklyn's Gowanus

☆ Inside the furious debate over New York City's new tax on drivers, which New Jersey Democrats are fighting against tooth and nail
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-02 | by ( Eliza Relman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Long gone are the days of eerily deserted Manhattan streets as New York City ground to a near-halt during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Cars fill Midtown amid the coronavirus pandemic on March 19, 2021 in New York City. The Empire State Building and Tourist District are seen while Traffic jam is reported along the route to New York City on August 17, 2022, in Jersey City, New Jersey. Komanoff said most congestion pricing advocates agree — they don't want drivers who enter lower Manhattan through the tunnels to pay the full congestion toll. But congestion pricing still has a long way to go, particularly as long as New Jersey leaders stand in the way.

Persons: Kathy Hochul's, Long, Kathy Hochul, Gottheimer, Jersey Sen, Bob Menendez, Phil Murphy, Noam Galai, it's, Charles Komanoff, Komanoff, Sam Schwartz, Eduardo Munoz Alvarez, George Washington, Sen . Menendez, Bill Pascrell, Schwartz, Hochul, Murphy, Sarah Kaufman, University's, Ritchie Torres, Tom Williams, Torres, he's Organizations: Gov, New, New Jersey Democrats, Morning, Metropolitan Transportation Authority, New York Gov, Central Business District, Federal Highway Administration, MTA, Democratic, New York Supporters, New York, Mexico City, George Washington Bridge, Center for Transportation, New York Rep, Garden, Komanoff, Democratic Rep Locations: New York City, Manhattan, New Jersey, ., Jersey, New York, New, London, Stockholm, Singapore, York, Toronto, Mexico, Seattle, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Jersey City , New Jersey, Holland, Lincoln, Bronx

☆ Democrats in Texas and New York are blocking efforts to build cheaper housing while also making life more difficult for Airbnb landlords
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-27 | by ( Eliza Relman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Texas and New York have both recently killed major pro-housing legislation in their states. In New York and Texas, Democrats recently facilitated the death of major pieces of pro-housing legislation. Some Texas Democrats opposed the legislation because it would have opened opportunities for short-term rentals, like Airbnbs. Texas needed to build 330,000 more homes back in 2019, before the pandemic-induced surge of buyers, according to one report. The overwhelming majority of New Yorkers say housing affordability is a top concern.

☆ Half of households in New York City don't make the $100,000 or more needed to afford living there
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Eliza Relman | Madison Hoff | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

New York City is experiencing a rapidly worsening affordability crisis, according to a major new report. Half of all of New York City's working-age households can't afford their basic needs, the study found. Households in all parts of the city need to make at least $100,000 to afford the cost of living, according to the TCL. New York City has failed to build enough affordable housing and keep costs reasonable for its diverse array of residents, experts say. And city's worsening affordability crisis is driving some out.

☆ The mayor of a rich New York suburb says wealthy communities 'are losing their minds' over Gov. Kathy Hochul's plan to increase housing
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Eliza Relman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Affluent suburban communities around New York City are denouncing the proposal. The mayor of Bronxville, NY told Bloomberg some wealthy communities "are losing their minds." But many of the wealthiest suburban communities around New York City aren't having it. "People in Nassau and Suffolk are losing their minds," Mayor Mary Marvin told Bloomberg. Marvin told Bloomberg that Hochul wouldn't have been elected last fall if she'd campaigned on her housing plan.

☆ New York Senate rejects Governor Hochul's pick for top state judge
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] New York Governor Kathy Hochul celebrates at her U.S. midterm election night party after winning re-election in New York, New York, U.S. November 8, 2022. REUTERS/Brendan McDermidNEW YORK, Feb 15 (Reuters) - New York's state Senate on Wednesday rejected Governor Kathy Hochul's choice to become the state's highest-ranking judge, a defeat for the state's top Democrat who failed to overcome opposition from her own party to the nomination. Hochul's choice, Hector LaSalle, is the presiding justice of a midlevel state appeals court in Brooklyn, and would have been the first Hispanic chief judge of the state's highest court, the Court of Appeals. Many had hoped Hochul would replace former Chief Judge Janet DiFiore with a more liberal judge. "But it was not a vote on the merits of Justice LaSalle, who is an overwhelmingly qualified and talented jurist.

☆ Long Island Republican warns of 'suburban uprising' over New York Gov. Kathy Hochul's plan to rezone land to allow greater density for affordable housing
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-11 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A Long Island Republican warned of a "suburban uprising" over Gov. Bruce Blakeman said that Hochul's plan would trample over the autonomy of local communities. For generations, Long Island was a GOP bastion, filled with fiscally and socially conservative voters from across the political spectrum. Hochul's proposal would push for more multifamily housing developments near Long Island Rail Road stations. Still, her plan remains a tough sell for other Long Island politicians.

Feb 9 (Reuters) - A Republican New York state senator filed a lawsuit on Thursday seeking to force a Senate vote on Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul's pick to be the state's chief judge, after lawmakers blocked the nomination last month. State Senator Anthony Palumbo, who represents a Long Island district, said in a complaint filed in state court that New York's constitution requires the full 63-member Senate to vote on whether to confirm appellate judge Hector LaSalle to the post. Palumbo in the lawsuit said the state constitution, which requires the governor to appoint a chief judge "with the advice and consent of the Senate," was designed to prevent such an outcome. LaSalle is the first nominee for chief judge to be rejected by the Senate committee. New York's chief judge heads the seven-member Court of Appeals, which has the final say in interpreting state laws, and oversees the state's massive court system.

Jan 18 (Reuters) - A New York state Senate panel on Wednesday rejected Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul's nominee to become the state's chief judge after some lawmakers and advocacy groups expressed concerns he was too conservative for the job. The Democrat-led Senate Judiciary Committee voted 10-2 against sending the nomination of Hector LaSalle, the presiding justice of a Brooklyn-based state appeals court, to the full Senate for a confirmation vote. If confirmed, LaSalle would be New York's first Latino chief judge. New York's chief judge heads the seven-member Court of Appeals, which has the final say in interpreting state laws, and oversees the state court system. While Democrats have a strong hold on state government, the Court of Appeals has leaned conservative since former Chief Judge Janet DiFiore joined in 2016.

☆ U.S. governors races carry high stakes for abortion, elections
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Daniel Trotta | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

The high stakes have brought increased money and attention to the state-level races, which typically get overshadowed in midterm elections by the fight for control of Congress. Georgia's Republican governor, Brian Kemp, also looks likely to prevail against Democratic challenger Stacey Abrams in a rematch of their 2018 race. Democrats are expected to flip Republican-held governorships in the states of Maryland and Massachusetts, but they face tough battles in a couple of other Democratic states. ABORTION RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACYAs with congressional races across the country, Democratic candidates for governor have warned of the threats Republicans could pose to abortion rights and elections should they win on Tuesday. Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer has made abortion a focal point of her re-election campaign in Michigan, where voters also will consider a ballot measure that would safeguard abortion rights in the state's constitution.

☆ Some of NY Gov. Kathy Hochul's top donors privately sound alarm over GOP candidate Lee Zeldin surge
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Brian Schwartz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Kathy Hochul's top donors are privately panicking about Republican challenger Rep. Lee Zeldin's recent surge in the polls ahead of Tuesday's midterms, according to people familiar with the matter. One Democratic advisor, who counts numerous Hochul donors as clients, said he's having "PTSD" as he sees Zeldin closing in on Hochul in the polls. Bragg has been criticized, often by GOP officials, for the uptick in crime in New York City. Zeldin said at the debate that his first initiative if he becomes governor is to remove Bragg from office. Hochul told Zeldin at the time "you can't throw out someone who is duly elected."

☆ CNN CEO Chris Licht is facing an increasingly angry newsroom as more layoffs loom, plans are murky, and staff have lost confidence after 'horrible programming decisions'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Claire Atkinson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

CNN CEO Chris Licht has been faulted by the newsroom for too many changes and not enough communication. Chris Licht needs a hit. "People are starting to believe there is no plan," said one executive familiar with the workings of CNN. "Is Chris Licht going to be there for them and push back on government officials? Many on the ad sales team that was formerly dedicated to CNN have either been pink-slipped or joined the broader ad sales group under WBD ad honcho Jon Steinlauf.

☆ Claude Monet, Larry Fink, and Ted Cruz: Climate stunts grab headlines but can they get results?
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Catherine Boudreau | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

That was an improvement over the previous year, but still not nearly enough given the threat the climate crisis presents for humanity, Hu told Insider. "I could spend 20 minutes talking about the destruction from climate change. "More people are aware of this climate crisis and that we have to do something about it because of our actions," Harris said. "Journalists don't report on the climate crisis like it is an emergency. Ridiculous stunts like the art action gets the climate crisis into the headlines and millions of people talking."

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