Most restrictive: AWB, 10-round mag limit, restrictive permitting (CCIA post-Bruen with vast sensitive places + 'good moral character'), training required, red-flag law, suppressors banned, duty to retreat, semi-auto rifle permit.

Recreational cannabis legal 2021 (MRTA). Automatic expungement of cannabis convictions. NYC operates the nation's first authorized overdose prevention centers (sanctioned supervised consumption sites). Strong harm reduction citywide. No state psychedelic reform yet.

State minimum wage $16.00/hr (outside NYC/Long Island/Westchester, where it's $17.00). MIT living wage for 1 adult: $20.05/hr. Ratio 0.80 — minimum-wage workers earn 80% of what's needed to live there alone.

Highest per-pupil spending ($31,918) and highest income tax burden in nation (~5.8% of income), yet NAEP scores only slightly above national average. Strong life expectancy and healthcare offset somewhat, but the price-to-performance is the worst expensive-state mismatch.

IJ grades NY C-. No statewide QI abolition but NYC Council passed local QI elimination (2021); state-level S1991 stalled. Repealed 50-a (2020) - police records public. Body cam adoption widespread. SHIELD Act privacy. TRUST Act limits ICE cooperation. Heavy NYPD surveillance (gang database, ALPR, predictive policing) drags score.

No-excuse mail voting added by 2023 Early Mail Voter Act (after constitutional ballot loss). Early voting 9 days. Same-day registration NOT available (constitutional amendment failed 2021). Automatic registration enacted. No photo ID. Felons vote after release (parole restored 2021). Independent-style commission gridlocked; Democratic-drawn maps with moderate-high bias. NY Voting Rights Act 2022.

Medicaid expansion adopted 2014. Abortion protected by Reproductive Health Act 2019; Equal Rights Amendment Prop 1 (2024). Gender-affirming care shield law. Low uninsured rate. Strong urban provider density; rural upstate gaps remain.

No statewide qualified immunity reform (NYC has local ordinance for NYPD). No statewide BWC mandate (state troopers wear, locals vary). 50-a repeal (2020) made disciplinary records subject to FOIL. DCJS decertification database. No-knock restricted in some localities. No statutory necessity standard but raised threshold for deadly force in some bills. AG Office of Special Investigation investigates all police-caused deaths (Executive Law 70-b, 2021) - fully independent. Chokeholds banned (Eric Garner Anti-Chokehold Act, 2020).

Abortion right added to constitution as ERA Prop 1 (2024). Comprehensive LGBTQ+ nondiscrimination. Conversion therapy banned. Shield law including telehealth. Gender-affirming care protected. LGBTQ+ inclusive curriculum. Strong church-state separation. Refusal to extradite providers.

Not a right-to-work state. Paid family leave (PFL since 2018) and DBL. Paid sick leave (NY Paid Sick Leave Law 2020). State OSHA plan for public sector (PESH). Strong prevailing wage. Strong wage theft enforcement (Wage Theft Prevention Act). Domestic Worker Bill of Rights (first in nation, 2010). NYC Fair Workweek scheduling. Heat protections for ag workers. Below-median fatal injury rate.