By David Siffert, Vibha Kannan, Dario Maestro. Jennifer Park, Claire Cleary, Taylor Skorpen, Emma Harman, Alissa Johnson, Alicia Abramson, Jimin Yoo. Patrick Li, Kevin Ye, Anya Weinstock, Marwa Sayed, Vianca Figueroa, Sophia Conrad, Malcom Rakshan. Nina Loshkajian, and Eleni Manis
Summary
This report, S.T.O.P., details the systematic failures of New York’s Freedom of Information Law (FOIL). Rather than promoting transparency, New York’s open records law has become a law of discretion rather than obligation, governed by vague timelines, nonbinding oversight, and an appeals process that favors the agencies it was designed to hold accountable.
Key Findings Include:
New York’s open records system systemically obstructs record seekers. Journalists don’t get the records they need to root out corruption; taxpayer watchdogs can’t scrutinize government spending; and the public can’t find out what their governments are doing.
State and local agencies routinely frustrate Freedom of Information Law (“FOIL”) requests by delaying excessively, by redacting records to the point of uselessness, and by claiming, groundlessly, that records are exempt from disclosure.
Agencies face few consequences, because New Yorkers have little recourse when agencies block their requests. Agencies themselves decide first-round appeals; the state’s FOIL oversight body lacks any enforcement power; and the secondary appeals process is prohibitively costly and time-consuming.
Unlike states such as Pennsylvania and Florida, which have implemented reforms such as binding oversight, consistent exemption interpretations, independent appeals, and enforceable timelines, New York lacks meaningful implementation mechanisms and continues to fall behind national transparency standards.
Legislators must set enforceable deadlines for agencies, require agencies to report their reasons for denying records requests, require agencies to track their handling of FOIL requests, establish an independent appeals board and an empowered FOIL oversight committee, and shift the financial burden of appeals onto agencies that obstruct transparency.
