ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — The NY Attorney General’s office has announced that more than $1.1 billion is headed to New York as part of a settlement from three opioid distributors. Almost the entire amount of that money will go directly to abatement.
Local groups, like Friends of Recovery-NY and the Addictions Care Center of Albany, have been closely following the developments on the settlement cases. They are eager to see how the money will be distributed once the Opioid Settlement Fund Advisory Board makes its recommendations.
Stephen Acquario with the New York Association of Counties has been coordinating the case on behalf of New York Counties for the past five years and says these monies will play an important role in battling this “public health crisis.”
Vaccinated New Yorkers will also be able to travel into Canada beginning on August 9. This is the first lift on the border ban since March of 2020. Canada’s leadership says they are beginning with Americans only in August, with the intention of opening its borders to all countries in September.
The announcement is welcome news amongst New York leadership. Governor Andrew Cuomo saying he was “pleased” with the news so families can be reunited and cross-border communities can resume business.
However, the Biden Administration has just extended it’s border restrictions for non-essential travel, drawing rebuke from Senator Chuck Schumer and Congresswoman Elise Stefanik. Rep. Stefanik’s district covers Jefferson, St. Lawrence, Franklin, and Clinton Counties along New York’s border with Canada.
You can listen to NEWS10’s Ryan Peterson’s interview with Rep. Stefanik about her efforts pushing the Biden Administration to reciprocate Canada’s actions here:
And here is a list of how you can watch Empire State Weekly in your area of New York every weekend:
