Research

New York's first British colonial governors ruled the province only with the aid of a Council but with no assembly representative of the colonists. Between 1664, when King Charles II granted the conquered New Netherland territory to his brother James, Duke of York, and 1863, citizens increasingly called for the establishment of a general assembly. In 1681, members of the Court of Assizes petitioned the Duke for an Assembly to be elected by freeholders, and citizen unrest was apparent in, among other things, their refusal to pay taxes.

The State Racing and Wagering Board was created in 1973 (Chapter 346) to consolidate responsibility for the licensing and regulation of racing and wagering activities that had formerly been exercised by five separate commissions. A State Racing Commission, consisting of three gubernatorial appointees, was created in 1926 (Chapter 440) to issue or deny annual licenses to corporations conducting horse races and steeplechases.

New York's first state prison, Newgate, opened in New York City in 1797. Newgate was quickly found to be unsatisfactory due to poor construction and the impossibility of developing viable industries. As a result, a commission was formed in 1825 (Chapter 25) for the purpose of building a new state prison in the first or second senatorial district, based on the design of Auburn Prison, which opened in 1816. The commission was authorized to sell Newgate and was appropriated {dollar}70,000 to erect a prison to house 800 convicts.

A law of 1930 (Chapter 825) created a temporary state commission to investigate prison administration and construction. The commission recommended the construction of a new medium security prison at Wallkill. Laws of 1931 (Chapter 14) and 1932 (Chapter 37) appropriated money for construction of the new prison, which opened in 1932. A law of 1934 (Chapter 325) amended the Correction Law, adding Wallkill to the list of state prisons for men.

The Bureau of Environmental and Occupational Epidemiology (BEOE) was created in 1990 to monitor and conduct epidemiological research on environmentally and occupationally related diseases. BEOE was created by merging two bureaus created in 1980. Several BEOE ongoing projects date back to 1980 when its predecessor bureaus began conducting epidemiological research.