Six‑Month FOIL Waiting Periods

A mayoral office can convert FOIL's request‑specific timing rules into a blanket six‑month response schedule, effectively turning formal acknowledgement into routine delay. City Journal examined the city's OpenRecords portal and found the Mayor’s Office assigned roughly six‑month response dates to 88.7% of requests in a recent period, prompting the Manhattan Institute to sue. — If replicated, this administrative tactic would hollow out public‑records laws, making timely scrutiny of government conduct impractical and shifting how journalists, watchdogs, and courts enforce transparency.