Law firm emails

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the New York Freedom of Information Law, I hereby request the following records:

Emails between members of the Governor's staff and email addresses containing the domain names mccarter.com, nymba.org, or woodsdefaultservices.com, since January 1, 2022.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 5 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Sam Mellins

Hello,

For request 4170, please limit the request to employees of the governor's office who were present at the meeting on May 2 with representatives of Woods Oviatt GilMan and McCarter & English.
For requests 4171-2, please limit the request to emails received since January 1, 2022.

Thank you,
Sam Mellins

Hello,

Please provide an update on the status of this request.

Thank you,
Sam Mellins

This is an appeal of the above requests #4170-4172. The office of the governor has constructively denied my requests by refusing to provide updates on the expected delivery of the records, or a timeline for producing them.

Because of this appeal, the office of the governor is required by law to provide specific reasons within 10 business days explaining why this request cannot be filled, or else, must provide the records sought.

According to the Committee on Open Government, if a government entity acknowledges that a request has been received, but has failed to grant access by the specific date given beyond twenty business days, or if the specific date given is unreasonable, a request may be considered to have been constructively denied (see §89[4][a]). In such a circumstance, the denial may be appealed in accordance with §89(4)(a), which states in relevant part that:

“...any person denied access to a record may within thirty days appeal in writing such denial to the head, chief executive or governing body of the entity, or the person therefore designated by such head, chief executive, or governing body, who shall within ten business days of the receipt of such appeal fully explain in writing to the person requesting the record the reasons for further denial, or provide access to the record sought.”

I, on behalf of New York Focus, am requesting either you fill this FOIL request, or else provide a full explanation as to the reason for the denial, as required by law, of this public record.

Sincerely,
Sam Mellins
Senior Reporter, New York Focus

This is an appeal of the above requests #4170-4172. The office of the governor has constructively denied my requests by refusing to provide updates on the expected delivery of the records, or a timeline for producing them.

Because of this appeal, the office of the governor is required by law to provide specific reasons within 10 business days explaining why this request cannot be filled, or else, must provide the records sought.

According to the Committee on Open Government, if a government entity acknowledges that a request has been received, but has failed to grant access by the specific date given beyond twenty business days, or if the specific date given is unreasonable, a request may be considered to have been constructively denied (see §89[4][a]). In such a circumstance, the denial may be appealed in accordance with §89(4)(a), which states in relevant part that:

“...any person denied access to a record may within thirty days appeal in writing such denial to the head, chief executive or governing body of the entity, or the person therefore designated by such head, chief executive, or governing body, who shall within ten business days of the receipt of such appeal fully explain in writing to the person requesting the record the reasons for further denial, or provide access to the record sought.”

I, on behalf of New York Focus, am requesting either you fill this FOIL request, or else provide a full explanation as to the reason for the denial, as required by law, of this public record.

Sincerely,
Sam Mellins
Senior Reporter, New York Focus