Ailsa Chang

New York, NY —

Workers at the bankrupt New York City Off-Track Betting Corporation say they're relieved operations did not shut down over the weekend, but about half of the 1,300 employees could lose their jobs by the end of the year.

OTB worked out an emergency plan over the ...

New York, NY —

Intensive contract negotiations are underway to avert a strike next week of nearly 30,000 doormen, porters, concierges and other apartment workers in the city. The workers say they will strike if building owners try to reduce health and retirement benefits and sick days.

Contract negotiations resumed ...

A federal judge in Brooklyn has ordered Queens imam Ahmad Afzali to leave the country in 90 days after he pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI.

New York, NY —

Attorney General Eric Holder says New York City is still "not off the table" as a place to try alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. His remarks came during a hearing in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee today.

Holder says he'll consider the concerns of ...

New York, NY —

Queens imam Ahmad Afzali has been ordered to leave the country in 90 days after pleading guilty to lying to the FBI.

Afzali, who was born in Afghanistan, was linked last September to Najibullah Zazi, the Denver airport driver who plotted to blow up bombs on ...

More than 10,000 doormen, porters, handymen, and other apartment workers took to the streets of the Upper East Side to keep all their health benefits and sick days.

New York, NY —

Lawmakers in Albany have ended session for the week without deciding on a bailout for New York City Off-Track Betting. Union leaders say that means 1,300 workers will be without jobs this Sunday if the bankrupt OTB proceeds with its plan to shut down all ...

New York, NY —

More than 10,000 doormen, porters, handymen, and other apartment workers took to the streets of the Upper East Side to keep all their health benefits and sick days.

Members of the union, 32BJ, say they'll strike if they don't get a new contract by next ...

Sanjay Manocha had a sinking feeling it would be him.

More than a year ago, his law firm announced there would be layoffs. Manocha had practiced for four years at that point, and was already having mixed feelings about his career as a litigator. He often found himself chained to ...

New York, NY —

These are the people who did everything right. They hustled for good grades in college, crammed for the LSAT, sweated through three years of law school – all to be shuttled into a cushy job that could help them pay off massive debts.

But for 27-year-old ...

New York, NY —

Union leaders for state workers say if Gov. David Paterson wants them to give up a 4 percent raise to help the state's financial crisis, he needs to negotiate with them directly -- instead of bargaining in front of TV cameras.

"I had hoped that he ...

New York, NY —

Gov. David Paterson is defending his decision to delay $2.1 billion in state aid to schools, saying he had no choice.

"Our financial situation is so vulnerable that we have to consider everything in order to keep the state from becoming bankrupt," Paterson says.

Paterson was at ...

New York, NY —

New York's highest court heard arguments today in a lawsuit charging that the state is violating its constitutional duty to provide effective counsel to poor people accused of crimes.

The New York Civil Liberties Union filed the suit in 2007, and says overworked and under-trained lawyers ...

New York, NY —

The city has agreed to pay $33 million in a class-action settlement to 100,000 individuals who were illegally strip-searched at city jails between 1999 and 2007.

One plaintiff, 39-year-old David Sanchez from the Bronx, was told to strip after arriving at Rikers Island in 2006 for ...

New York, NY —

The city's Department of Homeless Services says there are now 3,111 homeless people living on city streets, nearly 800 more than last year's count. That's a 33.6 percent increase.

Commissioner Robert Hess says the increase is the result of the economic downturn, not because of ...

New York, NY —

Hiram Monserrate, who was expelled from the state senate, has lost his bid to get his seat back. He lost to Democratic Assemblyman Jose Peralta in a special election in Queens last night. WNYC's Ailsa Chang reports.

REPORTER: It wasn't even close. The unofficial returns gave ...

Former state senator Hiram Monserrate from Queens will try to win back his seat in tomorrow's special election.

New York, NY —

Former state senator Hiram Monserrate from Queens will try to win back his seat in tomorrow's special election. Monserrate was expelled from the senate after being convicted of assaulting his girlfriend.

He spent the last day of the campaign riding in the back of a pickup ...

A federal appeals court has rejected former Queens state senator Hiram Monserrate's request to undo his expulsion from the senate and cancel a March 16 special election to fill his vacant seat.

New York, NY —

Former State Senator Hiram Monserrate and Assemblyman Jose Peralta had their first, and probably only, face-off before the March 16th special election for state Senate. WNYC's Ailsa Chang was in Jackson Heights last night to hear the candidates answer questions from voters.

REPORTER: All night long ...