Arun Venugopal

Before immigrating from West Africa to the Bronx, Rouguiatou Tounkara and her husband, Cisse Siaka, lived the kind of lives that remind you just how ferocious racial bigotry is in some parts of the world. Even for Africans living in Africa.

After disappearing from both the political conversation and the streets of New York City, the Occupy movement is back.

Occupy Sandy, the group’s response to last week’s hurricane, has brought thousands of volunteers to disaster zones a year after protesters were encamped near Wall Street.

In the East Village, the lights may be on in most of the area, but for many residents the heat and hot water have yet to return. While some have sought help, others in the neighborhood are reluctant to take a helping hand.

Lisa Higbee loves President Obama. She loves Mitt Romney too — so much so that she composed a song that she played for me in her Inwood apartment.

By the time I woke up Tuesday morning there was a noise somewhere in the distance. It was a chainsaw. Some guy — I'm guessing he was paid by the city — was calmly walking around, sawing down every loose or suspicious-looking tree branch.

Tonight tens of millions of viewers are expected to tune in for the second presidential debate, which takes place at Hofstra University on Long Island, in a town that rarely makes national headlines.

The Taliban shooting of a 14-year old Pakistani girl has generated a worldwide backlash. Malala Yousefzai, an outspoken defender of education for girls, remains in critical condition, and Pakistani New Yorkers are closely following the story.

One hundred and twenty years after it was erected, the landmark statue of Christopher Columbus in Columbus Circle has found a new home of sorts.

This weekend, Muslims in several American cities will be protesting the film that sparked violent protests across the Islamic world. But New York’s Muslim community has taken a pass. ...

Is Street Calisthenics the most extreme workout in New York? That’s what some (highly-ripped) practitioners claim, although boot campers and P90Xers may vehemently disagree.

When Matt Hogan is not stopping gatecrashers, he’s protecting naked models from illicit backstage photos and keeping the chi flowing around Anna Wintour. WNYC’s Arun Venugopal spent time with a security guard who protects the complex world around the runway. 

(Arun Venogopal and Brigid Bergin -- WNYC )

(UPDATED 8/20 7:45am) The city plans to appeal a state Supreme Court judge ruling that blocks New York City's plan to improve taxi service in the outer boroughs by adding a second category of taxis in addition to the city's iconic yellow cabs.

The taxi plan, which would increase street hails to the outer boroughs by adding a second category of taxi authorized to pick up passengers who flag them down on the street. In NYC, only licensed  yellow cabs are authorized to do that now.  The plan was estimated to bring in an additional $1 billion in revenue from the sale of new medallions. But without it the city faces a $635 budget million shortfall – and it’s only the second month of fiscal year 2013.

In his ruling issued Friday, the judge said the city had illegally bypassed the City Council, and that its decision to make new medallions available only to livery cab owners was unlawful.

The five-borough taxi plan would have brought additional street hail service to areas less frequented by yellow cabs: northern Manhattan and the outer boroughs. The new cabs would have been green.

A previous suit was filed by the yellow cab industry in June protesting the plan. Owners had protested, saying it would've diluted the value of their medallions.

The city will file an immediate appeal, according to Michael Cardozo, corporation counsel for the New York City Law Department.

“We are confident that the appellate court will uphold the state law authorizing two important transportation initiatives: providing safe and reliable hail service by liveries in areas of the city rarely served by yellow taxicabs, and providing 2,000 more wheelchair-accessible yellow taxicabs for disabled passengers,” said Cardozo in a statement.

Council Speaker Christine Quinn said on Sunday that she shares the disappointment over the court’s decision because it affects taxi accessibility throughout the city. She also said she was concerned about the financial implications.

“This is an important case because it deals with whether or not there will be taxi service that’s really accessible to people geographically throughout all of the city,” said Quinn.

“We will have to find ways to make up those hundreds of millions of dollars, which short of there being an unexpected increase in tax revenues, would mean we’d have to find places in the budget where we would have to cut back,” Quinn said.

(For more on the fiscal impact to NYC, see full article at WNYC.)

Taxi and Limousine Commissioner David Yassky tweeted Friday: "ruling delays service for millions -- disappointing!" and conveyed the city would immediately appeal the decision.

In its statement, the Metropolitan Taxicab Board of Trade, a group representing yellow cab owners, applauded the ruling and said "Chairman David Yassky and the Administration back-doored a flawed plan in Albany and got caught. It’s that simple."

Some stakeholders expressed concern going forward.

Bhairavi Desai, who heads the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, which represents drivers, worried that yellow cab owners would undo provisions that had finally brought her organization on board.

"Now that they would be going back to the city council, where they've had undue influence for decades, our concern is another plan would be hatched, where drivers would get caught in the crossfire."

The decision:

Engoron Decision

Black and Latino students made up more than 96 percent of the arrests by NYPD School Safety officers during the 2011-2012 school year, according to recent data released by the NYPD. But the New York Civil Liberties Union believes the numbers betray a "heavy-handed" approach to discipline, particularly in minority neighborhoods.

The fatal police shooting of a knife-wielding man in Times Square on Saturday has resulted in little political fallout. Police Commissioner Ray Kelly and Mayor Michael Bloomberg have said the shooting appeared to be justified and by the book. Instead, the focus has been on looking ahead to a time when such violent outcomes can be reduced in frequency, or avoided altogether.

Around 90,000 attendees filled MetLife stadium on Wednesday for the 12th Siyum Hashas, an event held every seven and a half years for Jewish men who have completed their study of the Talmud. The previous event, held in 2005, was attended by 50,000 people. To see more pictures from the event, go to Micropolis' Tumblr site.

There are 24,000 restaurants in New York City, but more than 3 million households turning out an extraordinary range of meals on any given night.

A crowd of 90,000 Jewish worshipers is expected to fill MetLife stadium in New Jersey Wednesday night as part of Siyum Hashas. It’s an event that culminates the seven and a half year process of Talmudic study.

Asian Americans are the highest-earning, best-educated and fastest-growing racial group in America, according to an exhaustive new study, "The Rise of Asian Americans."

Modesty is central to many women of faith — and Muslims and Orthodox Jews, in particular — and a number of them have struggled to balance religious ideals with physical fitness.

Broadway audiences historically have been overwhelmingly white. Last season, 83 percent of Broadway audiences were Caucasians – the highest percentage since the industry began keeping...