Arun Venugopal

New York, NY —

Mayor Bloomberg says the city would oppose any effort by the transport workers union to restore a dues checkoff. A judge rejected the checkoff after the 2005 strike and the union recently went back to court, seeking to get it re-instated. But the mayor says ...

New York, NY —

Construction on a new biotech center on the East Side is underway. Mayor Bloomberg and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver took part in a groundbreaking ceremony for the 700 million dollar Alexandria Center for Science and Technology.

REPORTER: Patrick Foye, with the state's Empire State Development Corporation, ...

New York, NY —

Two firefighters unions claim the fire department encouraged a cover-up of the investigation into the fire at the Deutsche Bank building.

REPORTER: Union leaders say higher ups at the department were told at a meeting to stop sending emails about the investigation. The unions have called ...

New York, NY —

A tiny patch of land in lower Manhattan becomes the nation's 74th National Monument in an elaborate ceremony today. WNYC's Arun Venugopal has more on the African Burial Ground, the final resting place for thousands of New York slaves.

REPORTER: One of the things that construction ...

New York, NY —

Columbia University and Community Board 9 went before the City Planning Commission once again, with competing visions for 17 acres of West Harlem and what's known as the bathtub. WNYC's Arun Venugopal has more.

REPORTER: The bathtub is the term given to the enormous area that ...

New York, NY —

Nassau County officials say they were misled into participating in federal immigration raids across Long Island, thinking they were only targeting gang members. Now they're calling on Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff to initiate an investigation. WNYC's Arun Venugopal has more.

REPORTER: The raids resulted in ...

New York, NY —

Columbia University is one step closer to the approval of its West Harlem expansion plan. Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer is now backing it. WNYC's Arun Venugopal has more.

REPORTER: Stringer gave his support on the condition that Columbia help him minimize gentrification outside the 17-acre ...

New York, NY —

Several weeks after it was created, the commission charged with studying Mayor Bloomberg's congestion pricing plan got work yesterday. WNYC's Arun Venugopal was at the first, contentious meeting.

REPORTER: Although outnumbered, opponents of congestion pricing were quick to take on supporters on the commission. Two Assembly ...

New York, NY —

The 62nd session of the U-N General Assembly continues today. WNYC's Arun Venugopal has more.

President Bush didn't participate in yesterday's Climate Summit, but he'll be one of the first speakers today. He's slotted in between the leaders of Brazil and Ghana and well ahead of ...

New York, NY —

Crowds estimated to be in the thousands turned out on Dag Hammarskjold plaza near the UN to protest the appearance of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

REPORTER: Many of the protesters were with Jewish groups but the event also drew some Iranian Americans, including Mary Mirian.

MIRIAN: Throw ...

New York, NY —

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may be blocked from visiting Ground Zero but he will get a chance to hold forth on his controversial views at Columbia University on Monday. WNYC's Arun Venugopal has more.

REPORTER: The event was initially meant to be a speech by the ...

New York, NY —

The death of a 13-year-old carriage horse near Central Park has the industry calling for better safety conditions. WNYC's Arun Venugopal has more.

REPORTER: Central Park South can get crowded, with carriages and horses sharing a narrow shoulder between busy traffic and a sidewalk full of ...

New York, NY —

Opportunity NYC, the city's cash incentives program for low-income families, just added another incentive. Participants get $50 if they sign up for a checking account with one of 8 banks - no fees attached. Bernadine Dalton-Curry of East New York signed up for an account ...

New York, NY —

HIV infection rates rose in the city for the sixth straight year among gay men under 30. WNYC's Arun Venugopal has more on the latest report from the Health Department.

REPORTER: The increase was highest among young gay black men. They represent close to half of ...

New York, NY —

House speaker Nancy Pelosi toured the World Trade Center site today with Governor Spitzer and elected officials, and praised the progress being made there, six years after the terrorist attacks.

REPORTER: She also met with Mayor Bloomberg, and local Congress members, to discuss their bill to ...

New York, NY —

The reading of the nearly three thousand victims' names is currently a fixture of the annual remembrance of Nine Eleven in New York City....but Mayor Bloomberg is in favor of future mayors changing that, and other aspects of the ceremony.

BLOOMBERG: I don't know what great ...

New York, NY —

Columbia University already owns over half the properties in the area near the Hudson River, between about 125th and 135th Streets. This is the part of Manhattan it wants to remake into a high-tech additional campus.

REPORTER: The planning process is underway, but it's moved past ...

New York, NY —

Columbia University presented its plan to remake a 17 acre area of Harlem to the city planning commission. The ambitious plan met got mixed reviews. WNYC'S Arun Venugopal was there.

The star of the presentation was the Italian celebrity architect Renzo Piano. He laid out his ...

They're not selling candy, not even for a basketball team or to stay out of trouble. No, theater students Peter Vack and Troian Bellisario are raising money on the subway by performing Shakespeare. It's their summer job. They're both theater students at the University of Southern California. They spoke to ...

New York, NY —

Columbia University and an uptown community board have presented two competing visions for the future of West Harlem. WNYC's Arun Venugopal has more on the City Planning Commission's review.

REPORTER: Columbia says its proposal will transform what it considers an under-used area into a gleaming, 17 ...