Arun Venugopal

New York, NY —

It's been over 3 months since police officers fired 50 bullets into a car in Jamaica, Queens, killing 23-year old Sean Bell on his wedding day, and wounding 2 others. A grand jury is expected to wrap up the testimony-phase of the case in the ...

New York, NY —

A tight knit community of West African immigrants are paying condolences to the Bronx families from Mali whose house went up in flames last night. We heard this morning the horrific story of a mother dropping her babies out the window to try to save ...

New York, NY —

Mayor Bloomberg and other local leaders urged members of Congress to extend TRIA, the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act. The program was created after 9/11, but is set to expire at the end of the year. WNYC's Arun Venugopal has more.

TRIA provides federal relief for insurance ...

New York, NY —

The city council has approved 3 measures meant to make nightclubs safer for its patrons. WNYC's Arun Venugopal has more.

The votes come a year after the death of Imette St. Guillen, a grad student who was killed after visiting a Soho club. They will help ...

New York, NY —

There's no limit to how much New York City could be forced to pay the victims of 2003 Staten Island crash. That's the word from a federal judge. WNYC's Arun Venugopal has more.

Judge Edward Korman said blame for the crash lies squarely on the shoulders ...

New York, NY —

The Port Authority is buying Stewart International Airport, in Orange, with the hope of reducing congestion at the region's 3 main airports. WNYC's Arun Venugopal has more.

REPORTER: The airport currently handles just 300,000 travelers a year, compared to the 100 million between JFK, Newark and ...

New York, NY —

Joseph Guzman, one of the two men who survived the police shooting that left Sean Bell dead, was released from the hospital yesterday. He spoke in Harlem, alongside Reverend Al Sharpton. WNYC's Arun Venugopal was there.

REPORTER: Joseph Guzman sat in a wheelchair, wearing a blue ...

New York, NY —

Senator Hillary Clinton made her first public appearance as a Democratic candidate for president yesterday. She visited a health care center on Manhattan's West Side to promote medical coverage for all uninsured children. WNYC's Arun Venugopal was there.

REPORTER: The event started ominously, with the sound ...

New York, NY —

Air travelers hoping to avoid standing in endless airport security lines - you may be in luck. For just a hundred dollars a year, you can go through a new express lane. WNYC's Arun Venugopal has more on a new pre-screening program being launched at ...

New York, NY —

It’s been seven weeks since Sean Bell was killed in Queens, New York. Currently, a grand jury is deliberating whether to hand down any indictments on the police officers who fired 50 bullets at Bell and his two friends. But for all the outrage over ...

New York, NY —

Hundreds of cyclists rode through the five boroughs. They stopped at 14 'ghost bikes' - bikes painted white marking where a cyclist was killed on the city streets last year. WNYC's Arun Venugopal has more.

REPORTER: After stopping at crash sites in Queens, Brooklyn and Upper ...

New York, NY —

The controversial idea to list 9/11 victims names randomly at the planned memorial has been scrapped. Instead the names will be part of ten different groups of victims. Still, not everyone is cheering. WNYC's Arun Venugopal has more.

REPORTER: The reversal comes under Mayor Bloomberg, who ...

New York, NY —

WNYC's Arun Venugopal has been talking to residents of Jamaica Queens, where Saturday's shooting took place. Needless to say, many of them are upset.

New York, NY —

Alongside Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, Sean Bell's family said prayers at the Jamaica, Queens site of his shooting. There's now a makeshift shrine to Bell outside the nightclub, amidst shattered glass, and as WNYC's Arun Venugopal reports, local residents who say they've been the ...

New York, NY —

Mayor Bloomberg seems to be treading a fine line he's trying to keep the support of the black community and his police force. Yesterday, he met with black community leaders and called this weekend's shooting of three unarmed men "excessive," but he also called for ...

New York, NY —

Two days after the shooting death of Sean Bell, Mayor Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly met with leaders of the black community, with promises of conducting a fair and thorough investigation. WNYC's Arun Venugopal was at City Hall.

REPORTER: The mayor seemed visibly affected, not ...

New York, NY —

Leaders of the black community are calling for Police Commissioner Ray Kelly's resignation in the wake of Sean Bell's death. The 23-year-old Bell was shot by police officers in a hail of bullets on Saturday while leaving a strip club in Jamaica, Queens, where his ...

New York, NY —

A memorial to the victims of the crash of American Airlines 587 was dedicated in the Rockaways yesterday. It was five years ago yesterday that the jetliner went down killing all 260 passengers onboard and five residents of the Belle Harbor neighborhood. WNYC's Arun Venugopal ...

Hoboken, NJ —

After months of an intense and sometimes nasty campaign, New Jersey voters are choosing who they will send to the US Senate - either Democratic Senator Robert Menendez or his Republican challenger, Tom Kean Junior. WNYC's Arun Venugopal was in Hoboken, talking to voters.

REPORTER: Hoboken is ...

New York, NY —

The city unveiled its first Walk/Don't walk signs with countdown timers. That means people will know exactly how much time they have to cross the street legally whether they'll obey is another matter. WNYC's Arun Venugopal reports.

REPORTER: The effort can hardly be called ambitious. New ...