Arun Venugopal

New York, NY —

The city is ramping up security after a series of train bombings killed more than 180 people in India. The bombings took place during the evening commute in Mumbai, the city formerly known as Bombay. WNYC's Arun Venugopal has more.

REPORTER: The NYPD is deploying hundreds ...

New York, NY —

State prosecutors have charged Brooklyn State Assembly Member Diane Gordon with bribery. She's accused of accepting an offer for a half-million dollar home. WNYC's Arun Venugopal has more.

Gordon was shown on video, demanding a free house from a developer in exchange for steering a city-owned ...

New York, NY —

Developer Larry Silverstein and the Port Authority went to court today to force World Trade Center insurers to make payments. They say seven companies are not promising to make good on claims, ever since Silverstein and the agency agreed to share in the rebuilding effort. ...

New York, NY —

Governor Pataki and Mayor Bloomberg have signed off on a new World Trade Center memorial design that keeps the signature square voids and waterfalls, but brings the names of 9/11 victims above ground. The redesign by developer Frank Schiame could be approved by the end ...

New York, NY —

The next 25 years of Nicholas Minucci's life are now in the hands of a Queens jury. Yesterday the defense and prosecution presented their closing arguments in his hate crime and assault trial. WNYC's Arun Venugopal was at the courthouse in Queens.

Defense attorney Albert Gaudelli ...

New York, NY —

Defense Attorneys in the hate crime trial of Howard Beach resident Nicholas Minucci called a character witness and a medical expert to the stand today and the results were not favorable to their case.

The defendant called Darron Maxwell, a young black man from Minucci's neighborhood, ...

New York, NY —

The victim in the Howard Beach hate crime trial took the stand yesterday. Glenn Moore told the jury he was hit in the head with a bat by Nicholas Minucci, after Minucci used a racial epithet. WNYC's Arun Venugopal was there.

REPORTER: The 23-year-old Moore remained ...

New York, NY —

Jury members got to hear directly from Nicholas Minucci yesterday. He's the Howard Beach man accused of beating a black man with a bat as part of an alleged hate crime. Queens prosecutors played a videotape of an interview they conducted with Minucci just hours ...

New York, NY —

The major players involved in the World Trade Center's reconstruction answered questions from state assemblymembers about why it's taking so long for buildings to rise at the site. WNYC's Arun Venugopal was there.

The hearings were held on the 25th floor of Tower 7, overlooking Ground ...

New York, NY —

The city is suing gun dealers in five states for allegedly selling guns illegally. The fifteen dealers all have a history of selling weapons that were used in crimes in New York. WNYC's Arun Venugopal has more.

REPORTER: The city hired private investigators to go undercover, ...

New York, NY —

The city is expanding its effort to attract film and TV productions. Funding for its Made in New York tax incentive is being increased to $30 million this year, up from $12.5 million last year.

REPORTER: The tax incentive program requires productions to do three-quarters of ...

New York, NY —

Despite a hard line by the Bloomberg Administration on cell phones in the schools, parents, teachers and students show no signs of giving up on their efforts to end the ban. WNYC's Arun Venugopal reports.

New York, NY —

Tomorrow, voters in Newark will elect a new mayor, and for the first time in over 20 years it will not be Sharpe James. Last month, James decided not to pursue a 6th term, making the front-runner in the election his opponent from 2002, attorney ...

New York, NY —

The Roosevelt Island tram and its failure to run last week were at the center of City Council hearings today. WNYC's Arun Venugopal reports.

REPORTER: The hearings allowed many of the council members to voice their support for the tram's continued existence. Some Roosevelt Island residents ...

New York, NY —

The body of Rabbi Moses Teitelbaum was laid to rest this morning. The spiritual leader of tens of thousands of Satmar Hasidic Jews died last night. He was 91-years old. He was buried in the Orange county community of Kyrias Joel after his a funeral ...

New York, NY —

The latest world trade center rebuilding proposals offered to developer Larry Silverstein represents an effort by New York city, state, and New Jersey to finally work together. It calls for bringing the Freedom Tower under the control of the Port Authority, and allows Silverstein to ...

New York, NY —

The state official appointed to run the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation says the tram is "an intimate part of the Roosevelt Island mystique," but Mayor Bloomberg seemed ambivalent about the tram's future yesterday, saying the subway is quicker.

Meanwhile, the tram is still out of service ...

New York, NY —

Thousands of of building superintendents, porters, and doormen marched up Park Avenue yesterday, demanding a fair contract. Their union, Local 32-BJ is threatening to strike at midnight on Thursday.

REPORTER: Doorman Luis Jimenez says a recent wage proposal that included a one-year pay freeze and increased ...

New York, NY —

Twenty percent of New Jersey's energy will come from renewable sources under a new rule put into place by the state's board of public utilities. WNYC's Arun Venugopal reports.

REPORTER: The standard puts the state at the forefront of the alternative energy movement, rivaled only by ...

New York, NY —

Lawyers for the MTA again asked a Brooklyn judge to levy severe financial penalties against the Transport Workers Union for its illegal transit strike.

The day's proceedings centered on the union's financial status, and whether it can survive if subjected to millions of dollars in fines. ...