Bob Hennelly

New York, NY —

This week, right after President Barack Obama gave his address on the need for re-regulating Wall Street, Mayor Michael Bloomberg used an event at Times Square to challenge the president. But instead, he found himself uncharacteristically challenged by reporters about his charitable foundation's use of ...

New York, NY —

Two good government groups have filed a complaint with a city ethics panel about a Bloomberg administration official running the mayor's philanthropy. WNYC's Bob Hennelly has more.

REPORTER: Common Cause and NYPIRG say it violates the City Charter for Deputy Mayor Patricia Harris's to hold down ...

New York, NY —

A record breaking number of voters turned out in New Jersey yesterday and rejected a majority of local school district budgets, according to unofficial results. Voters rejected more than 300 of the state's 538 local district school budgets.

The last time a majority of the school ...

New York, NY —

New Jersey voters are going to the polls today to pick school boards and to decide the fate of local school district budgets. WNYC's Bob Hennelly has more.

REPORTER: Billions of dollars are at stake yet fewer than one in five voters usually turns out. This ...

New York, NY —

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is charging a civil suit that New York Senate Majority Leader Pedro Espada Junior looted more than $14 million from a South Bronx health network he founded. WNYC's Bob Hennelly has more.

REPORTER: Attorney General Andrew Cuomo says Espada and his family ...

Local school board elections take place in New Jersey tomorrow and this year the governor is paying very close attention.

New York, NY —

Local school board elections take place in New Jersey tomorrow and this year the governor is paying very close attention. WNYC's Bob Hennelly reports.

REPORTER: In the first test of his bully pulpit, Governor Christie is calling on New Jerseyans to vote against any local school ...

WNYC's Bob Hennelly speaks with former Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff about the threat of a dirty bomb detonating in New York City, and how prepared we are for it.

[MP3]http://audio.wnyc.org/news/news20100416_chertoff_hennelly_web.mp3[/MP3]

New York, NY —

This week, at a 47-country international nuclear security conference, President Barack Obama took the opportunity to state a change in U.S. policy. The U.S. will now rank a potential nuclear attack by terrorists as the nation's top threat, not incoming missiles from Russia.

It's a scenario ...

President Obama's nuclear summit in Washington has brought together leaders of 47 nations in pursuit of an elusive goal: to lock down unsecured nuclear material within the next four years and prevent it from getting into the hands of terrorists. That agenda would be difficult enough if nuclear material weren't already circulating on the black market, but it is. 

New York, NY —

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's offer to provide additional state aid to school districts, where teachers agree to a salary freeze, has yet to gain traction with the state's 600 school districts. WNYC's Bob Hennelly has more.

REPORTER: So far teachers in 11 districts have agreed ...

New York, NY —

The new City Charter Revision Commission held its first public hearing at CUNY's Graduate Center in Manhattan last night.

The Commission is empowered to make recommendations on changing any aspect of city government, which then must be ratified by the voters. Residents shared their views ...

New York, NY —

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has offered to provide additional state aid to school districts where teachers agree to a salary freezes. That proposal has yet to gain traction with the state's 600 school districts.

So far, teachers in 11 districts have agreed to the freeze. ...

New York, NY —

New York lawmakers are due back in Albany on Wednesday following a Passover and Easter break, and Gov. David Paterson is challenging legislators to come up with budget solutions quickly. The state budget was due April 1.

Paterson says the Assembly and Senate must come up ...

New York, NY —

For years New Yorkers enjoyed major drops in crime even as the police force shrank. But as WNYC's Bob Hennelly reports some experts warn that further proposed layoffs may be ill-advised.

REPORTER: New York is still enjoying a record low crime rate, but so far this ...

New York, NY —

New Jersey's 600 school boards are submitting their doomsday budgets to meet today's filing deadline. Gov. Chris Christie is seeking to slash $800 million from education spending.

Mike Yaple with the New Jersey School Board Association says some districts are turning to desperate measures.

“Ninety-three percent of ...

New York, NY —

Last November, several city council incumbents went down to defeat. All totaled, a quarter of the 51 member body includes newcomers. And as WNYC's Bob Hennelly reports, even though the rookies have been in for just a few months, they're already shaking things up.

REPORTER: At ...

New York, NY —

The city council and education officials hope a new measure will get more kids to visit the library.

REPORTER: Queens Councilman James Van Bramer says he was motivated to draft a bill when he learned the majority of city kids don't have library cards.

VAN BRAMER: We ...

New York, NY —

New York City's Parks Department may have to close pools and shorten the season, even as tough times increase the demand for access. WNYC's Bob Hennelly has more.

REPORTER: The Parks Department must find $40 million in cuts for the budget year that starts July 1st. ...

New York, NY —

Only 28 percent of eligible city children have a library card, and lawmakers are working to change that.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg is expected to sign a bill that requires the education department to distribute applications for library cards in public schools. Before a vote this week, ...