Bob Hennelly

New York, NY —

The candidates for mayor still have weeks to go before they can hit the streets and gather signatures to get on the September primary ballot. Mayor Bloomberg of course is running for a third term on the Republican and Independence Party lines. With his multi-million ...

New York, NY —

The city council is set this week to begin review of Mayor Bloomberg's $60 billion budget. With less than two months to go before the deadline, the council and mayor remain far apart on how to balance the budget. Council Finance Chair David Weprin says ...

Mike Kelly, columnist for The Record and WNYC's Bob Hennelly on the report showing a sizable revenue shortfall in New Jersey for this fiscal year.

New York, NY —

This election year, for the first time since the 1970s, Manhattan voters will elect a successor to District Attorney Robert Morgenthau, who's retiring. During the 89-year-old prosecutor's time as DA, violent crime dropped dramatically, and he fought, unsuccessfully, to reign in off-shore tax havens for ...

New York, NY —

New Jersey's budget picture continues to get bleaker. Actual tax collections are far short of the Corzine Administration's projections. WNYC's Bob Hennelly has more.

According to New Jersey's non-partisan Office of Legislative Services (OLS), the state's shortfall for the current year has now tripled to $1.2 ...

New York, NY —

Mayor Bloomberg's plan to save money by reducing staff on 64 fire engines, is getting stiff resistance from the Firefighters Union. Fire engines would carry five instead of six people. The mayor says the reductions would come from attrition, not layoffs, and he says the ...

New York, NY —

With a month to go before New Jersey voters head to the polls, the battle for the Republican Gubernatorial nomination is heating up. WNYC's Bob Hennelly has more.

REPORTER: The three-way race between former US Attorney Chris Christie, former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan and Morris County ...

New York, NY —

Mayor Bloomberg says his budget plan keeps vital services intact. But as WNYC's Bob Hennelly reports, jobs may have to shift to make up for nearly 4,000 layoffs.

REPORTER: On its face, the layoff of just over one percent of the city's 300,000 workers, does not ...

New York, NY —

Today Mayor Bloomberg rolled out an austere $60 billion budget plan for next year that tries to keep the City's basic services intact despite a continued slide in every category of City tax revenues. He calls for laying off almost 4,000 City workers but says ...

New York, NY —

In addition to billions in budget cuts and nearly 4,000 layoffs at city agencies, Mayor Bloomberg's budget plan unveiled today includes $1.4 billion in savings and new revenue that will depend largely on Albany. Bloomberg will need state lawmakers to allow him to expand the ...

New York, NY —

A new analysis of NYPD stop-and-frisk data is prompting critics to raise new questions about the tactic's effectiveness. WNYC's Bob Hennelly reports.

REPORTER: Columbia University Law Professor Jeffrey Fagan did his analysis for the City Council, and he based it on the NYPD's 1.7 million stop ...

New York, NY —

For the first time in 34 years voters in Manhattan will get to choose a new District Attorney. And as WNYC's Bob Hennelly reports the campaign for the fall election is well-underway.

REPORTER: So far, the battle to get the Democratic nomination for the post defined ...

The Mayor is upset, the President is contrite, and New Yorkers are bewildered. WNYC's Bob Hennelly updates the latest on the Air Force One flyover over lower Manhattan.

New York, NY —

City Finance Commissioner Martha Stark has resigned. It comes two weeks after Mayor Bloomberg asked for an investigation of Stark for alleged misconduct. WNYC's City Hall reporter Bob Hennelly has more.

REPORTER: In a formal statement accepting her resignation, the Mayor praised Stark for making the ...

New York, NY —

A new study finds New Jersey officials underestimated the toxicity of a known-contaminant in Hudson County. WNYC's Bob Hennelly has more.

REPORTER: In the last century, Hudson County and Jersey City in particular, was a global center for processing chromite ore. Those plants are gone. But ...

New York, NY —

City Comptroller Bill Thompson got thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from employees of investment firms that did millions of dollars in City Pension business. WNYC's City Hall reporter Bob Hennelly has more.

REPORTER: In an interview with WNYC City Comptroller Bill Thompson dismissed the notion ...

New York, NY —

The criminal probe into New York's state pension funds is putting pressure on city officials to ban middlemen known as placement agents. WNYC's Bob Hennelly has more.

REPORTER: Advocates for placement agents say they help close deals that benefit public pensions. Critics say the indictment of ...

New York, NY —

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's pension fund probe broadened this week to include the city comptroller's office. But as WNYC's Bob Hennelly reports City Comptroller Bill Thompson says there's a big difference between his office and the state comptroller's.

REPORTER: Thompson says with dozens of ...

WNYC's Bob Hennelly and Frank Belluscio, communications director of the New Jersey School Boards Association, talk about the voting results of the New Jersey school budget proposals.

New York, NY —

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly is endorsing President Obama's ban on torture as a way to gather intelligence. WNYC's Bob Hennelly reports.

REPORTER: In his appearance before the Council on Foreign Relations, Commissioner Kelly said the decision to prohibit techniques like water-boarding would actually help the nation ...