Bob Hennelly

New York, NY —

Mayor Bloomberg was out on Staten Island last night, looking for GOP support for his bid to win the Republican party line this fall. WNYC's Bob Hennelly has more.

REPORTER: From the warm reception Mayor Bloomberg got at the county's annual Lincoln Dinner, it seems Staten ...

New York, NY —

The Port Authority plans to announce today that it's signed the first commercial tenant for a skyscraper that will go up where the Twin Towers stood. WNYC's Bob Hennelly has more.

REPORTER: Bejing Vantone, a Chinese firm that promotes trade between the US and China, will ...

New York, NY —

The Port Authority has its first commercial tenant for the Freedom Tower at the World Trade Center site and a new name for the building.

Bejing Vantone, a Chinese firm that promotes trade between the US and China, will lease five floors in the tower slated ...

Mayor Bloomberg visits ...

New York, NY —

WNYC has learned that a controversial project to convert a former landfill in the Jersey Meadowlands into a golf course and luxury housing is now the subject of an FBI probe. WNYC's Bob Hennelly has more.

The project is supposed to the pride of Rutherford and ...

New York, NY —

As state tax revenues continue to decline and state unions stand firm on their contracts, Governor Paterson says he has no choice but to lay off almost 9,000 state workers. WNYC's Bob Hennelly has more.

REPORTER: A spokesman for the state's Division of Budget says the ...

New York, NY —

The Commissioner for the City's Department of Investigation is warning that planned budget cuts to the watchdog agency leave the city vulnerable to fraud and corruption. WNYC's Bob Hennelly has more.

REPORTER: Commissioner Rose Gill Hearn told the City Council that the latest cuts would hamper ...

New York, NY —

A grand jury has indicted Hank Morris - the top strategist for former State Comptroller Alan Hevesi. He faces charges that he made tens-of-millions of dollars in illegal profits, by manipulating the state pensions Hevesi controlled. WNYC's Bob Hennelly has more.

REPORTER: In addition to Morris, ...

New York, NY —

The Commissioner for the City's Department of Investigation is warning that planned budget cuts to the watchdog agency leave the City vulnerable to fraud and corruption. WNYC's Bob Hennelly has more.

Commissioner Rose Gill Hearn told the City Council that the latest cuts would hamper DOI's ...

New York, NY —

For the second time this week, Mayor Bloomberg has had to offer an explanation for his beleaguered Finance Commissioner Martha Stark. WNYC's Bob Hennelly has more.

REPORTER: The latest flap was over a simmering dispute with the City's Department of Investigation and Stark. DOI wanted a ...

Back in 2002, Xanadu, the 2.3 million square foot mega entertainment and retail complex, was intended as a way for New Jersey’s Sport and Exposition Authority (NJSEA) to rebrand its aging Meadowlands Complex. The NJSEA was facing the loss of three of its sports franchises, the Devils, the Nets and the Jets. For years, the commercial potential of the sports complex, just 25 minutes from New York City, had never really materialized. The site was only accessible by auto and traffic jams plagued its busiest days.

New Jersey is always strapped for transportation dollars. So the odds were stacked against the NJSEA to get the hundreds of millions needed for a mass transit link that would only serve Sunday football fans. But if they could add a “Xanadu', that would also include office and hotel development, the Sports Authority could make its case.

Xanadu, As Built, March 17, 2009

Listen to Hennelly's tale of Xanadu:

The Port Authority did shell out $182 million for the 2.3-mile rail spur that ties the entire Meadowlands complex into New Jersey Transit’s rail network. The NJSEA kicked in over $6 million to buy land it needed to complete the rail right of way, also a Superfund site in the midst of remediation.

A rail spur that was supposed to cost $150 million would cost almost 30 percent more and be years behind schedule. It is scheduled now to open in June. As far as holding on to the three sports franchises for the NJSEA? It was one for three. The Devils skated to Newark, the Nets look to be bouncing to Brooklyn and the Jets landed in the neighborhood. They teamed up with the Giants to build a brand new stadium. Was the private public partnership a “win win? Time will tell. Xanadu says it is 70 percent leased, but concedes it does not yet have an anchor retail tenant.

The History: The Vision, Early Supporters, Key Documents

The Vision

Images courtesy of Meadowlands Xanadu
'A world of opportunity'

New York, NY —

The City Campaign Finance Board confirms that Congressman Anthony Weiner has returned more than $61,000 dollars of donations to his campaign for mayor. The contributions were from several companies linked to developers who gave thousands of dollars through different corporate entities. Those kinds of contributions ...

New York, NY —

Billions of dollars in federal stimulus aid is on the way to our region. But while local politicians are applauding the aid, many of the decisions about how the money will be spent will be made by public authorities largely operating out of public view. ...

New York, NY —

The first vote in the race for New York City Mayor isn't until the September primary, but according to the latest Campaign filings, the candidates have already spent millions. WNYC's Bob Hennelly has more.

REPORTER: So far, the self-financed candidate Mayor Bloomberg has spent almost $3 ...

New York, NY —

City Comptroller Bill Thompson says the city paid out nearly $560 million last year to settle claims. As WNYC's Bob Hennelly reports, that's $10 million more than the year before.

REPORTER: Thompson says 61 percent of the settlements were with three city agencies: the Health and ...

New York, NY —

Today, New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine delivers his annual budget address. WNYC's Bob Hennelly reports on how he plans to cope with a state economy that shows no signs of recovery.

REPORTER: The Corzine Administration says it's keeping all options open to compensate for a projected ...

New York, NY —

The largest "Shovel Ready" project in the nation is here in Manhattan, and it cleared a small hurdle last night. Community Board Four, which covers West Chelsea and Hell's Kitchen, gave its approval to the Port Authority's plan to build a $9 billion passenger rail ...

New York, NY —

After years of planning, the builders of the $9 billion trans-Hudson commuter rail tunnel are just months from construction. WNYC's Bob Hennelly has more on what's happening on the Jersey side.

REPORTER: The new tunnel and rail network requires land in Secaucus, Kearney, North Bergen, Jersey ...