Bob Hennelly

New York, NY —

The mayor and city council members have struck a deal on how to close this year's budget gap. A vote is set for today. WNYC's Bob Hennelly has more details.

REPORTER: It is supposed to work like this: the council rescinds a seven-percent property tax cut ...

New York, NY —

Mayor Bloomberg has tapped Lilliam Barrios-Paoli to be the new commissioner of the Department for the Aging.

At the announcement of her new post, Barrios-Paoli says the economic crisis could pose serious challenges for seniors who may turn to the city for help:

BARRIOS-PAOLI: I think the ...

New York, NY —

Mayor Bloomberg says even though the MTA Board passed its doomsday budget plan, Bloomberg says he appreciates that board members backed off their original plan to boost express bus fares from $5.00 to $7.50.

BLOOMBERG: But people who take express busses would have to shift to ...

WNYC senior reporter Bob Hennelly covered the National Governors Association meeting earlier this month. He explains why the meeting was so unusual and what President-elect Barack Obama said to the group during this rough economic time. He also fills us in on the fiscal problems facing New York ...

New York, NY —

The latest round of across the board city budget cuts could make it much harder for the NYPD to keep a lid on crime. WNYC's Bob Hennelly has more.

REPORTER: Since 2002, the NYPD has teamed up hundreds of freshly trained recruits with experienced officers in ...

New York, NY —

Thompson says the global credit crisis has caused the city to lose close to a billion dollars in tax revenue this fiscal year.

The shortfall was felt most acutely in real estate transactions and in personal income and business tax receipts.

A spokesman for the mayor says ...

New York, NY —

After multiple delays and a blaze that killed two firefighters, there now appears to be progress on the project to dismantle the former Deutsche Bank tower in Lower Manhattan. The building's facade is being removed. And by the end of this month, the remaining 26 ...

New York, NY —

Prosecutors say the city has what's known as "sovereign immunity" and will not face charges from the fire that resulted in the death of two firefighters.

And the lead contractor Bovis Lend Lease could not survive a criminal indictment for homicide which could put in jeopardy ...

New York, NY —

New York City has suffered 500 layoffs since the global economic crisis began. But now with the recession projected to deepen, that may change. WNYC's Bob Hennelly has more.

REPORTER: This fall, city managers were asked to squeeze out a five percent cut for the fiscal ...

New York, NY —

Mayor Bloomberg is ordering all city agencies to slash spending by another seven percent for next year.

Deputy Mayor Ed Skyler says the new cuts would total about $1.4 billion citywide.

SKYLER: To put that in perspective, that is the budget of the fire dept by itself, ...

New York, NY —

The city has already paid millions to settle excessive force claims against Police Officer Richard Kern, indicted for sodomizing Michael Mineo.

Last year the City paid out $50,000 to settle two excessive force lawsuits against Kern, who was indicted yesterday for sodomizing a Brooklyn man ...

New York, NY —

Three New York City police officers are due in court today to faces charges they beat and sodomized 24-year-old Michael Mineo of Brooklyn. All three have already turned themselves in this morning to the district attorney's office. WNYC's Bob Hennelly has more.

The charges stem from ...

WNYC reporter Bob Hennelly talks about the wiretapping fight between NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly and attorney general Michael Mukasey.

New York, NY —

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn says Council members have met Mayor Bloomberg's challenge to find more budget cuts to help the city close the budget gap. WNYC's Bob Hennelly reports.

REPORTER: All totaled Quinn says the proposed cuts will save a half-billion dollars in fiscal years ...

New York, NY —

The terrorist siege of Mumbai is forcing local security companies to take a second look at their operations, as WNYC's Bob Hennelly reports.

REPORTER: The Mumbai attacks brutally exposed the vulnerability of so-called "soft-targets" like hotels and hospitals. And here in the US, they're most often ...

New York, NY —

Security officials from New York City hotels were briefed by NYPD intelligence officers working in Mumbai, India.

Via teleconference, they discussed how 10 gunmen were able to infiltrate so-called "soft targets" like hotels, a hospital and a train station with A-K 47s.

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly says ...

New York, NY —

Residents who live closest to the site of the 9/11 terrorist attacks say they feel the safest. WNYC's Bob Hennelly found the surprising results in Mayor Bloomberg's customer service survey released this week.

REPORTER: Respondents in Community Board One -- Lower Manhattan -- gave their neighborhood ...

New York, NY —

The New York Police Department plans to share what it learned from the terrorist attacks in Mumbai when they hold drills at Floyd Bennet Field today. Police will help train private security guards, the same guards who protect hotels, hospitals and other buildings that were ...

New York, NY —

The Bloomberg Administration has released results from a first-ever survey of how New Yorkers feel about their city and the quality of municipal services. WNYC's Bob Hennelly has more.

The survey of close to 25,000 households says as much about the City as it does about ...

New York, NY —

Today, 40 of the nation's governors, including governors Corzine and Paterson, will be in Philadelphia to make their case to President-elect Obama for quick federal aid. WNYC's Bob Hennelly has this preview.

REPORTER: Collectively, the states are sinking in a sea of rising red ink as ...