Cindy Rodriguez

New York, NY —

A preliminary vote takes place tonight on landlords' request to raise the rate on rent-regulated apartments by 15 percent.

The Rent Guidelines Board meets at Cooper Union's Great Hall, starting at 5:30, for the preliminary vote.

Landlords say they need the rent increase to deal with rising ...

New York, NY —

The mournful sounds of bagpipes preceded a memorial Mass for the thirteen construction workers who have died on the job so far this year. The pipers were joined by hundreds of construction workers, many of them wearing hard hats and carrying their union flags. Electrician ...

Guests, including: Patricia Williams, professor of law at Columbia University, writes the Mad Law Professor column for The Nation magazine, Eugene O'Donnell, professor of law and police science at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, WNYC’s Arun Venugopal and Cindy Rodriguez, Richard Aborn, president of ...

New York, NY —

The new interim head of the Department of Buildings still can't say for sure why the agency wrongly approved permits for a building where a crane recently collapsed. WNYC's Cindy Rodriguez reports.

REPORTER: At a state Assembly hearing Jonathan Bing who represents Manhattan's east side described ...

New York, NY —

New York City recently began using cash to try to motivate kids to get better test scores. So far, more than $800,000 has been distributed to about 5,300 4th and 7th graders. The city sees this as a bold experiment. Others question whether it will ...

New York, NY —

Patricia Lancaster, who led the city's Buildings Department for more than five years, stepped down yesterday. The sprawling agency has been under fire recently over a spate of construction accidents. WNYC's Cindy Rodriguez has more on the now-former commissioner.

New York, NY —

The city should never have approved the building where the crane collapsed last month because it didn't meet zoning regulations.

That's what the head of the city's Buildings Department, Patricia Lancaster told a City Council committee yesterday. The disclosure came during questioning by Councilmember Jessica Lappin ...

New York, NY —

A federal judge has approved a settlement requiring the city to process food stamp applications within 30 days, or five days if the applicant has no income.

The settlement comes out of a 2004 lawsuit that was filed by the Urban Justice Center on behalf of ...

New York, NY —

A report issued by the Rent Guidelines Board shows rent stabilized landlords did better in 2006 compared to the prior year.

According to records collected from landlords, rental income increased 5.6 percent in 2006.

Neighborhoods such as Central Harlem and East Harlem in Manhattan, Sunset Park ...

New York, NY —

A construction worker fell to his death yesterday while installing windows at a luxury condominium high rise under construction on Manhattan's East side.

The city's Department of Buildings says it appears a nylon safety strap that connected the worker to the building failed causing him to ...

New York, NY —

Affordable housing advocates are rallying against global lenders who they say are giving out high-risk loans to large developers, who in turn are allegedly trying to push out tenants who pay the lowest rents. WNYC's Cindy Rodriguez reports.

REPORTER: A large developer named Vantage Management recently ...

New York, NY —

They claim a report on the accident ignores the agency's shortcomings.

WNYC's Cindy Rodriguez reports.

Hundreds of residents were forced to evacuate their apartments after the retaining wall collapsed at a construction site on Columbus Avenue.

Before the accident, residents say they called in to complain that blasting ...

New York, NY —

As fans flocked to opening day at Shea Stadium, dozens of protesters concerned about a redevelopment plan for nearby Willets Point gathered outside the ball park.

The plan calls for clearing a 60-acre industrial area to make room for apartment buildings, a shopping district and ...

New York, NY —

Cesar Rodriguez was given the maximum sentence in the beating death of his 7-year-old step-daughter Nixzmary Brown. WNYC's Cindy Rodriguez reports from the Brooklyn Supreme Court.

Rodriguez who was convicted of manslaughter in the first degree and other lesser charges will serve between 26 and 29 ...

New York, NY —

Immigrant advocates are urging undocumented immigrants who are crime victims to apply for a special visa that can lead to citizenship. In order to be eligible, immigrants must report the crime and then cooperate with the law enforcement agency investigating it.

Attorney Susanne Tomatore from ...

New York, NY —

The resignation of the federal Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson has some New York politicians expressing relief at his departure.

U.S. Rep. Nydia Velazquez, who represents the Lower East Side and parts of Brooklyn, accused Jackson of failing to make federal housing vouchers ...

New York, NY —

REPORTER: The construction site has been plagued with problems. A stop-work order was first issued in January after a concrete slab collapsed killing 1 worker.

The city says inspectors will visit the site daily and the contractor, Bovis Lend Lease, has agreed to increase supervision and ...

New York, NY —

The city hasn't been able to make a dent in the number of poor families struggling with homelessness - that's according to an annual report by a local advocacy group.

According to the report by the Coalition for the Homeless, about 8,200 poor families stayed ...

New York, NY —

The City Council has voted overwhelmingly to override Mayor Michael Bloomberg's veto of a bill that forces landlords to accept a federal housing voucher known as Section 8.

The bill's sponsor, Councilman Bill DeBlasio, says too many landlords discriminate against low-income families who receive Section 8. ...

New York, NY —

An appeals court has ruled that the city cannot limit its liability in the 2003 Staten Island Ferry crash that killed 11 people. WNYC's Cindy Rodriguez has more.

The Andrew J. Barbeiri rammed into a pier after the ferry pilot, Richard Smith, passed out ...