Jenna Flanagan

New York, NY —

The New York City Council has cleared the way for unionized municipal employees to live outside city limits.

The Council overrode the mayor veto of a measure, that requires those workers to be on the city payroll for two years before living outside the city.

Council Speaker ...

New York, NY —

Good government groups say Albany is in desperate need of an ethics agency with jurisdiction over the executive and legislative branches.

REPORTER: Blair Horner with the New York Public Interest Research Group says the state's ethics law are far too lax and the abuse by a ...

New York, NY —

The source of that maple syrupy-smell that has troubled Upper West Siders, and confounded city environmental officials, since October, 2005, has been found.

Mayor Bloomberg says it comes from Fruitarom, a New Jersey company that turns fenugreek seeds into food additives.

The mayor says Fruitarom is not ...

New York, NY —

Children have scores of options on television. So for a new show to generate attention, it has to be something special. The Sesame Workshop is remaking an old favorite, hoping it'll appeal to a new generation, and improve the country's lagging literacy rates. WNYC's Jenna ...

New York, NY —

Sesame Street Workshop has breathed new life into an old favorite. A revamped Electric Company is set to debut this afternoon, and its core goal, promoting literacy, remains the same.

Cast member Jenny Barber says the new Electric Company is a unique piece of children's programming.

BARBER: ...

New York, NY —

Governor Paterson officially presented Jonathan Lippman as his nominee for the post of Chief Justice of New York's Court of Appeals, the state's highest court.

With Lippman at his side, and legislative leaders looking on, Paterson praised Lippman for his time as presiding judge in the ...

New York, NY —

The Mayor and City Councilmembers did nothing wrong when they extended the city's term limits law. That's the word from a federal judge.

The judge ruled against a group of city officials, saying they failed to prove that the mayor and second-term City Council members forced ...

New York, NY —

Governor David Paterson and Senator Charles Schumer are asking New Yorkers not to count on President-elect Barack Obama's potential $80 billion stimulus package as the answer to the state's financial woes.

Senator Schumer appeared with the governor in Albany yesterday. He says if Congress passes the ...

New York, NY —

Governors, state highway departments and city transit agencies are all trying to convince the Obama administration to fund their projects. MTA officials were among those in Washington yesterday seeking funds. Manhattan Congressman Jerrold Nadler says the Obama stimulus bill will need some adjustments if it's ...

New York, NY —

Governor Paterson spoke publicly for the first time about what he liked, and didn't like, about Caroline Kennedy, as a possible replacement for Senator Hillary Clinton. Paterson spoke with WOR's Joan Hamburg:

PATERSON: Caroline Kenney obviously does have a tremendous relationship with the president and that's ...

New York, NY —

An early morning fire on City Island in the Bronx has residents questioning whether it's safe to limit use of Ladder 53. The New York City Fire Department plans to effectively shut down the firehouse from 6 p.m. to 9 a.m. to save money. It's ...

New York, NY —

A city councilman no more, Michael McMahon was sworn in today as a member of 111th Congress. McMahon now represents New York's 13th District, which covers Staten Island and part of Brooklyn. He says the whole experience was like his first day of law school.

MCMAHON: ...

New York, NY —

New Yorkers have from now until January 16th to have their trees mulched by the city. Sanitation crews will be out collecting leftover trees. Last year parks officials recycled more than 13,000 trees, but this year sanitation commissioner, John Doherty says they will need a ...

New York, NY —

The New York City Parks department has closed Harlem's Thomas Jefferson Park due to elevated levels of lead.

REPORTER: Al Huang, an environmental justice attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, says the contaminated park poses a danger to the entire city.

HUANG: Not only is there ...

New York, NY —

A Queens Councilman has been charged with assault, after he brought his girlfriend to a hospital early this morning seeking treatment for cuts around her eye.

Councilman Hiram Monserratte is to become a state senator next month. He was praised for his service by his council ...

New York, NY —

The New York City office of Veterans Affairs says it can take at least 6 months for a vet to obtain the services and medications they need as they re-adjust to civilian life. The office says a third of their claims have been backlogged because ...

New York, NY —

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer says the city Housing Authority could have prevented the death of a 5-year old boy last August, if only it had installed a device that prevents elevator doors from opening between floors.

STRINGER: This is a $400 part that would have ...

New York, NY —

President-elect Barack Obama met with 41 of the nation's governors in Philadelphia, including those from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

Obama told the governors he wants their input on an economic recovery package to help their states.

OBAMA: I'm not simply asking the nation's governors to ...

New York, NY —

Governor Paterson is getting support in his effort to cap New York State's property tax rate. A new report from his Commission on Property Tax Relief recommends ways the state could cap local school taxes.

The Commission's Chair, Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi, says the report ...

New York, NY —

The financial crisis gripping Wall Street and the global economy could cost New York State 225,000 jobs over the next two years. That's according to state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli who released his gloomiest report yet on the state's fiscal outlook.

DINAPOLI: We're confirming what everybody knows, ...