Stephen Nessen

Workers are installing a containment shield on the Brooklyn Bridge to prepare for the removal of old lead paint. The walkway is tighter now, so walkers and bikers should watch out for one another.

The air was crisp and the mood was solemn as family members gathered at a site near Ground Zero for New York City’s ninth September 11^th commemoration ceremony at Zuccotti Park. Many wore white ribbons and carried pictures of their loved ones as family members and those working to rebuild the World Trade Center site read the names of almost 3,000 people who died there that day.

The issue of whether or not there should be an Islamic cultural center and mosque two blocks from the site of the World Trade Center is one of the most politically contentious issues of this election season. The opinions of New York's public figures run the gamut from strong support to solid opposition.

Amid the clatter and clutter of the work site, the recently planted trees at the 9/11 Memorial are a sign of things to come. The first 16 of the nearly 400 trees were planted at Memorial Plaza in time for this year's Sept. 11 memorial services. At One World Trade Center, the structural steel now rises 36 floors and nearly all of the North and South pools have been tiled.

Over the past year, key elements in the redevelopment of the World Trade Center site and the 9/11 Memorial have finally emerged above street level. But the fate of other pieces of the site remain uncertain. WNYC's annotated map of site provides details on each building on the site, its developer and the status of development.

While big-box chains and online stores increasingly dominate the retail landscape, New York City remains home  to many independent shopping mecca’s. At B&H Photo, 21st Century technol...

Construction at the World Trade Center site has started, stopped, stalled and started again several times in the last nine years. But after clearing various hurdles with the city, developers and architects, rapid progress is now being made.

WNYC began visiting the World Trade Center site in April 2010 and continues to document the construction of One World Trade Center, the 9/11 Memorial, the transportation hub and the people working on the site. Here is the latest installment.

WNYC began visiting the World Trade Center site in April 2010 and continues to document the construction of One World Trade Center, the 9/11 Memorial, the transportation hub and the people working on the site.

The artists in our essential Manhattan mixtape were not necessarily born in the borough, but like so many residents, they came here to make it.

The artists in our essential Manhattan mixtape were not necessarily born in the borough, but like so many residents, they came here to make it.

 

Public displays of unbridled smooching are now being encouraged in Times Square. Standing beneath a 26-foot sculpture modeled on the iconic photo of the American sailor kissing a nurse on the day known as V-J Day in 1945, visitors are already practicing the art of the kiss.

Public displays of unbridled smooching are now being encouraged in Times Square. Standing beneath a 26-foot sculpture modeled on the iconic photo of the American sailor kissing a nurse on the day known as V-J Day in 1945, visitors are already practicing the art of the kiss.

In the mid-1890s, a botanist from Columbia University, Nathaniel Lord Britton, toured three locations in the Bronx. He visited land which is now Van Cortland Park and the Bronx Zoo, but he was not satisfied. When Britton saw the exposed rock outcroppings, large hills and deep valleys populated with Eastern Hemlock, Sugar Maples, Gum trees and Conifer and Hardwood trees at the New York Botanical Garden’s current location, he knew he’d found the perfect spot.

The last night of the eighth annual hip-hop jam in Crotona Park in the Bronx came to a close last Thursday night with a performance by the one of the original rap crews, the Cold Crush Brothers.

Joe Conzo Jr., 47, was in the first graduating class of South Bronx High School and had the fortune to count among his classmates the legends and pioneers of hip-hop culture, including members of the Cold Crush Brothers, Afrika Bambatta and DJ Kool Herc, among other.

The Bronx's best known literary titan is probably Edgar Allan Poe, who lived in the borough from 1846 until his death in 1849. But the queen of suspense, Mary Higgins Clark, also hails from the borough, and even the neurologist and writer Oliver Sacks conducted research and worked at a local hospitals there. Below is a list of essential literature about the Bronx and by Bronx authors as well as must-read blogs and newspapers from the borough.

Perched at Brooklyn's highest natural point (200 ft. above sea level) in Green-Wood cemetery, the Roman Goddess Minerva received a fresh waxing Tuesday morning, courtesy of a few French volunteers (and one American).

Two barges, fastened together, chugged up the East River Monday morning, hauling the nearly 2,400-ton Willis Avenue Bridge replacement. Setting off at about 6:30 a.m., the 170-foot barge was guided by two tugboats, while a third, red, white and blue tugboat pulled the bulk of the load.

WNYC compiled a short list of essential Brooklyn reading. Below is our collection of literature, blogs and newspapers. Feel free to add your own suggestions below.