WNYC Newsroom

Mayor Michael Bloomberg is proposing some layoffs, agency cuts and savings from city labor unions in a preliminary budget that aims to close an estimated $4.9 billion budget shortfall.

Carnegie Hall has announced its new season, which features pop music alongside classical music heavy-hitters.

by Chine Labbé

After months of rumors and speculation, Apple finally released its new tablet computer, officially called the iPad. While many details about the device leaked in the press in the past weeks, until 1 p.m., nobody really knew what Steve Jobs' latest creation would do.

Throughout the morning, ...

Reported by Michelle Castillo
You can now share the sights -- and smells -- of the Big Apple with your loved ones. New York City-themed scratch and sniff greeting cards are coming to a mailbox near you.

Joseph Cavalieri from the East Village creates New York Smells Greeting Cards. ...

The city's Panel for Educational Policy voted early this morning at a hearing at Brooklyn Tech High School.

The pastor of a New York City storefront church is going to jail for scamming more than 100 immigrants by promising to get them U.S. visas and legal status.

Some lower Manhattan residents are back home today, after officials roped off a 15-block zone yesterday due to falling construction debris.

Beekman Tower, source of the falling debris (Photo: Matthew Schuerman)

Streets near City Hall are closed this afternoon as the Office of Emergency Management works to secure a construction site at 8 Spruce Street. ...

A notable painting by Pablo Picasso will undergo repairs, after a visitor to the Metropolitan Museum of Art accidentally lost her balance and struck the Picasso work.

Cornerback Darrelle Revis (Photo by Donald Miralle/Getty Images)

The Jets hope to secure a spot in the Super Bowl with an upset of the Colts this Sunday in the AFC championship in Indianapolis. Jets ...

Sen. Charles Schumer says the federal government has agreed to give New York $18 million for a police department initiative aimed at stopping nuclear and radiological devices from entering the city.

Last night, the Department of Transportation and the MTA unveiled proposals for new bus and bike lanes along First and Second Avenues. Right now, the proposed stops for Bus Rapid Transit or BRT (buses that make less frequent stops and move more efficiently than the existing buses) are slated to ...

Sidewalk sheds -- those big, brooding structures meant to protect pedestrians from falling debris during building renovations -- are set for a makeover (see gallery below).

The city announced the winning entry from an international design competition intended to make sidewalk sheds less dark and foreboding.

The winner, “Urban ...

Authorities say a misunderstanding about a Jewish prayer ritual led to the diversion of a US Airways flight to Philadelphia and a visit from the bomb squad.

The flight, US Airways Express Flight 3079 out of LaGuardia Airport, was bound for Louisville, Kentucky this morning, when a Jewish teen began ...

Mayor Michael Bloomberg says his third term will focus on the "unfinished business" of economic recovery.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg delivers his ninth State of the City address today in Astoria, Queens.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg delivered the annual State of the City speech Wednesday, laying out priorities for his third term.

Read Bloomberg's full speech as prepared for delivery:

“Thank you all so much.

“And thank you, Tony Benedetto of Astoria , for those kind words. I hope he meant them – and isn’t just trying to be a guest on my new late night show on NBC. Tony and his wife Susan really are amazingly loyal and generous New Yorkers. They’ve done so much for this school and this City. I don’t care what Tony said about leaving his heart in San Francisco , he’s always saved his greatest love for his hometown. And we couldn’t be more proud or more grateful.

“Speaker Quinn, Public Advocate de Blasio, Comptroller Liu, borough presidents –  especially our host Helen Marshall – our District Attorneys, and distinguished guests: It’s great to be here today – at the new home of the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts. Led by a dynamic principal, Donna Finn, this building really is filled with the kind of bright, talented students who can make it here, or make it anywhere.

“Among those joining us on the stage today are some people from the local neighborhood who are as responsible for the progress in this community as anyone. And really, the progress that we see here in Astoria and northwest Queens exemplifies how far our entire City has come over the past eight years. Not only is there a beautiful new school here with a graduation rate of 97 percent, crime in the local precinct is down 41 percent thanks to the dedication of officers like Chief Diana Pizzuti of Queens North. There are new jobs at new shops and businesses in the neighborhood, from Kristie’s Fashions, owned by Kristie Foster to Water Lillies Food, a manufacturing firm owned by Taiwanese immigrants and represented here today by Tina Lee.

As relief efforts continue in Haiti, New Yorkers are finding creative ways to provided aid. Below is a list of a upcoming events to raise funds for various relief organizations.

If you'd rather give a direct cash donation, WNYC has a list of organizations here.

WNYC is not in ...

A memorial service will be held tonight at Manhattan's Hiro Ballroom for Gilbert Stafford, a well-known doorman at some of New York City's most popular nightclubs. He died of cancer on New Years Day.

Stafford was known by many as the "Pope of the Rope" -- the ultimate judge of ...