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Facing a $7.4 billion budget deficit, Gov. David Paterson today proposed a budget that would slash spending on hospitals, nursing homes, and schools, and boost taxes and fees. The governor's budget cuts about $1 ...

The Garden State yesterday became the fourteenth state--and the first one in the region--to allow the use of medical marijuana.

Chris Christie will be sworn in as New Jersey's 55th governor on Tuesday. The day will start with an Inaugural Mass in Newark's Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart at 8 a.m.

After the formal swearing in ceremony in Trenton, the focus will shift back to Newark, at an Inaugural Ball at the Prudential Arena. The proceeds from the $500 a ticket gala will go to non-profits like New Jersey's Community Foodbank.

Gov. Christie’s full inaugural address as prepared for delivery is below.

Lieutenant Governor Guadagno, Senate President Sweeney, Speaker Oliver, members of the 214th legislature, Chief Justice Rabner and the members of the supreme court, to all the former Governors, to my former U.S. Attorney colleagues, to my dear family and friends, and most of all to the hard working men and women of New Jersey, I stand here today as your Governor. I understand the task before me and I am well aware of your expectations for me and this government. You voted loudly and clearly for change and you have entrusted us with what may be our last, best hope for a stronger New Jersey—the New Jersey of our youth, full of hope and opportunity. New Jersey, you voted for change and today change has arrived—right here, right now.

Members of a New York City search-and-rescue team have saved two people trapped in a collapsed grocery store in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

Gov. David Paterson and legislative leaders say they've agreed to expand the number of charter schools.

A long-awaited report by a special New York State Senate committee recommends expelling or censuring Queens Senator Hiram Monserrate for his misdemanor conviction for assaulting his girlfriend.

The earthquake in Haiti has affected an estimated 3 million people, according to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Thousands are feared dead. United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says Haiti is facing a "major humanitarian emergency."

If you want to help, below is a list ...

The chandeliers and Tiffany deigned stained glass from Tavern on the Green are up for sale today.

Jeffrey Deitch (Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images for Nike)

Jeffrey Deitch, the New York gallery owner responsible for creating some of the biggest buzz in the city’s arts scene in ...

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo wants the nation's eight largest banks to tell him how they structured what are expected to be near-record bonus payouts for 2009.

An appeals judge has ruled that the 85-year-old son of late philanthropist Brooke Astor can stay out of prison while he appeals his conviction on charges of looting his mother's nearly $200 million fortune.

Former Governor Eliot Spitzer is criticizing his successor's appointee to the U.S. Senate.

New York City health officials are working on reducing the salt that New Yorkers ingest.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg yesterday announced the winner of the 2009-2010 "NYC Next Idea" competition. It's a contest that invites entrepreneurs from around the globe to propose business ideas that will improve the city.

This year's winner was a team of students from the Indian Institute of ...

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A three-day banjo festival gets underway at Brooklyn's Jalopy Theater tonight.

WNYC's Janaya Williams has this preview:

The festival will showcase various styles of banjo ...

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If you've had to step over discarded Christmas trees on a city sidewalk lately, you might be pleased to know they won't end up in a landfill. The Sanitation ...

A bill to legalize gay marriage was defeated in New Jersey's state Senate on Thursday. The vote, 14 for and 20 against, is a blow to gay marriage advocates, who were trying to get the measure passed before Gov.-elect Chris Christie, an opponent of gay marriage, takes office on January ...

The MTA is beginning to straighten out the confusing maze of ramps at the Fulton and Nassau subway stations downtown. That means over the next two weekends some riders will have to exit and re-enter the complex to make the ...

By Robert Hennelly
WNYC Political Reporter

Paterson grabbed the headlines but Cuomo commands the spot light. Standing in the midst of the crowd around Cuomo at the State House it was clear he really generates the kind of excitement you saw around a Kennedy in the days of old. His measured tones, verbal precision, and forceful physical presence inspire people. Many of those who swarmed him yesterday seemed to see him AS THE MAN to fill a void in state and even national leadership.

For Paterson's part he really pulled off a fast break that left his legislative colleagues in the dust when it comes to claiming the mantle of reform. They all grumbled bitterly yesterday that they had also had versions of the Reform Albany Act that were 'so close to gelling' but 'still in process'. (And there was the smarty pants Governor with his fancy booklet spelling out his utopian reform vision with the state seal on it..........)

Now Paterson, pushing term limits and every other reform ever imagined, can run as an anti-Albany reformer despite the historical fact he has been an Albany fixture for a generation.