WNYC Newsroom

Andrew Cuomo is now New York's governor and it will now be up to him to fix the state's growing fiscal crisis.  And it won't be easy. The state faces an estimated $9 billion budget deficit and a divided legislature, and, as Cuomo himself said in his inaugural speech, "The words 'government in Albany' have become a national punch line."

Military planes are flying food and other supplies toward the areas hit hardest by floods in Australia today and police are increasing patrols in evacuated regions amid reports of looting, reports The Associated Press.

Billy Taylor, the pianist and composer who became one of the nation's most ardent promoters of jazz, has died at the age of 89. His wife said he died of a heart attack Tuesday night in Manhattan.

We've been asking readers and listeners to let us know if their streets have been plowed. Here's a map from folks who texted us the situation on their street as of Wednesday (white balloons represent unplowed streets). Let us know yours by texting PLOW to 30644.

The entire New York City metropolitan area is under a blizzard warning until 6 p.m. Monday. City officials are urging people to stay off the roads. Travel will be especially treache...

Californians are beginning to clean up after floods, mudslides and evacuations during a weeklong onslaught of rain.

Police in India are searching for four men they say entered the city of Mumbai to carry out a terrorist attack.

Congress has approved the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, paving the way for health care and compensation for New Yorkers who have been sickened by the dust from World Trade Center attacks.

Human error caused the latest accident in the Spider-Man musical. That's the conclusion reached during a meeting between the show's producers, the state Department of Labor, the Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the union, Actors Equity.

New York attorney general Andrew Cuomo has filed a civil lawsuit against the accounting firm Ernst and Young.

A gun buyback held in Harlem by the New York Police Department and the Reverend Al Sharpton's National Action Network brought in more than 350 weapons. Saturday's event at Saint Mark the Evangelist and Memorial Baptist Churches took place as Sharpton and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly held an anti-violence summit blocks away.

The head of the office that oversees New York City's troubled CityTime payroll system has been shown the door. Joel Bondy, executive director of the city's Office of Payroll Administration, was suspended without pay on Wednesday, according to Mayor Michael Bloomberg's office.

Irving Picard, the trustee recovering money for Bernard Madoff's investors, has reached a $7.2 billion settlement with the estate of a Florida businessman on Friday. The late Jeffry Picower was the single-largest beneficiary of the fraud.

The Senate has passed a $858 billion compromise tax plan by a wide margin. The vote was 81 to 19. Thirteen of those voting against the measure were Democrats, who had fought against an extension of tax breaks for the wealthy.

Suffolk County's police commissioner says investigators are considering the possibility that a serial killer may have dumped four bodies found along a beach road in Babylon, near Cedar Beach on Long Island.

The rest of the country has culture wars. New York City has bike lane wars. Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan was grilled by city lawmakers this week at a hearing about b...

Subway riders have a new transfer option in Brooklyn.

The clock is ticking on efforts to claw back billions of dollars for Bernard Madoff's victims. How much money can be recovered?

The father of Najibullah Zazi has pleaded not guilty to charges including obstruction of justice. Mohammed Wali Zazi entered the plea in Brooklyn federal court this morning.

Friends say Elizabeth Edwards, the wife of former Vice Presidential nominee John Edwards, died at her Chapel Hill home on Tuesday after a long battle with breast cancer.