Governor Cuomo has proposed raising the minimum wage as part of his budget plan. That tactic might make it easier for the proposal to become law.

The Environmental Protection Agency held the first of two public meetings Wednesday on its ambitious plan to clean up Brooklyn’s polluted Gowanus Canal. Wednesday's meeting was held at P.S. 58 in Carroll Gardens.

The NYPD is testing a new device that could allow police to detect concealed weapons without a body search. Commissioner Ray Kelly announced the use of the terahertz-wave detection device during a speech before the New York City Foundation Wednesday.

The New York City Council wants to make sure New Yorkers know exactly how much they’re paying at the pump. Lawmakers approved a bill Wednesday that would require gas stations to advertise their cheaper rates for customers paying with cash.

Money for longer school days, an increase in the minimum wage, and more revenue from gambling – these are among the ideas Governor Andrew Cuomo laid out when he detailed his proposed budget of nearly $137 billion Tuesday ($143 billion including federal aid for Sandy recovery). The governor is also calling for a new financing plan for some pensions.

As temperatures dip many residents of the Rockaways, an area hard hit by Sandy, are among the 8,200 still without power in the aftermath of the powerful storm that tore through the seaside community.

If you own a dog in New York City, odds are it’s a mutt named Max.

The Archdiocese of New York announced Tuesday that it will close 24 more parochial schools at the end of this school year.

Boosters of the more than $50 billion dollar Sandy relief bill that passed the House last week say they can't say for sure just when the bill will be scheduled for a vote in the US Senate, although they expect it to come to the floor sometime this week.

Governor Andrew Cuomo unveiled his $142.6 billion budget Tuesday, laying out how the state will spend a hoped-for $30 billion in aid, including spending for inflatable bladders to protect transit tunnels and building new dunes on beaches.

A rare first edition of Maurice Sendak’s “Where the Wild Things Are” will be auctioned on Thursday, January 24, by Swann Galleries on East 25thStreet as part of a sale of 20th century illustration including original art and books. The sale will showcase a collection of works by the late children’s book author and illustrator owned by the late bookseller Reed Orenstein.

Governor Andrew Cuomo will deliver his budget for the coming year. The $134 billion budget is expected to keep spending growth below 2 percent, include no new taxes and deal with a budget deficit of more than $1 billion. Watch live beginning at 2 p.m.

Businesses and ordinary citizens have given more than $400 million to Sandy-related charities since the storm and money is still coming in. But many of the charities have spent less than half of what they've collected so far.

The city’s Health and Hospitals Corporation is looking for a piece of high ground in Coney Island to replace a neighborhood health clinic irreparably damaged by Sandy.

Governor Andrew Cuomo’s annual budget presentation is slated for Tuesday. It comes as the State’s Comptroller, Tom DiNapoli, finds revenues are not co ming to New York in quite the amount anticipated. In the 2 p.m. presentation, the governor is expected to explain how he’s going to pay for programs announced earlier this month in his State of the State message, including an expanded school day and school year.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is traditionally a day for honoring, and for politicking, in New York City. But this year, the Democrats running for mayor split on where to spend it.

In a program less than a hour long, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan, and upstate New York were heard from, or invoked.

Why, in this era of foodie hordes, Instagramming their way across the five boroughs, do some Chinese restaurants in New York City still have double menus?

(As prepared for delivery)

Vice President Biden, Mr. Chief Justice, Members of the United States Congress, distinguished guests, and fellow citizens: 

Each time we gather to inaugurate a president, we bear witness to the enduring strength of our Constitution. We affirm the promise of our democracy. We recall that what binds this nation together is not the colors of our skin or the tenets of our faith or the origins of our names. What makes us exceptional – what makes us American – is our allegiance to an idea, articulated in a declaration made more than two centuries ago:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”