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

Just a week into the 2013 legislative session, New York has a major piece of legislation under its belt. It’s another major win for Governor Andrew Cuomo, giving him the the ability to compare himself favorably to previous governors, and to Washington, where President Barack Obama introduced his own gun control package. And yet, the comparison isn't quite right.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo made the case for a progressive policy agenda in his third annual state of the state, pivoting towards issues such as women’s equality, raising the minimum wage, campaign finance reform, reducing greenhouse gases emissions and enacting gun control.

Andrea Bernstein, WNYC News Metro editor, talks about Joe Lhota's resignation as MTA chief to explore a run for mayor, and his tenure as deputy mayor under Giuliani.

UPDATED. MTA Chief Joe Lhota is preparing to step down from his job to enter the race for mayor of New York City.  The decision, which has been privately and publicly backed by former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, roils both the 2013 race and the future of the MTA as it faces $5.2 billion in reconstruction costs after the devastation caused by Sandy. 

Reporters, experts and listeners provide news and information from around the region as the region continues to clean up and recover.

Andrea Bernstein, David Furst, Richard Hake and Bob Hennelly of WNYC's newsroom check in on water advisories in New Jersey and transit developments in the area.  Plus, FEMA coordinator Mike Byrne calls in and WNYC's Stephen Nessen from Breezy Point.

Andrea Bernstein fills us in on what Governor Cuomo said this morning about assessing damage and restoring power and transit following the storm. 

National disasters are fraught with peril for any leader. As Hurricane Sandy slams the eastern seaboard just a week before a national election, no one wants to make the wrong move.  Least of all the Governors of New York and New Jersey, both of whom are eying a possible 2016 run for the presidency.

The song "You're The Top" from the Broadway musical Anything Goes by Cole Porter is filled with superlatives of the highest and lowest variety. In it, two friends sing words to each other like "You're the Nile, you're the Tower of Pisa / You're the smile on the Mona Lisa." And they then compare that to themselves with lines like, "I'm a worthless check, a total wreck, a flop." 

WNYC's Director of News Special Initiatives, Andrea Bernstein, joins us to share her story of uncovering the story behind some political lyrics that fall into the song's latter category that were lost for half a century. 

Andrea Bernstein, WNYC political director during the 2008 campaign and current political coverage coordinator, talks about the post-debate polls and how the campaigns are re-setting.

Songwriter Cole Porter had a brilliant way with words.  So when I was listening to the lyrics of "You're the Top" from the musical “Anything Goes,” I got to wondering about the rhyme, and what made Porter equate GOP with "flop"?

On This Week in Politics, WNYC political reporters run down some of the top political stories from the week that was, providing insight and analysis on local, state and national political issues that touch the region.

Two New York Republican state senators who supported gay marriage last year are in virtual ties with their GOP opponents in vote counts from Thursday's primaries. 

You could call it two conventions, two governors. Both Republican Chris Christie and Democrat Andrew Cuomo are fiscally conservative governors of populous northeaster states. But the two men, both seen to have presidential ambitions in 2016, have wildly different approaches to their party's national conventions.

WNYC's Andrea Bernstein compares the political atmosphere in 2008 to the political atmosphere this year as we head into the conventions next week.

The attorney general believes a section New York charities law enables him to regulate any group that collects more than $25,000 from New York state donors.

Consistent with his strategy of focusing like a laser on New York - and of avoiding any flubs - Cuomo's team says he'll just fly by the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte this summer.

Did the auto industry bailout work? New numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics suggest it did, with unemployment rates dropping faster than the national average, due in part to jobs created by the auto industry. This could be the push President Obama needs to stay on top until November, but as the rest of the country continues to struggle, it might not be time to raise the victory flag quite yet.

The layers of irony could scarcely be denser.  Buoyed in part by automobile hiring, employment in swing states looks far better than the nation as a whole, providing a possible path to victory for President Barack Obama, who bailed out the big three auto manufacturers with a clothespin on his nose.