Arun Venugopal

New York, NY —

New York's wealthiest are set to pay more in income taxes in the state budget deal reached over the weekend. Governor Paterson and legislative leaders say their tax plan will generate another $4 billion in revenue. WNYC's Arun Venugopal has more.

REPORTER: The deal creates two ...

New York, NY —

The Asian American Federation estimates there are more than 250,000 Asian Indians living in the five boroughs, with two-thirds of them in Queens. But for Indians in their 60's, 70's and older, there are few senior centers that recognize their cultural -- or dietary -- ...

New York, NY —

Schools chancellor Joel Klein says Albany may shortchange local schools, and not deliver the full amount of federal stimulus funds the city deserves. At a Council hearing today, he says the city may have to lay off 4,000 people, including 2,000 teachers.

KLEIN: If we ...

New York, NY —

Michael Bloomberg's quest to win his third term as Mayor officially launched yesterday. His first campaign stop was at the Christian Cultural Center in Brooklyn. WNYC's Arun Venugopal was there.

REVEREND:and give a warm CCC welcome to our Mayor Michael Bloomberg

REPORTER: The Christian Cultural Center is ...

New York, NY —

Layoffs may make the headlines but the city wants you to know that some businesses are actually thriving, due to the NYC Business Solutions Training Program. the program has retrained more than 1900 workers in the last year alone in order to make small businesses ...

New York, NY —

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is joining with women's activists to call for passage of the Paycheck Fairness Act. WNYC's Arun Venugopal has more on what the legislation sets out to do.

REPORTER: Many people are familiar with Lilly Ledbetter and her long quest to get the same ...

New York, NY —

Mayor Bloomberg says the city's pension costs are getting out of control. According to the mayor, pension costs will grow from $6.3 billion this year to $9.6 billion in seven years - a 50 percent increase.

BLOOMBERG: The only logical solution is a fifth tier for ...

Having grown up outside of New York my early associations with Stella D'Oro were their grating ads for breadsticks, but I'm told that for anyone who lived within a couple miles of their Bronx factory, it was impossible to ignore the sweet scent of their baking. These days, the scene outside the factory is a lot gloomier: the 136 union workers who've run the factory have been on strike since August, refusing to sign on to the new contract presented to them.

(stelladorostrike2008.com)

Last week, when I headed out there, the temperature was in the 20s, but a crew of union members was performing its picketing duties. Now and then, that involves confronting and verbally abusing the replacement workers who are now operating the factory:

New York, NY —

Stella D'oro has been baking cookies, breadsticks and biscotti in the Bronx since the 1930s, but these days much of the action is outside its factory. That's where 136 workers have been staging a continuous strike since August. WNYC's Arun Venugopal has more.

REPORTER: The Stella ...

New York, NY —

Governor Paterson's approval ratings are at historic lows. But he's trying to win back some support, one voter at a time. WNYC's Arun Venugopal followed him during yesterday's St. Patrick's Day parade on Staten Island.

SOLAZZO: Your governor, your governor!

REPORTER: That's John Solazzo, a Staten Island ...

I've been called worse, said Schuerman, seen here as Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan

This morning at around 8, WNYC's listeners may have heard a brief audio clip of WNYC transportation reporter Matthew Schuerman, addressing the MTA rescue plan.
That clip was merely meant to promote his discussion with Morning Edition host Soterios Johnson, but for whatever reason, Johnson said the following:

'That's Matthew Schuerman, WNYC's Transportation Commissioner...'

Johnson immediately corrected himself - 'I mean, WNYC's Transportation REPORTER' - before laughing and moving on to other things.

In the end, it was just another product promotion for their new album, but the members of U2 also saw it as a civic honor. Today with the Mayor and Council Speaker Quinn looking on, a stretch of West 53rd Street was renamed "U2 Way." Frontman Bono said ...

New York, NY —

A stretch of West 53rd Street in Manhattan has been temporarily rename "U2 Way." WNYC's Arun Venugopal took today's ceremony with city officials and a few fans.

REPORTER: They may be the world's biggest band but U2 isn't all over the airwaves these days. So frontman ...

New York, NY —

The mayor and Schools Chancellor Joel Klein were in Sunset Park yesterday at one of 42 new schools that will be open this fall. According to Klein, the schools include a new Cinema School in the Bronx and other schools for struggling students, as well ...

New York, NY —

Governor Paterson pulled out a baseball reference to describe how he thinks federal stimulus money should be spent in New York. Speaking to Brian Lehrer on WNYC this morning, Paterson said money for transportation projects should be spent the way St. Louis Cardinal Ozzie Smith ...

New York, NY —

A coalition of business, airline and tourism groups is calling for a $22 billion upgrade of the nation's air traffic control system.

The new, satellite-based system would replace the existing one, which operates by radar.

Kathy Wylde heads the Partnership for New York City. She says the ...

New York, NY —

The Port Authority is leading a major coalition of business and tourist groups in calling for a $22 billion upgrade to the nation's air traffic control system.

The existing system has been in place since the 1960s, and relies on radar, which has been around since ...

Mayor Bloomberg, Police Commissioner Kelly and Queens District Attorney Brown, announce results of Saturday buyback. (Edward Reed)

The NYPD says ...

Mayor Bloomberg says President Obama needs to give the public confidence and concrete solutions with his prime time speech to Congress tonight.

"I don't think they want to hear that there's going to be a chicken in every pot and there's no pain. People are smarter than ...

New York, NY —

In the last six months the city has received 3,500 weapons through the gun buyback program, which assures gun owners of complete confidentiality. And at $200 per gun, the program isn't a bad way to make some extra cash. But officials say the smartest thing ...