The New York City Council wants to crack down on do-nothing landlords. Members unanimously approved a bill Wednesday aimed at forcing owners of approximately 100 buildings with a history of violations to make repairs or face fines.

It was a record-breaking year for New York City’s Bravest, with the fewest number of fire deaths and the fastest emergency response times. There were 58 fire deaths 2012 — a drop of four compared to the previous record of 62 set in 2010.

For first-year teacher Kyle Mangieri, heading back to the classroom Monday means talking about what happened just a few hundred feet from his home.

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President Barack Obama asked Congress Friday for $60.4 billion in federal aid for New York, New Jersey and other states hit by Sandy in late October. The aid request, submitted on behalf of the President by Office of Management and Budget Deputy Director Jeffrey Zients, notes that while damage estimates from Hurricane Sandy are not final, it's on track to be the second or third most costly natural disaster in U.S. history, behind Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and close to Hurricane Andrew in 1992.

Local lawmakers say President Obama's $60.4 billion aid package for Sandy relief is a step in the right direction. But they also say New York and New Jersey's storm victims need tax relief.

First responders and residents in lower Manhattan who were injured or sickened in the attacks on September 11, 2001 have yet to receive any money nearly two years after a law created the victim’s compensation fund, according to a report in The New York Post.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg continued to thank city workers for their efforts during Sandy when he toured the Oakwood Beach Wastewater Treatment Plant on Staten Island on Monday.

In the aftermath of Sandy, volunteers set up local donation centers where residents could pick up hot meals, dry clothes and cleaning supplies. In some cases, these centers have been run by churches and other formal organizations. But others have been led by volunteers and now there is a growing concern among these smaller-scale operations about increased scrutiny from the city.

Path train service in and out of Hoboken, New Jersey, remains suspended leaving commuters with options like pricier ferry trips or longer bus rides to get into Manhattan. Nearly a month after Sandy, Port Authority officials who operate the PATH Train system brought reporters down into a tunnel below Hoboken on Tuesday to see just why the repairs are taking so long.

The New York City Buildings Department expects to raze 200 one- and two-family houses in Queens, Brooklyn and Staten Island because of severe damage from Sandy. That's in addition to close to 200 homes already destroyed by the storm. As the Buildings Department determines which homes face demolition, there are volunteers trying to help salvage what can be saved

Residents of this historically conservative borough had mixed feelings about President Barack Obama's visit to the region as recovery crawls forward. The president won Staten Island in the recent election, but the margin was 50 to 49 percent — the narrowest margin of any of the five boroughs.

More than a week after the general election, officials are still struggling to figure out how to count an avalanche of affidavit ballots. The pile is bigger than in past elections because of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's executive order to allow voters displaced by Sandy to cast ballots anywhere in the state. WNYC's Brigid Bergin has been following developments at the BOE.

Quinn remains the 2013 mayoral frontrunner and this proposal, coming just one week after the 2012 general election, may signal how presumed and declared candidates in the race for the city’s highest office will have to tackle the tough questions about what to rebuild and how to pay for it.

Election day is over but the official counting continues in New York and New Jersey due to Sandy-related voting complications. Voters faced hour-long lines, new poll sites and — at least in New York City — the first presidential election with new electronic voting machines

As New York election officials work out contingency plans for poll sites still without power on Election Day, the vendor that supplies machines to New York City, Nassau and Rockland counties is hauling in a solution.

WNYC reporters Brigid Bergin and Anna Sale report on the state of voting machines and other election day logistics in storm-damaged New York and New Jersey.

As the region has focused on recovery efforts post-Sandy, local election officials have been working to make sure polling locations have power, displaced voters have access to absentee ballots, and any changes to polling locations gets communicated to a distracted public.  

President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney will tackle foreign policy issues in Monday’s third and final presidential debate – meaning a nuclear Iran, the future of Syria, negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians and China's relationship to the United States are all fair game.

The white-tie event raises money for the epomonyous foundation which provides grants to Catholic healthcare programs in the New York area, while bringing out heavy-weights in New York City politics, business and media to watch the candidates take turns roasting each other.

Just two days after going toe-to-toe, President Barack Obama and GOP challenger Mitt Romney will be back on stage in New York — this time at the annual Al Smith dinner Thursday night at the Waldorf Astoria.