Cindy Rodriguez

New York, NY —

Fatal construction accidents, including two recent crane collapses have raised concerns about the safety at construction sites. As the city tries to crack down, construction companies and developers are planning to form their own safety council.

WNYC's Cindy Rodriguez reports.

REPORTER: Big name companies such as Bovis ...

New York, NY —

A report on the economic status of women in New York State shows earnings are stagnant and poverty is up slightly. WNYC's Cindy Rodriguez reports:

The report based on census data from 2005 found that the median salary for women is just above $33,000 a year. ...

New York, NY —

An audit by the city comptroller says the Department of Buildings fails to follow up after it finds hazardous violations at properties.

Out of a sample of about 1,500 violations, the audit determined that inspectors failed to get access to the properties 20 percent of the ...

New York, NY —

Rent stabilized tenants will see rent increases of 4.5 percent on one-year leases and 8.5 percent on two-year leases. Last night's raucous vote was interrupted several times by angry tenants who waved signs that called the Rent Guidelines Board a sham. They squared off with ...

New York, NY —

The city's interim head of the Department of Buildings gave the keynote address at a trade show for builders.

Robert LiMandri told the group his agency is cracking down on contractors, architects and engineers who are breaking the rules. He also swore to weed out corruption:

LIMANDRI: ...

New York, NY —

The City Council and the Bloomberg Administration say they've identified hundreds of thousands of households who may be eligible for food stamps but aren't receiving them.

WNYC's Cindy Rodriguez reports:

In order to find these struggling New Yorkers, the city's Human Resources Administration searched its database of ...

New York, NY —

A Brooklyn architect often accused of ignoring zoning rules and building too large is in trouble with the city's Department of Buildings — again.

WNYC's Cindy Rodriguez reports.

REPORTER: The agency says that Robert Scarano allegedly made false or misleading statements on permit applications and faces administrative ...

New York, NY —

The beating death of 3 year old Kyle Smith has lead to an examination of how adults are vetted in custody cases. WNYC's Cindy Rodriguez explains.

REPORTER: Kyle Smith died last Friday. His godmother, Nymeen Cheatham and her boyfriend are accused of killing him. It was ...

New York, NY —

A Brooklyn-based job program is trying to get minorities into the film industry by training them to be Production Assistants on everything from commercials, to reality shows to big budget films. The work is supposed to help people with limited schooling and a lack of ...

New York, NY —

New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo struck a deal with the top three credit rating agencies as part of his investigation into the ongoing sub-prime loan crisis.

It's designed to keep investment banks from shopping around for positive ratings for their investment vehicles by requiring ...

New York, NY —

Increased training for crane operators, new fines for contractors, and better tracking of violations - those are some of the proposals Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the City Council are pushing to make construction safer in the city. The legislation would also require that contractors register ...

New York, NY —

Kids in the city are doing better than in years past but there are still big disparities between communities.

According to a report by the citizens committee for children student achievement is improving, more kids are in child care and have health insurance. Much of the ...

New York, NY —

The city has threatened to revoke the permits of the developer of a Midtown high rise tower where a crane collapsed in March, killing seven people.

A letter sent to developer James Kennelly shows 28 objections to his current building plans. All of them have ...

New York, NY —

Food pantries and soup kitchens around the city have been struggling with rising food costs. But they could get a much-needed boost from the recent passage of a federal Farm Bill. WNYC's Cindy Rodriguez reports:

REPORTER: The current farm bill increases the money for emergency food ...

New York, NY —

New York's Assembly has passed a package of pro-tenant bills aimed at keeping more apartments rent stabilized.

New York's Assembly has passed a package of pro-tenant bills aimed at keeping more apartments rent stabilized.

Right now, landlords may deregulate their units once rents reach $2,000 a ...

New York, NY —

Over the past two years, the Administration for Children's Services has increased child abuse prevention programs to serve an extra 1,000 families.

But, money for the additional monitoring isn't included in the upcoming budget.

At a City Council hearing yesterday, ACS Commissioner John Mattingly said his agency ...

New York, NY —

Some Crown Heights, Brooklyn residents are crying 'Not In My Back Yard' over plans for relocating a homeless men's intake center.

REPORTER: Local officials warn the shelter already has a dangerous reputation and adding more men will only make it worse.

Currently, homeless men enter the shelter ...

New York, NY —

With construction accidents on the rise - including another yesterday that claimed the life of a worker on the Triborough Bridge - the City Council has introduced 12 bills all aimed at making job sites safer.

One bill would give the Department of Buildings the ...

New York, NY —

In a preliminary vote, the Rent Guidelines Board has proposed rent increases on the city's stabilized apartments of 3.5 percent to 7 percent for a one year lease and 5.5 percent to 9.5 percent for two years.

Landlords had initially requested an increase of 10 ...

New York, NY —

A preliminary vote takes place tonight on landlords' request to raise the rate on rent-regulated apartments by 15 percent.

The Rent Guidelines Board meets at Cooper Union's Great Hall, starting at 5:30, for the preliminary vote.

Landlords say they need the rent increase to deal with rising ...