A state judge's ruling that blocked Mayor Bloomberg's plan banning the sale of large sugary beverages is a setback amid a string of influential victories for the mayor's health initiatives, including banning trans fats in restaurants and smoking in public places.

The city is fighting a state judge's decision to halt the city's ban on large, sugary drinks that was slated to go into effect on Tuesday.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg could soon be able to test his latest health hypothesis. New York City on Tuesday is set to become the first place in the country to limit the size of sodas and other sugary beverages in certain retail settings.

If automatic spending cuts poised to kick in at midnight Thursday, $85 billion will come out of the federal budget – and healthcare, in particular hospitals, will get a larger slice of those cuts than any sector other than the military.

As state panels prepare final recommendations for improving disaster preparedness, advocates and experts point to a series of failures in evacuating and housing some of society’s most vulnerable citizens.

A New York judge has issued a temporary restraining order stopping the State University of New York from closing the Long Island College Hospital.

More than three months after Sandy forced them to evacuate, the residents of Belle Harbor Manor in the Rockaways returned to their home on Thursday. It's the last of 22 evacuated adult residences to get its occupants back home.

The board of trustees of the State University of New York voted unanimously Friday morning to close the Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn as an in-patient facility. The meeting room at a SUNY building in Midtown immediately erupted in shouts of "Shame! Shame!" from supporters, who said the university had not given the hospital, known as LICH, enough support.

The board that oversees the State University of New York system is meeting Friday morning to decide the fate of the Long Island College Hospital, commonly known as LICH.

As New York State shifts tens of thousands of elderly on Medicaid and Medicare into special HMO’s for long-term care, health officials are giving high marks to themselves and to the private companies they’ve hired to drive down costs and improve care.

Two of Brooklyn’s largest hospitals are in early exploratory talks about joining forces.

Downtown Hospital, the last large healthcare facility below 14th Street in Manhattan, is being primed for a takeover by New York-Presbyterian, one of the region’s largest networks.

In “Rebel without a Cause,” James Dean’s father impotently warns the high-schooler to stay away from gatherings where teens imbibe alcohol.

“You know what kind of drunken brawls those kind of parties turn into,” he says. “It's not a place for kids.”

The NAACP came out against Mayor Bloomberg's ban on large, sugary drinks. WNYC's Fred Mogul and Keli Goff, The Root's political correspondent and writer for their Blogging The Beltway blog, discuss why the NAACP has taken this position.

A struggling Bronx hospital has succumbed to bankruptcy. But unlike many of those serving poor communities, Westchester Square Hospital is being acquired by another institution, which will transform it into a different kind of healthcare facility.

Providing limited service in the emergency room, while also repairing parts of the physical plant damaged by Sandy, has forced Bellevue to improvise, and has taught the staff new things about operating a large urban hospital.

Restaurants, beverage producers and the NAACP are in court on Wednesday challenging the city’s new rule that limits the size of sugary sodas in food service establishments.

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.

A new test developed by local scientists could help doctors rapidly pinpoint the mold in tainted steroids that killed 34 people and sickened more than 600. Thousands more received the injections, without becoming sick — but the illness can take months to develop.

New York City’s Health and Hospitals Corporation estimates the damage from Sandy will exceed $800 million. The nation’s largest public hospital system announced the preliminary tally Tuesday with Senator Charles Schumer, who is asking the Federal Emergency Management Agency for financial help.