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Patricia Willens

Editor, WNYC News

Patricia helps to oversee the newsroom, edit features, and develop story projects for the air and online. She started at WNYC as a freelance reporter and producer before coming on full–time in 2002 to produce the local Morning Edition. She has helped shape the newsroom and its coverage priorities as it has doubled in size. Top priorities have been the station’s expanded election coverage and its growing online presence.

Patricia started her journalism career as a reporter at a weekly paper outside of Boston. She then reported abroad and on Capitol Hill before coming to New York to work at Reuters. Her most recent project is to coordinate WNYC's partnerships with outside media organizations, and to find new partners to provide content online and on air. Her goal is to make WNYC sound as big, diverse and inspiring as the region it serves.

 

Patricia Willens appears in the following:

Can a Light Rail Unify, Modernize Jerusalem?

Friday, April 15, 2011

WNYC

The tag line for Jerusalem’s transportation master plan is "everything is connected," a resonant phrase for such a complicated place. Palestinians and Israelis, science and faith, politics and religion — it's all connected here but in a tenuous and tense way. Still, everyday life continues and the fact for many Jerusalemites is that traffic is terrible. It’s hard to get around even though the city is small, with a population of about 800,000 people.

As millions of Jews prepare for Passover seders that conclude with the words "Next Year, in Jerusalem," the city is struggling with very modern problems.

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NJ Fishermen Try To Lure New Business

Friday, September 18, 2009

There’s only one port along the coast of New Jersey dedicated entirely to commercial fishing. Belford, located at the mouth of New York Harbor, has sweeping views of Brooklyn, the Verrazano Bridge and south to Sandy Hook and the ocean. But the buckling bulkhead and listing net house recall better times decades ago. The fishermen who’ve harvested these waters for generations are being squeezed – literally – by condos and high-speed ferry service for commuters. And they’re looking for ways to keep their businesses afloat for themselves, and their children.

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MTA Nominee Supports Bus-Only Lanes

Tuesday, September 08, 2009

Governor Paterson's nominee to lead the MTA, Jay Walder, threw his support behind more bus-only lanes, and better enforcement to keep cars out of them. He told a panel of state senators, who are vetting his appointment, that bus only lanes would help New York's transit system live up to ...

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Car? What Car?

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Are you getting robo calls, warning you that your car warranty is about to expire and you don't even have a car? Everyone at WNYC has been getting them. Turns out Verizon Wireless has reached a settlement with two telemarketing companies that have been offering alleged extensions of car warranties. ...

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Local Groups Raise Relief for Quake Victims

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Local Italian-American groups are collecting donations to help the victims of the earthquake in Italy. Dr. Joseph Scelsa is the president of the Italian-American Museum on Mulberry Street in Manhattan. He's part of a group that's set up a relief fund at the museum.

SCELSA: We will throw the money to ...

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Report: Bronx Parks Now More Expensive

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

The cost of building parks displaced by the new Yankee stadium is climbing. A report from the city's Independent Budget Office says the price tag is now nearly $195 million, up 67 percent. How did this happen? The IBO report says much of the increase is a result of design ...

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NYC Mayor Endorses NJ House Candidate

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Mayor Bloomberg has made it clear he intends to stay out of the endorsement game when it comes to the presidential election. But in some tough local races the mayor is jumping into the fray.

Yesterday he endorsed Dennis Shulman, the blind psychologist and rabbi from northern New Jersey who's running ...

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Mayor Bloomberg Makes Political Endorsement

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Mayor Bloomberg has made it clear he intends to stay out the endorsement game when it comes to the presidential election. But in some tough local races, the mayor is jumping into the fray.

He announced he's endorsing Dennis Shulman, the blind psychologist and rabbi from northern New Jersey who's running ...

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New Names Added to Police Memorial Wall

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Included in this most recent group are eight who died from 9-11 related illnesses.

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly says this is significant milestone because it acknowledges the sacrifice of those who worked in the rescue and recovery efforts after the attacks on the World Trade Center.

Kelly: It is a recognition that ...

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Some Business Leaders Optimistic Despite Wall Street Woes

Saturday, September 27, 2008

While there's talk of turbulence and anxiety in the financial markets, some business leaders are taking the long view.

REPORTER: Barry Gosin is the CEO of Newmark Knight Frank, the global real estate leasing company. He says he's optimistic about what's coming next.

GOSIN: There's always opportunities, there's always a silver lining, ...

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Bloomberg Encourages New Yorkers to be Tourists in the City

Tuesday, July 08, 2008

As gas prices continue to rise and New Yorkers wonder, what can they do that's fun and interesting and new. Mayor Michael Bloomberg has a suggestion: Go local!

He unveiled an ad campaign to encourage New Yorkers to visit all five boroughs, and announced a new Gray Line bus service for ...

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Percentage of Income Spent on Rent Increases

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

More New Yorkers are spending half their income on rent. That's according to a report from Democratic Congressman Anthony Weiner.

REPORTER: He used federal census data to show that nearly one in three renters are spending 50 percent or more on housing -- about 15 percent more than in 1999. Speaking ...

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Governor Focuses on the Needs of Upstate

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Governor Spitzer used his first "state of upstate" address to announce a plan to lift the area's lagging economy. Speaking in Buffalo, Spitzer says he'll spend 350 million dollars on struggling communities, including cleaning up old industrial sites, and investing in agriculture and a science research center in Rochester. A ...

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Bloomberg Open to Re-Instating Commuter Tax

Monday, December 17, 2007

The congestion pricing commission meets again this afternoon, and one of the alternative ideas that's been touted by its chairman, Marc Shaw, is a re-instatement of the commuter tax. And that's fine by Mayor Bloomberg.

BLOOMBERG: You know, I saw somebody, Bring back the commuter tax. Well, call Albany. Everybody was ...

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Commission Urges Lawmakers to Appeal Sentencing Laws

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Former inmates and prison reformers were on hand today as the New York Sentencing Reform Commission held a hearing on possibly reforming the so-called Rockefeller drug laws.

REPORTER: The state has stiff sentencing rules that don't allow judges flexibility and put many people behind bars, who might be better served in ...

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The Bronx Bombers get a new Skipper

Thursday, November 01, 2007

The Yankees' new manager, Joe Girardi, says he won't know how he'll manage the team until he knows who's on it. Girardi was officially introduced to New Yorkers today.

REPORTER: Despite a month of upheaval in the Bronx, Girardi says he doesn't feel like he needs to assure players the team ...

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NYC Is Major Human Trafficking Hub

Tuesday, July 06, 2004

Thousands of people are trafficked into the United States every year. They are often hidden from view, working in the sex trade, as domestic workers or as migrant farm help. Victims are trapped working for little or no pay and they often don't have the language skills to seek help. ...

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NYC Is Major Human Trafficking Hub: Part 1

Tuesday, July 06, 2004

The story of people arriving in this country to find work and promise of a better future is a familiar one. What is less noticed but more deadly is the situation of human trafficking. These illegal and profitable networks have attracted the attention of federal and local law enforcement and ...

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NYC Is Major Human Trafficking Hub: Part 2

Tuesday, July 06, 2004

Moving people across international borders and then forcing them to work against their will. is a crime called Human Trafficking.

The New York City area, as an international gateway, is one of the nation's hotspots for this modern-day version of slavery.

Yesterday you heard about how law enforcement ...

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Airline Workers Laid Off

Friday, January 11, 2002

Tens of thousands of people in new york city have been laid off since September 11th. Perhaps the hardest hit have been airline workers, who have faced devastating cuts and lay offs. In the borough of Queens alone, an estimated four thousand airline employees have lost their jobs.
WNYC's Patricia ...

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