Poetry in Brooklyn and a musical by David Byrne and Fatboy Slim are some of the cultural picks from WNYC's staff for this weekend.

"Are there going to be strings attached?” — Michael Murr, of hard-hit Gerritsen Beach, Brooklyn, who is paying for repairs to his home out of pocket.

City dwellers are beginning to turn their attention to weekend getawaysat  the beaches of Long Island. On Fire Island, business owners are still cleaning up from Sandy, but are promising to be ready for the crowds this season.

Did you know that the bike path along Ocean Parkway to Coney Island is billed as the oldest bike path in the country?  Audio engineer Debbie Daughtry is planning to take her bicycle out for the first time this season and pedal to the ocean.  She's planning to stop at Difara Pizza, because, "It's the best in the city," she said.

WNYC's news staff is hammering to get outside.  Here are some of their outdoor activity picks.

A salsa musician and Bronx native is stepping into the fray, in the lead-up to the Venezuelan presidential elections this Sunday. Willie Colon released a song that's criticizing the Nicholas Maduro, the candidate picked by the late Hugo Chavez. The song is called Mentira Fresca, or fresh lie, and is getting lots of attention.

Former Congressman Anthony Weiner says he’s interested in running for New York City mayor, two years after a Twitter sex scandal derailed his career. Weiner and his wife, Huma Abedin, granted an extensive interview to The New York Times Magazine, and swam right back into the political waters this week.

It’s been two years since the uprising in Syria began. Hundreds of thousands of Syrians have fled the country. One woman finds herself back in New York, caught at the intersection between the U.S. immigration system, war refugees and the conflict in Syria. 

Use a payphone, stop and smell the roses or watch as ladies in their Easter finery promenade up and down Fifth Avenue. These are just some of the suggestions WNYC staff have for this spring weekend.

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn reached a compromise Thursday night with supporters of a bill that would require companies to provide paid sick leave for thousands of employees in the city.

Here are a few of the events some of the WNYC staff recommends for this weekend.

Here's how we'll be spending our weekend. We suggest you do the same.

For the past three years, ProPublica reporters Tracy Weber and Charles Ornstein have been investigating the sometimes cozy relationship between drug companies and doctors. Their reporting has revealed that some doctors receive thousands of dollars a year promoting pharmaceutical products in speeches all over the country. 

There are always too many cultural options in New York City. For those who need some help deciding what to do, here are some tips from the WNYC staff.

The NYPD is trying a unique approach aimed to cut down on the number of juvenile offenders in the city by targeting those most as risk.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is betting on the Lottery to boost the state's coffers. As part of his budget proposal this year, he's calling for an expansion on the Quick Draw game, by allowing smaller Lottery vendors to start selling those tickets. But the proposal is not without controversy.

Significant snow is expected in our area between today and tomorrow. We get updates from:

• WNYC's Richard Hake with expected forecast in New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut.
• Adam Sobel, professor of Climate and Atmospheric Science at Columbia University, on why forecasts have been so different, what makes a blizzard a blizzard, and why this storm has a name.
• Jerome Hauer, commissioner of the New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, on how the state is planning in advance of the worst of the storm.
• MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan on how public transit could be affected by the snow, and what to expect on commuter rail.

"Check on your neighbors, the elderly, make sure they've got water food and heat." -- NY Emergency Services spokesperson. #Nemo

— Brian Lehrer Show (@BrianLehrer) February 8, 2013

International powerhouse Hauser & Wirth has opened a gallery in what was once a roller rink and massive nightclub – the Roxy – on West 18th Street. The gallery is Hauser & Wirth’s second location in Manhattan. It also has a space on the Upper West Side.

As the White House crafts its proposals to overhaul the immigration system, a bipartisan group of senators has also been meeting to draft up its own comprehensive reform bill.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has put forward a plan to clean up the beleaguered Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn.