Mayor Michael Bloomberg is not saying if the highly touted street closures in Times Square and Herald Square have fallen short of the city's expectations for improving traffic flow. But he is hinting that initial estimates of a 17 percent improvement have not materialized.

"It's never exactly the way you described ...

A series of 111 recommendations has just landed on the desks of Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Council Speaker Christine Quinn. The report was submitted by the NYC Green Codes Task Force, a panel of 200 experts that was convened last year with the purpose of making the city's building code ...

When you walk into the Guggenheim Museum today there will be no paintings, no sculptures, and no objects to look at. Instead you’ll encounter Tino Sehgal’s so-called “situations” -- pieces of art that are created on the spot. Seghal won’t allow any photographs or documentation of his work.

In preparation for ...

Maybe your New Year's celebration of choice is to have a quiet evening at home on New Year's Eve, and a day away from the maddening crowds New Year's Day. Might we suggest turning on the radio for some company? We've invited Jeff Spurgeon from our own WQXR to tell ...

As Yogi Berra would have said, it's deja vu all over again. Just seven months ago state lawmakers said they had rescued the MTA from a crippling deficit and riders from steep fare hikes and severe service cuts. But Dale Hemmerdinger, who was MTA chairman at the time, warned reporters ...

Today was supposed to be the day that New Jersey's state Senate took up the same-sex marriage bill. The measure won a key committee vote on Monday, and attracted at least one Republican in the process.

Senate President Dick Codey says sponsors of the gay marriage bill asked for more ...

2,000 artists, 33 countries, more than 250 galleries, all spread out on a convention-center floor the size of 10 football fields. That’s how art critic Carolina Miranda describes the scene, at Art Basel Miami – the giant yearly art fair. She joins us by phone from Miami.

You can read ...

Is there a deal, or no deal? That's the question in Albany, where Governor Paterson has been grappling with lawmakers to close the state's more than $3-billion budget gap.

The legislature returns to chambers later this morning and could vote on at least part of the Governor's budget-cutting plan. But it's ...

Nearly a thousand New Yorkers turned out last night for the chance to comment on the record on natural gas and drinking water. State regulators have offered a plan to allow gas drilling near the city's upstate reservoirs. The event in lower Manhattan was a rare chance for concerned citizens ...

A jury in Brooklyn will begin deliberating today, in the trial of Ralph Cioffi and Matthew Tannin, the first Wall Street executives to face criminal charges stemming from the financial crisis. Cioffi and Tannin ran two hedge funds at Bear Stearns that were heavily invested in subprime mortgage-related securities. The ...

Former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik could be looking at 2-3 years in prison, after pleading guilty to eight felonies in federal court yesterday. The plea agreement resolves all three federal trials that were pending against him. With us to talk about the fallout of what happened yesterday, ...

Former New York Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik could be looking at two to three years in prison after pleading guilty to eight felonies in federal court yesterday. The plea agreement resolves all three federal trials that were pending against him. WNYC's Soterios Johnson speaks with reporter Ailsa Chang, who was ...

Roger Corman wore many hats in Hollywood: director, producer, impresario, and mentor to some of the greats, like Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, and Ron Howard. Later this year he will be honored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences with an honorary award marking his lifetime achievement. ...

There's just about a week to go before Election Day, and campaigns on both sides of the Hudson are working hard to engage voters so they'll be motivated enough to vote in an off-year election. With me to talk about the mayor's race in New York, and the contest in ...

A heliport on top of Bryant Park? that's just one of New York City "ideas" that were never built. But now you can take a self-guided tour of them, with the help of a new iPhone application called "Museum of the Phantom City".

It uses the same GPS technology that apps ...

Last night Mayor Bloomberg and his Democratic rival City Comptroller Bill Thompson squared off for their first broadcast debate at El Museo del Barrio. Early on, it was WNYC's Brian Leher's question on Mayor Bloomberg's push to extend term limits, that produced the most direct exchanges of the night, with ...

When you flip a light switch, pick up your phone or watch a movie, it is thanks to the genius and vision of Thomas Edison. And now you can visit Edison’s workshop, the place where the first sound was recorded and the light bulb was perfected.

For more information about the ...

The New York Foundling is one of New York City's oldest and largest foster care agencies. It's history goes back to 1869 when the founders, a group of nuns, used to leave a wicker basket for abandoned babies outside a West Village brownstone.

Hundreds of thousands of children have passed through ...