wnyc.org / 93.9fm / am 820

Thirty historical statues -- including William Shakespeare, Confucius, Benjamin Franklin and Fredrick Douglass -- are being outfitted with black capes in city parks as part of a promotion for NBC's new television drama "The Cape" in exchange for the network's $120,000 donation to public art.  

Leaders of the state Conservative Party have given their backing to Republican Rick Lazio for governor. Lazio won Saturday's vote by 5 to 1 ratio at a party conference in Brooklyn. Lazio faces challenges for the Republican line from conservative Democrat Steve Levy, the Suffolk County Executive, and Buffalo businessman ...

The MTA has stepped up police presence at "key locations," like Grand Central Terminal, in light of the ongoing probe into a possible terrorist plot. Even so, the agency says there's no credible threat to the city's subways and commuter trains. Meanwhile, federal officials issued bulletins, reminding local police nationwide ...

The countdown has started for President Barack Obama's appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman tonight. This is the seventh TV gig in 48 hours for the president as he tries to bring his message on health care to the nation's living rooms. Eager fans lined up outside the ...

The 47th New York Film Festival kicks off this Friday in the renovated Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center. The 26 films being screened are from a variety of filmmakers, both familiar and unknown. And this year, ticketing will be handled differently -- 50 rush tickets for each screening will ...

Governor Paterson is endorsing City Comptroller Bill Thompson in the New York mayor's race. He says Thompson has the guts and ability to lead the city in difficult times, but he also says he's motivated along party lines.

THOMPSON: It will be of major significance that President Barack Obama receive a ...

New York State Senate has allocated $15 million to transform part of the Brooklyn Navy Yard into an eco-friendly manufacturing center.

Daniel Squadron, senator of the 25th District that encompasses the industrial park, said the project is a model plan.

SQUADRON: It is everything we should be doing in New York City. ...

Mayors from around the country joined Mayor Bloomberg in Times Square to launch a campaign aimed at getting more people to volunteer. Cory Booker is mayor of Newark:

BOOKER: We all know that America is not a spectator sport, it's a democracy and we have to get in the game.

The "Cities ...

With New York City's schools set to open tomorrow, and school officials braced for a new swine flu outbreak, some elected officials want to force all businesses to offer their employees paid sick leave. School nurse Mary Pappas treated the first wave of sick students at Saint Francis Prep in ...

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer is warning that up to 13,000 students will be without public school seats by 2016 despite increased construction spending in Manhattan. He claims the city's projections don't account for new residential buildings.

But Schools Chancellor Joel Klein defends his forecast and says his department looks at ...

New Jersey's 1.3 million uninsured residents will be offered free vaccinations against the H1N1 virus. Governor Corzine says the state is gearing up for an expected spike in swine flu cases in the coming months.

New Jersey has received $16 million from the federal government to help fight the swine flu ...

New York City police are looking for a man described to be in his late 30s who is suspected in a string of subway muggings this year. The muggings have occurred mostly on subway trains that run along the west side of Manhattan. Police say in every attack, the suspect ...

New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly is urging cops to resolve civilian complaints through mediation.

The process is part of the Civilian Complaint Review Board, the city's police watchdog agency. Police say 112 complaints were resolved through mediation last year, and 81 so far this year.

Complaints that don't involve a ...

The biggest upset of the U.S. Open so far came at the hands of a 17-year-old American girl. Melanie Oudin, from Georgia, stunned the fourth-seeded Elena Dementieva in three sets to advance to the third round.

OUDIN: I guess my hard work is finally paying off. I haven’t been doing anything ...

The Croton water treatment plant in the Bronx is overdue and running at double its original budget. That's according to audits by city comptroller Bill Thompson. Thompson, who's also running for mayor, says the public was misled about the costs of the project, now at $2 billion, more than double ...

The city's recent efforts to help start up businesses get off the ground has been in such demand, officials are expanding the program. Mayor Bloomberg says the city will spend an additional $800,000 to open four more so-called "incubators," where entrepreneurs can rent office space at subsidized rates. Speaking at ...

With some 4,000 prisoners across New York HIV positive, advocates want the state health department to play a greater role in preventing the spread of infectious disease. They held a rally outside Governor Paterson's midtown office today, They're calling on Governor Paterson to sign a bill that easily passed the ...

Sales tax revenues in New York City plummeted 10 percent in the first seven months of this year and the rest of the state is not far behind, with sales taxes down 8.9 percent from the year before. State Controller Thomas DiNapoli says local governments may need to start adjusting ...

Four fatal shootings of livery car drivers in recent months have prompted hundreds to sign up for a program that allows the NYPD to randomly pull them over for safety checks. Drivers are given a decal to put on the back windshield of their black cars to let officers know ...

Muammar el-Qaddafi is coming to New York for the U.N.'s general assembly next month, and he and his traveling tent are allegedly planning to drop their stakes in Englewood, New Jersey. Libya owns a mansion in the suburban enclave, but his neighbors are protesting the visit. The town's congressman, Steve ...