Arun Venugopal

It's the first day of a trial of a concrete testing company, accused of faking results for some of the city's biggest construction projects.

New York, NY —

A jury has heard opening statements in the trial of a concrete testing company accused of faking results for some of the city's biggest construction projects. WNYC's Arun Venugopal was at the Criminal Court downtown.

REPORTER: Testwell Laboratories allegedly cut corners by fabricating test results used ...

New York, NY —

Brooklyn councilman Charles Barron says he's challenging Christine Quinn for the title of Council Speaker, while hoping to reform the position. WNYC's Arun Venugopal has more.

REPORTER: Barron and Quinn have clashed before, namely when she fired his aide for making inflammatory remarks about another council ...

New York, NY —

The City Council will be holding hearings this morning on legislation meant to crack down on street gangs. WNYC's Arun Venugopal has more.

REPORTER: One of the bills under discussion would make it illegal to encourage someone to join a criminal gang, or to discourage them ...

New York, NY —

Members of the city council are expressing extreme skepticism about the NYPD's statistics on gang activity. A police official who spoke at a hearing today says gang activity is down 57 percent since last year. But city council members say it is not.

The hearing was ...

New York, NY —

Starting today the city's Fire Department will be cutting staff size at about a quarter of its engine companies. The cuts are due to a higher medical absentee rate, which has cost the city increased overtime. Mayor Bloomberg defends the cuts.

BLOOMBERG: The fire department believes ...

New York, NY —

Arguing that time is running out, Governor Paterson says he's unilaterally going forward with $1.6 billion in budget cuts, including a $500-million reduction in across-the-board spending by state agencies. WNYC's Arun Venugopal has more.

REPORTER: The governor says the emergency cuts - addressing about half of ...

New York, NY —

As he pushes for Congress to tighten gun laws, Mayor Bloomberg has announced charges against two men who bought illegal guns in Florida and sold them in Brooklyn. WNYC's Arun Venugopal has more.

REPORTER: The mayor said such trafficking thrives because of what's known as the ...

New York, NY —

For a second straight day, Mayor Michael Bloomberg drew attention to the need to curb illegal guns. Today, he stood with Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy, who announced legislation to crack down on gun traffickers. WNYC's Arun Venugopal has more.

REPORTER: Senator Gillibrand was ...

Prosecutors in Brooklyn arrested two men on charges of selling illegal guns on Monday. 

Rev. Herbert Daughtry, pastor at the House of the Lord Pentecostal Church (413 Atlantic Avenue, between Nevins & Bond Streets), talks about today's "Day of Outrage" over gun violence. He's joined by Rossana Rosado, publisher and CEO of El Diario New York and by WNYC reporter Arun Venogopal.

New York, NY —

Mayor Michael Bloomberg is a known gun control advocate, and has built a national platform to stem the flow of illegal guns into cities and towns. The group he co-founded in 2006, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, has grown from 15 to 526 mayors. Its success ...

Listen to a report on Morning Edition:

The National Rifle Association has seriously disliked Mayor Michael Bloomberg ("the antigun billionaire") for a while now, but it's only in the last couple months that it's actually tried to mobilize its members--millions of them--against Bloomberg and Mayors Against ...

New York, NY —

The city council has overwhelmingly approved a new five-minute grace period for certain parking violations before those bright orange tickets can be issued. However, Mayor Bloomberg is vowing to veto the bill. "A five-minute grace period is only going to lead to chaos, and enormous ...

So far this month New York has been host to two South Asian film festivals. The South Asian International Film Festival was last week. And on Wednesday night when the Mahindra Indo-American Arts Council had its festival opening, WNYC's Arun Venugopal was there, stalking the red carpet.

Naseeruddin Shah and Aasif Mandvi in "Tonight's Special"

New York, NY —

Members of the NYPD were at a school in Harlem last night to address what they see as an ongoing problem - the growth and increased sophistication of gangs. WNYC's Arun Venugopal was there.

REPORTER: The Gang Intel event, as it was called, was a sort ...

New York, NY —

Less than a quarter of the city's elementary school children returned parental consent forms to get swine flu vaccines. City health officials say about 5,500 students took advantage of the free, in-school vaccination program. Mayor Bloomberg says he's surprised.

BLOOMBERG: I had no reason to know ...

A Bronx drug bust early this morning called Operation Rotten Apple involved 450 federal and local agents, and resulted in charges against 53 men and women.

New York, NY —

A Bronx drug bust early this morning called Operation Rotten Apple involved 450 federal and local agents, and resulted in charges against 53 men and women. WNYC's Arun Venugopal has more:

REPORTER: The names of the alleged drug dealers sounded straight out of central casting. There ...

In the final hours of campaigning, mayoral candidates Comptroller Bill Thompson and Mayor Michael Bloomberg are making a last campaign dash across the city.