Arun Venugopal

New York, NY —

It was an improbable idea but the elevated park known as the High Line was inaugurated, ten years after it was first conceived. WNYC's Arun Venugopal has more on the city's new aerial promenade.

REPORTER: The opening of the High Line was a pretty glam affair: ...

Ten years after it was conceived, the elevated park known as the High Line was unveiled today. Abandoned three decades ago as an industrial rail line, the new park sits 30-feet above the street and snakes from Gansevoort Street in the West Village up to 20th Street. Robert ...

Thousands of people flocked to Jackson Heights yesterday for the annual Queens LGBT Pride Parade. And while same-sex marriage was on the minds of many, one gay activist says it shouldn't obscure other causes. Reverend Pat Bumgardner is the pastor at Metropolitan Community Church and one of the ...

New York, NY —

Thousands of people flocked to Jackson Heights yesterday for the annual Queens LGBT Pride Parade. And while same-sex marriage was on the minds of many, one gay activist says it shouldn't obscure other causes. Reverend Pat Bumgardner is the pastor at Metropolitan Community Church and ...

New York, NY —

City comptroller and Democratic mayoral candidate William Thompson says the Mayor should no longer have complete control of the city's water board. Thompson says water rates have gone up sharply, in part because the mayor appoints all seven members of the board.

THOMPSON: This year, over ...

President Obama's historic speech in Cairo to the Islamic world generated intense interest among New York City's Muslims. WNYC's Arun Venugopal watched the speech with members of the community at a screening organized by the Council on ...

New York, NY —

The federal government is gearing up for the 2010 Census, and here in New York that means reaching deep into communities that tend to be undercounted. For city officials, an accurate count can mean a difference of billions of dollars in annual federal funds. But ...

New York, NY —

President Obama's speech to the Islamic world has generated intense excitement among New York City's Muslims. Haroon Moghul works for the Islamic Center at NYU. He says he only realized what a big deal the speech would be when he woke up this morning.

MOGHUL: I ...

New York, NY —

Municipal union leaders have agreed to let city workers shoulder more of their health care costs, in a concession to the city meant to prevent layoffs. The measures include co-pays of $50 to $100 for emergency room visits, and could save the city a $ ...

There's one less candidate vying for the democratic nomination for mayor. Queens Congressman Anthony Weiner announced he was dropping out, complaining that even if he won the nomination, no regular candidate could compete with the well-oiled, well-financed machine that is the Bloomberg mayoral campaign.

"I'll make no bones ...

New York, NY —

Among the thousands of bills vying for passage in the state legislature is one that would crack down on illegal dog and cockfighting operations. WNYC's Arun Venugopal has more.

REPORTER: Right now, seven badly maimed roosters are being housed at this Brooklyn rescue center. Its location ...

New York, NY —

Times Square may never be the same. On Monday, the city is beginning a pilot project to shut down stretches of Broadway to car traffic - from the theater district down to Herald Square - and open them up to pedestrians. WNYC's Arun Venugopal has ...

New York, NY —

Supporters and opponents of same-sex marriage held competing rallies yesterday. in hopes of influencing State Senators before they vote on the issue. WNYC's Arun Venugopal attended both rallies and has this report.

REPORTER: People sang and danced and waved Bibles in the air outside the Governor's ...

New York, NY —

The City Council is holding hearings on the Fire Department's budget today, including the contentious issue of whether to close 16 fire houses. Mayor Bloomberg says the city can save $17 million, either through the closures or by reducing the number of firefighters at more ...

New York, NY —

Yes, subway fares are going up, but not as much as they could have. That's the glass-is-half-full perspective of riders like Erin Roth. She's a Broadway dresser from Woodside, Queens, who buys an $81 monthly Metrocard.

ROTH: I don't think it's a bad hike, because we ...

(Edward Reed)

Listen carefully and you might just hear a certain billionaire mayor in there, playing the congas at a restaurant in East Harlem earlier today. Mayor Bloomberg spent a couple minutes on the drums, backed ably by ...

I finally saw my first mask-wearing subway riders today - one guy, and a couple seats away, the woman you see here, in this highly atmospheric and stylized photo. That was in the morning. This afternoon, I saw another woman walk out ...

I was on MacDougal Street, in the West Village, getting some lunch, when I saw four full-grown men huffing and sweating and just about havin' a collective coronary. They were doing something most of us can relate to: trying to move something big and heavy on the narrowest of ...

New York, NY —

To mask or not to mask one's face, that's one question on the minds of New Yorkers thinking about the swine flu. Jeremy Beiler [BY-ler] is an actor who arrived at work on a bike in the West Village. He says he's reluctant to travel ...

New York, NY —

Mayor Bloomberg says swine flu appears to be spreading in New York City but he says it's nothing to be alarmed about. WNYC's Arun Venugopal has more.

The mayor repeatedly emphasized that the local swine flu is mild and that people should keep going to work ...