Arun Venugopal

It's coast-to-coast coverage as the votes start rolling in on Tsunami Tuesday. From Illinois: Lynn Sweet, the Washington bureau chief of the Chicago Sun Times. From New York: WNYC reporter Arun Venugopal. From New Jersey: Mike Kelly, a columnist at The Record of New Jersey, and Congressman Scott Garrett. ...

New York, NY —

Super Tuesday voting is underway in New York and New Jersey, two of the 24 states participating in primaries and caucuses today.

REPORTER: In New York City, a Democratic stronghold, the contest between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama is tight, with plenty of voters heading into ...

New York, NY —

South Asian immigrants in New York City are a small part of the city's population..but they are expected to play an outsized role in tomorrow's Super Tuesday primaries...especially for Democrats. WNYC's Arun Venugopal asked some South Asian Americans whether they were leaning toward Hillary...or Obama.

REPORTER: ...

New York, NY —

REPORTER: University officials and community leaders have formed a task force and they've developed guidelines to help preserve the neighborhood's character.

The guidelines aren't binding, but Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer says it's a positive step for community relations.

STRINGER: It doesn't mean that we're not going ...

New York, NY —

REPORTER: City residents could start seeing more rooftop gardens in the future.

Today, the City Council is expected to approve a bill that would require improved stormwater management.

Currently, billions of gallons of rainwater runoff flows into sewers each year - this often causes sewage to be ...

New York, NY —

REPORTER: Mayor Bloomberg, Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta and actor Denis Leary broke ground on a 4-story fire simulation building at the Fire Academy on Randalls Island.

The structure will recreate fire conditions in high-rises, which can be extremely challenging.

Most of the funding for the simulator came ...

New York, NY —

Mayor Bloomberg says all the talk about an economic slowdown is missing the real point of how it impacts people on a very personal level.

BLOOMBERG: Whether it's a recession or not, that's just a technical term. Some wag said it's a recession if your neighbor ...

New York, NY —

Mayor Bloomberg says plummeting world financial markets will have an impact on the city's finances, but he said New York is still on sounder footing than other parts of the country.

BLOOMBERG: We are dependent on Wall Street profits and that's clearly going to be lower. ...

New York, NY —

Sharpton took the opportunity to campaign for Lieutenant Governor David Paterson. Turning to Governor Spitzer, Sharpton suggested that as an African-American, Paterson would make an ideal replacement for Senator Hillary Clinton, in the event that she's elected president.

SHARPTON: they should strongly consider if she's successful ...

New York, NY —

New Yorkers who want to cut carbon emissions and heating bills, have been prevented from doing so by lax federal standards on home furnaces and boilers.

REPORTER: So say the city and state, who are suing the US Department of Energy for failing to adopt higher ...

New York, NY —

Senator Schumer's office surveyed 90 grocery stores across the city and in Long Island and found that milk is 35% more expensive than it was a year ago.

The biggest jump was in Brooklyn, where a gallon costs $4.34 - that's a $1.23 more than it ...

New York, NY —

Reverend Al Sharpton says he and his associates kept law enforcement fully informed as they tried to broker a failed surrender by escaped convict Otis Blunt.

Blunt was captured by police in Mexico, where Sharpton and others headed in hopes of helping the fugitive turn himself ...

New York, NY —

The legislation would apply to larger stores and chains with more than 5 franchises.

While the Departments of Sanitation and Consumer Affairs would oversee enforcement, Council Speaker Christine Quinn notes that the success of the program will depend mostly on the public..

QUINN: The best way to ...

New York, NY —

About 8.5% of the city's teenagers now smoke - that's half as many as it was just 6 years ago and about a third the current rate nationwide.

A big reason for the decrease is the higher price of cigarettes, which is felt by teens more ...

New York, NY —

The death of Benazir Bhutto has left New York's Pakistanis stunned. WNYC's Arun Venugopal reports.

REPORTER: A large flat screen TV is playing in the Kababish restaurant in Jackson Heights. It's set to a Pakistani channel known as Geo TV. The customers watch as crowds jostle ...

New York, NY —

Pakistani immigrants in New York City are reacting with shock and dismay at the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto. Most tell WNYC's Arun Venugopal they do not believe the government of President Musharraf is behind the killing.

Some people dismiss any rumors that Musharraf's government ...

New York, NY —

The NYPD says 2007 will be the 17th consecutive year with a decrease in felony crimes in the city. That includes a 17 percent drop in homicides.

REPORTER: According to Mayor Bloomberg one of the highlights is the 36 percent drop in domestic violence murders. That ...

New York, NY —

The numbers are in: felony crimes in New York City have dropped for the 17th consecutive year.

REPORTER: That includes a 17 percent drop in homicides since last year, and an 11 percent drop in rapes. Mayor Bloomberg says the city is likely to experience fewer ...

New York, NY —

Former mayor Rudy Giuliani is in the city and continues to insist on his good health.

REPORTER: Plagued by flu-like symptoms, the Republican presidential candidate was admitted to a St. Louis hospital late last week. This move has prompted questions concerning the state of his health.

But, ...

New York, NY —

REPORTER: The last waves of Christmas shoppers are arriving at stores, having put off their purchases about as long as possible.

But, alongside those procrastinators are also shoppers like Rene Connolly, who bought all her gifts weeks ago. She was still prowling the stores of Harlem ...