Beth Fertig

The fire department's Hazardous Materials unit was created over 20 years ago to handle industrial accidents with toxic chemicals.

When Mayor Bloomberg announced his plan to eliminate community school districts, he said the change was all about improving education.

As Mayor Bloomberg continues to shake up the school system, with his recent reforms, teachers and principals aren't the only ones struggling to keep up. 

In the past 2 weeks, Mayor Michael Bloomberg has announced a breathtaking series of education reforms. 

Now that mayor Bloomberg has released his 44 billion dollar budget plan, all eyes are turned to Albany.

In the next few months, federal investigators will begin sending out hundreds of surveys to survivors and rescue workers who were at the World Trade Center on September 11th.

On December 28th, unemployment benefits will run out for more than 60 thousand New Yorkers.

Around the city, low-performing high schools are being broken up into smaller schools - with three or four sometimes sharing the same building. 

Chancellor Joel Klein hopes to create 200 new schools over the next few years. 

Decisions by the city and state also played a big role leading up to the fiscal crisis.

The mayor is proposing to cut more than 800 million dollars from city agencies this year. 

Mayor Bloomberg is releasing his plan to close a one billion dollar deficit this year. The mayor intends to raise property taxes.

As the clock runs out, Democrat Carl McCall and Republican Governor Pataki are both trying to energize their CORE supporters. 

Republican governor George Pataki argues he's the best candidate to deal with the current recession because of his success in creating 600 thousand jobs over the past 8 years.

Carl McCall's decision to challenge governor George Pataki means there's an open seat for the job of State Comptroller. Two candidates are vying for the post.

City teachers are expected to give Governor Pataki their support today when the union's delegate assembly meets. 

Nearly one out of every ten people who died last September 11th was a New York City firefighter and each firehouse held its own ceremony to commemorate the loss. 

Vendors selling World Trade Center trinkets will have to move further away from Ground Zero on the one year anniversary of the attacks.

As we profile the two Democrats running for governor, WNYC's Beth Fertig examines Cuomo's leadership of HUD.

Housing scams in the Bedford Stuyvesant neighborhood are leaving more properties at risk of abandonment.