Bob Hennelly

The Christie Administration is in the final stages of closing a deal with a new developer to revive the moribund Xanadu retail and entertainment complex in the Meadowlands.

An official close to the deal says the state could provide as much as $400 million dollars in economic development bonds to help the developer complete the $2 billion project. Xanadu was supposed to open before the recession but stalled because of management issues and the economy.

It was like MSNBC's more liberal narrative and Fox New's right wing thought line were two mighty express freight trains headed for each other on the same track driven by engineers with not much left to live for.

It was Freshman Republican Congressman Michael Grimm's first town hall meeting of his career in Brooklyn, certainly the most Democratic portion of his district that is dominated by Staten Island. During his campaign, he'd said the Brooklyn piece of the 13th Congressional District had been perpetually underserved. So he picked Brooklyn for his maiden voyage.

A feisty crowd of about 100—mostly seniors—came at Grimm with roller derby ferocity for his support of fellow Republican Congressman Paul Ryan's budget austerity plan that included changes to Medicare for future retirees.

Across the state of New Jersey, 538 local school districts submit their budgets to voters for their approval. Also on the ballot are almost 2,000 local board of education seats.

This will be the first time that New Jersey voters get to weigh in on local school budgets since Trenton imposed a two percent cap on the local property taxes that fund them. More than 450 of the districts are at or below the two percent cap.

The Bronx District Attorney is probing the cause of a fire in the Belmont section of the borough that injured eight and killed three — including a 12-year-old boy, a spokesman for DA Robert Johnson confirmed.

When President Obama ran for president he took President Bush to task for his lack of a nuanced strategy when it came to the global war on terrorism. Why with the election of a President Obama, we were told, we would have a leader who would engage the Muslim world in a productive dialogue.

Scroll forward a few years. What we have is an Obama Presidency even more reliant on the use of predatory drones in the never ending "war on terror." And according to well-respected experts, this growing reliance on targeted killings in countries we are not at war with may put the current president and our nation on the wrong side of international law.

While some political pundits may dismiss Donald Trump's presidential talk as a publicity stunt, local Republicans are treating him differently, with county leaders courting him to appear at their events.

Despite an ongoing budget crisis, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said making the city's air the cleanest of any U.S. city is the legacy he cares most about. The mayor unveiled updates to hi...

Like in business, politics can be a shell game, where bluster and feigned disgust commingle with truth. In the private sector, precisely worded contracts and tinkered corporate stru...

Opponents of the nation's oldest commercial nuclear reactor located in New Jersey want a federal appeals court to rescind the plant's re-licensing in light of the crisis at the Fukushima facility in Japan.

A Bronx grand jury is hearing evidence that as many as 40 police officers from all 12 precinct houses in the borough were involved in an alleged ticket fixing scandal and scores more could be disciplined for their roles.

We cannot "win the future" by white-washing the past.

Yet that appears to be just exactly what U.S. banking regulators, led by the Federal Reserve, are preparing to do when it comes to resolving the robo-signing foreclosure scandal that implicates the nation's biggest banks.

The budget deal between President Barack Obama and House Republicans will cost New York City more than $100 million in federal support for public and affordable housing programs.

In Washington, President Obama was to give a speech on how our future would be framed by our debt. But he had waited so long to weigh in, his opponents had already thoroughly defined the topic. His speech couldn't break out of that "me too" sound. If he thought the world faced a pressing environmental, public health or youth unemployment crisis, there was no hint of it in his speech.

In New York, it was one of those precious damp spring mornings at Gracie Mansion. A hard overnight rain had cleared the air. From the manse's generous porch, you could see the East River, just beyond the rolling lush lawn and bursting magnolias. A tanker glided effortless upstream. It was a day of limitless possibilities.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former President Bill Clinton appeared at a joint press conference Wednesday morning at Gracie Mansion.

In New Jersey, municipal officials are bracing for tens of millions of dollars in federal budget cuts due to the deal President Obama struck with the Republican Congress to cut $38 billion dollars in the current budget year.

Bill Dressel of the New Jersey League of Municipalities says it's bad ...

The Bloomberg Administration decided to delay the start of classes for 540 NYPD recruits that were supposed to start this month. Instead they will combine with the July class that begins in the next fiscal year.

Almost 10 years after the September 11, the country has still not acted on the 9/11 Commission's call for a dedicated nationwide wireless network linking first responders.

Throughout his political career, President Obama has been a master of "real-time delivery" when it comes to leadership. No point in being out ahead and taking the heat. It will just make you sweat. Wait for everybody else to take a whack at it, see how that goes, clear your throat, and float in above the fray.

Later this week, more than halfway through his first term, President Obama is going to put forward his vision for how we handle the long-term debt test. Everybody else has turned in their exam, so the calibration should be a snap.

For the first time since the recession began, City budget makers are dealing with significant cuts in both State and Federal aid, only partially ameliorated by the improving tax revenue picture of a fragile recovery. Add to that a more than billion dollar increase in pension costs and spending priorities are being squeezed.

On Friday, the City Council released a detailed critique of the Mayor Michael Bloomberg's proposed budget, providing one boundary of the debate ahead. Early next month, it will be the Mayor's turn when he unveils his formal Executive budget.

Law enforcement sources confirm that dozens of officers, including some Patrolmen's Benevolent Association delegates, will have to explain to a Grand Jury what they know about an alleged ticket fixing scheme in the Bronx.