WNYC Podcasts

NoneDoor WNYC Radio

A military medical team has arrived in New Jersey to help ease the load on the overwhelmed University Hospital in Newark. Dr. Shereef Elnahal, president and CEO of University Hospital, spoke with WNYC's Michael Hill.Door WNYC Radio

The call comes in at 4 am. Some waterfowl are in trouble out in the lake at Prospect Park, their webbed feet stuck frozen to the ice coating the water. In the predawn darkness, our hero slips out of bed and races to the park, where she carefully slides across the dangerous ice to save the creatures. That rescuer is Marty Woess, Wildlife and Aquatic…

Former President Donald Trump is the target of at least three separate investigations that are in the news this week. One in Congress, one being conducted by the New York State Attorney General, and one from the Manhattan District Attorney. Reporter Ilya Marritz, who covers Trump legal matters for NPR, spoke with WNYC Consider This host Jennifer Va…

A piece of New York City transit history has been sold at auction: the iconic Staten Island ferry named for John F. Kennedy. It spent decades shuttling countless people back and forth across New York Harbor before it was retired last year. Acting Senior Port Captain Kenneth Meurer is one of the people who once captained the ferryboat. He spoke abou…

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg took the oath of office almost three weeks ago. Bragg campaigned on a platform of criminal justice reform and reducing the number of people sent to prisons and jails. But his early efforts have faced pushback from police unions, politicians and Mayor Adam’s newly-appointed NYPD Commissioner. And Bragg may soo…

Most of the $40 million dollars New Jersey set aside to help immigrants and workers excluded from pandemic relief funds will be re-allocated for other state expenses. Officials say they didn't get enough applications before the federal dollars had to be spent. WNYC's Karen Yi spoke with Morning Edition host Michael Hill. For more on the story visit…

Gov. Phil Murphy was sworn in for his second term Tuesday, after becoming the first Democratic governor to win reelection in New Jersey in 44 years. In his speech, Murphy promised to lower property taxes, reduce health care costs and make college more affordable. “I’m not going to be satisfied with just slowing property tax growth,” he said. “I wan…

New York City Mayor Eric Adams is facing controversy after tapping his brother, Bernard Adams as head of his NYPD security detail. Last week, the mayor made clear he would defer to guidance from a small city agency tasked with holding the conduct of public servants to the highest ethical standards: the New York City Conflicts of Interest Board. WNY…

Gov. Kathy Hochul proposed a $216 billion state budget Tuesday that would provide bonus payments to health care workers, bolster funding for schools and clear the way for casinos in New York City. Hochul’s spending plan comes as the state is in a relatively strong financial position, thanks to a large influx of federal aid and stronger-than-expecte…

The last time subway riders took the B or W trains was the last week of December. The MTA say that's due to persistent staffing shortages related to the pandemic. The agency says it had to make choices about what service to run with the staff it has available. So it suspended those two lines, and cut back several more because it says the affected s…

An ongoing effort to redesign election ballots in New Jersey as a way of establishing equal competition is facing opposition from powerful political influencers in the state, even in small towns where a number of progressive activists are calling for change. The fight is over the so-called “county line” – a column that appears on the primary ballot…

Vanessa Gibson is now etched in history as the first woman elected to serve as Bronx Borough President, and the first Black lawmaker to helm it. The borough presidency is largely ceremonial, long stripped of its statutory power decades ago when the U.S. Supreme Court found New York City’s government unconstitutional. While the job might be an on-th…

WNYC's Kate Hinds says winter is the perfect time to catch up on your duck watching. Speaking with Weekend Edition Host David Furst, she tells us where to find buffleheads, northern shovelers and hooded mergansers in the region.Door WNYC Radio

Last week's devastating fire in the Bronx was a reminder of fires past, and of the crisis of burning buildings that gripped the borough in the 1970s. "There were many families who were burned out of apartment after apartment after apartment," said Joe Flood, author of 'The Fires.' "And they slept with bags packed, with shoes on their feet." Althoug…

For years, Spicy Village in Manhattan's Chinatown has won rave reviews from customers - for the food and for the low prices. And now, just three blocks away, it has a sequel of sorts, called New Spicy Village. But it's unclear what the connection is between the locations. Scott Lynch writes about food for Gothamist. Speaking with WNYC's David Furst…

The world faces a lot of challenges ahead — from what feels like a never-ending COVID-19 pandemic to the threats of climate change. But there's one group of New Yorkers who are focusing on a problem that centers around a physically small object that is everywhere. We're talking about the millions of cigarette butts tossed onto the ground by smokers…

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy delivered his state of the state address this week. WNYC's Nancy Solomon joins us for a roundup of the latest in Jersey politics - including the latest on the state's contested redistricting process.Speaking with Weekend Edition Host David Furst she says, "There are two redistricting commissions – one for the Congres…

New York's eviction moratorium officially expires as of Saturday, January 15. The state had been prohibiting residential evictions since the early days of the pandemic. It was a way to keep people from being thrown out on the street during a time of economic uncertainty. Now, that blanket protection is no longer in place. But there's still a way st…

The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture is hosting the 10th annual Black Comic Book Festival this weekend. But aside from an exhibition on display at the library celebrating the milestone, all events are virtual for the second year in a row, thanks to surging cases of COVID-19. While it may not have the same sprawling reach as larger eve…

New Jersey prisoners who are within a year of their release dates will once again be able to get out early due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When Gov. Phil Murphy redeclared a public health emergency this week due to New Jersey's record-high number of COVID cases, that also reactivated the state's public health emergency credits law. Murphy signed the …

Two weeks in, Mayor Eric Adams is still just getting his sea legs at the helm of a vast bureaucracy. As Brooklyn borough president, Adams oversaw a staff of roughly 60 people. As mayor, he is executive-in-chief in charge of around 400,000 municipal employees. And while many of his administration picks have been hailed by political observers, some h…

Mayor Eric Adams Adams maintains that students do best in classrooms, but with more than 200,000 kids absent in recent days, he says he will consider a remote option for New York City Public Schools. Administrators say a remote option would be a logistical feat at this point.Door WNYC Radio

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has stopped a controversial vote to OK construction of a new power plant in Newark, after residents rallied against another polluting facility in their neighborhood. The Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission was scheduled to vote Thursday at noon on a contract to begin building a $180 million natural gas power plant in …

Green activists hailed New York as a leader in the fight against climate change in 2019 when lawmakers approved the Climate Act, a landmark bill committing the state to cut its greenhouse emissions by 85% by 2050. Now comes the hard part. The state Climate Action Council, a 22-member panel that includes state regulators, environmentalists and energ…