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What do Carole King, Judge Judy and Chris Rock have in common? They all went to James Madison High School in Midwood, Brooklyn. James Madison opened in 1925 and is a typical-looking New York City public school with an astonishing number of famous alumni, including Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Stanley Kaplan (founder of test prep company Kaplan, Inc.), form…

It’s a Friday night and people are lining the block of a bodega near Union Square at the corner of 14th Street and Seventh Avenue. But the line isn’t for bacon-egg-and-cheeses or packs of cigarettes — it’s full of die-hard comedy fans. Some regulars greet each other like old friends. Others, first-timers, nervously shuffle into the transformed spac…

A new podcast examines how we came to use sirens on all our emergency vehicles, and finds they might actually endanger more people than they help. Ben Naddaff-Hafrey is a senior producer, writer, and frequent co-host of the podcast "Revisionist History" with writer Malcolm Gladwell. He also lives across the street from a fire station in Brooklyn. H…

Eater New York recently released the 2025 edition of their best pizza slices in New York City list. Eater's Melissa McCart joins Weekend Edition host David Furst to hit the delicious highlights.

We are just two months away from the primary in the New Jersey governor's race. Early voting starts on June 3, and old-fashioned primary day voting is June 10. Kristoffer Shields, head of Rutgers' Eagleton Center on the American Governor joins Weekend Edition host David Furst for an update.

The National Transportation Safety Board is on the ground in New Jersey, trying to figure out why a tour helicopter fell apart in the sky and crashed into the Hudson River yesterday afternoon. The crash killed the pilot and a family of five who were visiting from Spain. The tragedy is renewing concerns over the number of helicopters in New York Cit…

Mourners will gather in Inwood on Friday to remember the victims of a fatal roof collapse at a nightclub in the Dominican Republic. Congressmember Adriano Espaillat will be among them. He represents Washington Heights and other parts of northern Manhattan and the Bronx in Congress. Both neighborhoods have huge populations with Dominican roots, and …

A jam-packed On The Way roundup of New York City transit news features breaking news on a deadly tourist helicopter crash in the Hudson River, the latest on congestion pricing, and the politics behind subway safety amid the mayoral campaign.

April is National Poetry Month. This past week on WNYC Morning Edition, we've asked for your poems on the theme of "history" inspired by historical happenings, real or imagined. Amy Penwell is a school library media specialist at Riverton School in New Jersey. Her third grade students recently participated in an online poetry workshop with Kate Mes…

It's the Politics Brief from WNYC. This week, Elizabeth Kim and Jon Campbell break down the latest out of New York City and Albany -- as rapid changes to tariff rates make economic outlooks unpredictable, and the federal government pulls more funding from the city.

New York City officials are trying out a novel way to move longtime residents of homeless shelters into new permanent housing — by guaranteeing most of their rent.

The New York region is in the midst of a historic housing crisis. Now, a new report says the region’s housing shortage could be made even worse due to the potential loss of up to 80-thousand homes over the next 15 years due to flooding. The study is called “Averting Crisis: Zoning to Create Resilient Homes for All,” and it comes from the Regional P…

LIU-Brooklyn told scholarship students at its new Roc Nation School they could graduate "without debt." But now, many say they're struggling to pay thousands of dollars in unexpected fees.

In one of the oldest railroad stories, folk legend John Henry races against a machine hammering holes for the construction of a railroad tunnel, only to die from exhaustion after just barely beating the machine. In the modern version of this tale, Google’s artificial intelligence algorithm could go up against the experienced ear of an MTA track mai…

Video and DVD stores are a thing of the past. Nearly all of them went out of businesses after the rise of Netflix and other streaming services. But two people are trying to bring the retro business model back to New York City. They’re opening a store in Williamsburg called Night Owl Video next Friday that will be selling everything from VHS to 4k U…

April is National Poetry Month and we have been putting listener poems on the air. The theme for the first week of April was "memoir," and for the second week was "history." Now, after several weeks of reflection, we're taking a look towards the future. Our new theme is "science fiction.” Take us to a different time, a different universe, or maybe …

New York City's subway system has a new map. On this week's On The Way roundup of transit news, the team gives a rundown of interesting details in the new design.

New York’s City Council says the city has more money to spend next year than the amount Mayor Adams laid out in his 2026 executive budget proposal. Council leadership is offering up a $117-billion dollar proposal of their own for the city’s next fiscal year, which starts in July. Justin Brannan is the chair of the city councils budget committee. He…

Its been a whirlwind 24 hours for New York City mayor Eric Adams. He saw the criminal case hanging over his head dismissed, and he announced to the world that he's running for re-election as an independent. WNYC's Jon Campbell joined Michael Hill to discuss what happens next, and how the crowded field for mayor is responding.…

As childcare becomes increasingly expensive, a study from the Rutgers Center for Women and Work, a member of the First 1,000 Days Policy Coalition, shows that changing the income requirement for childcare subsidies would help tens of thousands of working parents. Debra Lancaster, the center's Executive Director and Becky Logue-Conroy, a research an…

With his criminal case in the rearview mirror, Mayor Eric Adams is pivoting to his re-election campaign. He will run as an independent, eschewing a crowded Democratic primary. WNYC's Brittany Kriegstein has been speaking to voters in areas that supported Adams four years ago. She joined WNYC's Michael Hill to discuss what they're saying, and the hi…

Korissa Matta had two months to move out of her old apartment in the East Village in spring 2022. She wanted to use her local Buy Nothing group to give away her old stuff. But over the course of the summer, she was removed from the group twice for not responding quickly enough to an admin confirming that she still lived in the area. Matta said the …

Adams says he's running for mayor as an independent in the general election. In a video posted to social media, he says that the city needs independent leadership. His decision comes a day after a federal judge yesterday dismissed his corruption case for good. Dr. Christina Greer is a professor of political science at Fordham University in the Bron…

Today marks World Autism Day, an internationally recognized day to raise awareness of autism. Newark Airport recently opened a second “sensory room” in the airport’s Terminal A. It’s a calming room for neurodivergent travelers and travelers on the autism spectrum. The vice chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Jeff Lynford and g…