A New York state government committee recommended Monday that three downstate casino projects — one in the Bronx and two in Queens — be awarded casino gaming licenses. Plus, the future of a historic, crumbling church building on the Upper West Side will be determined next week.

A Staten Island lawmaker wants drivers in his borough exempted from New York City’s right-on-red ban. Meanwhile, New York City Councilmember Julie Menin says she’s secured enough votes to be the Council’s next Speaker.

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman says he is installing surveillance along the Long Island and Queens border after Zohran Mamdani’s election as New York City mayor. Meanwhile in New Jersey, two sisters died in a Thanksgiving Day house fire while helping their father escape. Also, New York City is asking volunteers to help review archival records that document the region’s history of slavery from the seventeen hundreds through eighteen thirty eight. Finally, Columbia University historian Kim Phillips Fein explains the long history of socialist ideas in New York City and how that past shapes the debate around Mayor elect Mamdani’s policy proposals.

Time is running out for the city to stay on schedule with its plan to demolish part of a public housing complex in Chelsea. Meanwhile, Downtown Manhattan has gone from “taco wasteland” to ‘taco revolution,” that’s according to food critic Robert Sietsema. He talks with WNYC’s David Furst and makes the argument that great tacos are now very much on the menu in the neighborhood.

New Yorkers across the boroughs are preparing for an expected crackdown by U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the city. Plus,  the Criterion Channel is streaming a collection of family reunion movies this month including the indie classic “Pieces of April.”

Months into the first school year since New York banned smartphones in school, students are talking to each other more than they used to. Meanwhile, Gov. Phil Murphy wants New Jersey to pass similar legislation to ban cell phones in schools across the Garden State.

A federal judge has agreed to throw out a criminal mortgage fraud case against New York Attorney General Letitia James. Plus, a majority of tenants at a supportive housing unit in Far Rockaway have been sent to eviction court within the past two years.

Mayor elect Zohran Mamdani met with President Trump at the White House, where both described common ground on affordability and public safety. Meanwhile, New Jersey has set dates for the special election to fill governor elect Mikie Sherrill’s vacant House seat. Also, Penn Station’s future is back in the spotlight as federal planners court private sector support. Plus, we hear from the artist behind Mamdani’s signature campaign font.

Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani plans to meet with President Trump Friday in Washington DC following months of tension. Plus, Mayor Adams' office says New York City has reached its life expectancy goal of 83 years. And finally, a New York City education panel voted to give some of the largest school-bus companies a three-year contract extension. The extension comes as school bus horror stories persist.

NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch accepts Mayor-elect Mamdani’s job offer in his new administration. The fight over the future of Elizabeth Street Garden is heading to court, and Coney Island polar bear plunge registration opens.