This week, a major rainstorm left several New York City subway stations flooded with water. The 28th Street stop on the 1 line in Manhattan got it especially rough. Videos on social media show water shooting up out of a manhole on the station's platform like a geyser. It's not the first time this has happened, and the city's precolonial topography is at least part of the reason why. WNYC's Ramsey Khalifeh joins Weekend Edition host David Furst to talk about why this station is so prone to severe flooding.

A crowded race for New York City mayor is, officially, now even more crowded. Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo will campaign as an independent.

After losing the Democratic primary to Zohran Mamdani, he will now once again face Mamdani, along with Republican Curtis Sliwa and fellow independent - and current mayor - Eric Adams in the general election this fall.

Nick Reisman covers New York state government and politics for Politico. Speaking with Weekend Edition host David Furst, he has the latest on an eventful summer in the mayor's race.

The 28th Street station floods in spectacular fashion during heavy rain. Why is it so hard to fix? That and more in this week's On The Way roundup of transit news. 

The congestion-pricing program that charges drivers who enter Manhattan below 60th street had sparked concerns among some communities who worried that it could incentivize drivers to go through other, already congested parts of the city, exacerbating air quality conditions there.  A new report from the New York City Department of Health's Air Quality Program examines the effects of congestion pricing on fine particle air pollution in and around the tolling zone in the first few months of the program.

Sarah Johnson, Executive Director of the city Air Quality Program, joined WNYC host Michael Hill to unpack this initial data.

Spotted lanternflies are back in New York City this summer... and for the foreseeable future.

When they started showing up in the region about a half-decade ago, the advice to New Yorkers was direct: Stomp the little bugs. But researchers and state officials say that's essentially futile at this point.

Kristin Winchell is an assistant professor of biology at NYU. She joined WNYC's Michael Hill to explain why the invasive species is something we’re all going to get used to.  

This week's Politics Brief takes listeners inside Zohran Mamdani's meeting with New York City business leaders.

An explosive lawsuit against Mayor Eric Adams and top brass at the NYPD is coming from an unusual plaintiff: the former New York City Police Commissioner.  

Tom Donlon, who served briefly as interim Commissioner last year, is alleging a widespread culture of corruption and even criminal activity in the Department. WNYC's Ben Feuerherd talked with WNYC's Sean Carlson more about it. 

At Fairmont Neighborhood School in the Bronx last week, an eagle-eyed kindergartener just tall enough to peer over a row of elevated flower beds spotted a small red bulb covered with tiny seeds.

“The strawberries are growing!” he exclaimed as the rest of his Bronx summer school classmates rushed over to see the plant.

Thirty miles south on Staten Island’s North Shore, residents lined up for a bag of affordable fruits and vegetables, filled with items they can’t always find in their neighborhood and recipes to learn how to cook with them.

“There's so little access to fresh produce, and groceries are hideously priced,” said Sarah Blas, who picked up food with her twin 9-year-old daughters.

For the last decade, these dual programs run by the nonprofit Children’s Aid have taught families how to eat healthier on a budget. But now, under President Donald Trump’s new spending bill, the long-standing initiatives and others like them across the state will shut down by October, unless they find a way to plug the funding gap.

Trump’s massive tax cut bill is meant to cut waste, fraud and abuse. It slashes federal spending on social safety net programs like Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, that help low-income people pay for groceries. It also cuts SNAP’s educational arm, known as SNAP-Ed. For the last 32 years, that funding has helped low-income families learn how to cook nutritious meals on a limited income.

New York will lose $29 million in SNAP-Ed dollars, state officials said. The programs helped more than 2.2 million residents last year fight food insecurity and improve their health through nutritionists, obesity prevention training, workshops on reducing local food waste, healthy cooking and improving access to fresh produce, according to the state.

Construction of a nine-story luxury apartment building next door to the Prospect Park Stable is stressing out its 11 horses, according to owner John Quadrozzi Jr., 63.

New York City Mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani is a self-proclaimed Democratic socialist who is campaigning on the promise of raising taxes on the city’s top 1-percent of earners. But he’s also spending his day with some of the city’s business elite. The meeting was organized by the pro-business group the Partnership for New York City. 

The group’s President and CEO is Kathryne Wylde, talked with WNYC's Sean Carlson more on how the meeting went.