WNYC News

Mayor Zohran Mamdani marked his first public event at Gracie Mansion with a St. Patrick’s Day breakfast where his guest of honor was Mary Robinson, the first female president of Ireland and an outspoken advocate for Palestinians in Gaza. The holiday evoked the way immigrant stories have shaped New York. Also this week, Dylan Contreras, a high schooler in the Bronx, was released by federal immigration officials from detention. He was 20 when he became the first New York City public school student detained during President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown last year.

Meredith Trainor’s daughter was 11 months old when caseworkers from New York City’s Administration for Children’s Services took her from Trainor's arms without a court order, according to a federal lawsuit in the Eastern District of New York this week.

Trainor argues her daughter’s removal — which led to a five-day separation and monthslong Family Court case — was unlawful. Her lawsuit accuses the city of violating her and her daughter’s constitutional rights.

Emergency removals, which happen without a court order, are meant to be a last resort when caseworkers fear a child faces imminent danger. But city data shows these types of removals occur on a regular basis — accounting for about half of abuse and neglect removals each year. Trainor’s daughter was one of the more than 1,300 children ACS separates from their parents without a court order each year, according to the agency’s data.

Trainor’s lawsuit argues ACS is exploiting the emergency removal system. It claims the agency is pressuring caseworkers to remove children when there isn’t actually an emergency to protect its reputation.

“There’s really nothing scarier for a parent than having the government come to your door, forcibly take your kid from you, not be sure where they’re going, not be sure when you’re going to see them again,” said Max Selver, an associate attorney at Emery Celli who is representing Trainor in the civil lawsuit. “That level of trauma being inflicted on families, I think, needs to be taken incredibly seriously.”

The law department and the mayor’s office referred Gothamist to ACS, which said in a statement that the agency “is committed to keeping families together whenever that is safely possible.”

“Emergency removals are only considered in circumstances where all other options are ruled out, and teams of highly trained child protective staff determine that a child is in imminent danger and that there is not enough time to get a court order,” said ACS spokesperson Marisa Kaufman. “In more than 97% of child protection cases, children are not removed from their homes.”

A dispatch from Fifth Avenue, where Mayor Mamdani marched in his first St. Patrick's Day Parade. 

In Washington Square Park, everyone has main character energy.

On any given day, dozens of young people scour the downtown park with smartphones and microphones, looking for people to interview. Buskers and dog walkers increasingly compete for space with tripods, even in corners of the park with well-earned reputations for grittiness.

The park, which for decades was known as a hub of counterculture and an anchor for protests in the city, has now been overrun with social media influencers looking to go viral.

Much of the country got an introduction last month to Washington Square Park’s latest incarnation as a major stage for aspiring social media stars after a popular social media channel promoted a snowball fight. The account Sidetalk put out an invite to its 2 million followers to come to the park. The impromptu event drew hundreds of revelers, many of them social media influencers themselves.

Taher, 23, was among dozens of Muslim firefighters and EMS workers who gathered in the fire department headquarters in Brooklyn. Massed around tables lined with golden crescent moon figurines, they passed around plastic water bottles and paper plates of dates, and broke their fasts with Mayor Zohran Mamdani, the city’s first Muslim mayor. Read the full story here.

The NYPD is changing its method for tabulating the number of hate crimes occurring in the city. The announcement comes one month after the police department reported a 152-percent spike in hate crimes. But some experts say the new reporting method is less transparent and less accurate.

Frank Pezzella is a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the author of the book “The Measurement of Hate Crimes in America.” Brendan Lantz is the director of the Hate Crime Research and Policy Institute at Florida State University. They both join WNYC's Sean Carlson to talk more about it.

For months, Staten Island residents and environmental officials have tried and failed to identify the source of a stench described as a revolting combo of rotten eggs and broccoli.

The 2026 budget dance is well underway in New York and New Jersey. And for governors who made affordability a central part of their identity, it may be especially tricky this year. 

In the Garden State, Governor Mikie Sherrill unveiled her first budget this week with a boost for education but also an eye on belt tightening. In New York, Democratic state lawmakers are backing Mayor Mamdani's proposal to tax the rich. But that flies in the face of Governor Hochul saying she would oppose any income-tax increases.

WNYC reporters Jon Campbell and Michael Sol Warren join Weekend Edition host David Furst with the latest.

It's mid March. And that means spring is just around the corner. But in the sports world, that also means madness is in the air.

The women's and men's NCAA college basketball March Madness tournaments kick off this coming week. And there are still a few conference tournaments to wrap up, including the Big East championship game between St. John's University and UConn at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, March 14.

Sports reporter Priya Desai joins Weekend Edition host David Furst to get us ready for the mayhem.

The New York City Council is forming a new caucus to represent all the city’s animals and those who care for them in the city.

Councilmember Harvey Epstein, who represents parts of Midtown and Lower Manhattan and will help lead this caucus, talked with WNYC's Sean Carlson more about the new caucus.