Barack Obama has just become the first president to openly endorse gay marriage. Jimmy LaSavia is the co-founder of GoProud, a national organization that calls themselves “the voice of gay conservatives.” LaSalvia’s vote is set for candidate Mitt Romney, but he says there’s a positive side to the President’s announcement earlier this week.    

New York City is the battleground for a historic election this year. Most of the candidates are New Yorkers, though the winners won’t be going to Washington or Albany. They’ll be headed to Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic. A constitutional change there that takes effect this year will give the Dominicans abroad–about [...]

The use of stop and frisk by the New York City Police Department has reached an all time high. The NYPD reports that in 2011 officers made almost 700,000 stops. This week the New York Civil Liberties Union responded with a report criticizing the practice, highlighting that police found weapons on less than two percent [...]

When dementia sets in, it’s often thought that all is lost. But staff at the Studio Museum in Harlem doesn’t think so. It has a program to provide art therapy to Alzheimer’s patients, which is meant to keep moods up and minds active. Some hope the program might lessen the need for medication to fight [...]

A leafy little block of west 107th street is pretty quiet 22 hours day of the day. But around noon on school days, weather permitting, the street closes to traffic and opens to children on recess. It’s all over in a couple of hours, but some block residents say the students’ playtime is no fun [...]

Three million New Yorkers live too far from grocery stores, according to the city. Experts call these areas “food deserts”. That’s because it’s difficult for residents to find fresh groceries. And as a result, they’re more prone to health problems like diabetes and obesity. A city program is trying to tackle the issue. SLOTKIN A [...]

The Chelsea Hotel is one of the most durable symbols of bohemian Manhattan. But lately, the atmosphere there has turned toxic. Last year, a real estate developer bought the Chelsea, and began renovations intended to turn the counterculture institution into a luxury hotel. Residents filed suit, alleging that the construction had led to health violations [...]

“Man of La Mancha” is the musical adapted from Cervantes’ Don Quixote, about the deluded hero who charges windmills on horseback. Commentator Ben Bradford feels for the Don–he has his own windmill.

J.P. Morgan Chase made it through the financial crisis relatively unscathed. And its CEO, Jamie Dimon [dye-mon] was supposed to be untouchable. But yesterday, the firm announced that it had taken a two-billion dollar loss on a massive trade that backfired. Dimon called the bank’s strategy “poorly executed and poorly monitored.”

Thousands of college students will walk the stage this month at graduations across the country. And the majority of them will be looking for a job. But if the past few years are any indication, they could be in for an unpleasant surprise! Researchers at Rutgers University surveyed graduates from the past 6 years and [...]

HOST INTRO:  Next week the people behind your favorite voices at Uptown Radio will graduate. For all of us, a diploma from Columbia means the opportunity to go onto bigger things in journalism. Commentator Acacia Squires is realizing this also means big debt. SQUIRES: I was twenty-five and I’d just been promoted. I had a [...]

Dying is an expensive business – today the average funeral costs 8,000 dollars. A hundred years ago, Jewish immigrants to New York shared that financial burden by forming burial societies, where members paid small yearly dues to reserve a grave site near their loved ones. Today, those 15,000 societies are in unregulated decline – or [...]

  HOST INTRO Another potential 2013 candidate for mayor has blasted Mayor Bloomberg for his 2013 budget. The budget would cut the number of contracts awarded for after school and early child care programs by about half. In the week since the mayor unveiled his budget, educators and parents have taken to the streets to [...]

One of the most popular genres of video games are first-person shooters, like the Halo and Call of Duty series. Millions of players compete against each other in virtual warfare, online. Amidst the violence, an unusual sub-culture has emerged. HOST INTRO: One of the most popular genres of video games are first-person shooters, war games [...]

Before Pappa’s Got A Brand New Bag, It’s A Man’s, Man’s, Man’s World and Sex Machine, James Brown wasn’t quite the megastar we remember. But that all changed 50 years ago this fall. That’s when James Brown recorded a show at Harlem’s Apollo Theatre which later became a seminal live album. To mark that anniversary, [...]