Urbanite

The city's commemorating a decade of complaints and questions Monday night with a special Empire State tribute.

The 311 call center launched on March 11, 2003 and changed the way New Yorkers and the government interact.

There have been more than 157 million calls since the service, which was Mayor Mike Bloomberg's brainchild, went live.

The Empire State Building will be lit yellow...

This weekend kicked off the start of St. Patrick's Day celebrations in the city, and the who's who of political players got a few walking miles in.

Mayor Bloomberg and a score of his potential successors marched in the Rockaways St. Patrick's Day parade on Saturday and the Sunnyside parade Sunday.

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, City Comptroller John Liu and GOP mayoral candidate...

Superstorm Sandy victims have a little more time to apply for aid.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Tuesday that the federal government approved his request to extend the deadline to register for FEMA funding to March 29.

The previous deadline was Wednesday, but the governor said there were still millions of people that haven't applied despite suffering serious damage from the Oct. 29 storm.

"This...

Businesses looking to rebound from Superstorm Sandy will have a little less hassle rebuilding.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg signed an executive order Thursday that eliminated various construction fees for stores that were in the hardest hit areas of the Oct. 29 storm.

Businesses will still have to fill out the necessary paperwork for things such as construction permits, plumbing, and business...

The clock is ticking for financial relief for Superstorm Sandy victims.

The deadline for the U.S. Small Business Administration's disaster relief loans is Feb. 27.

The low-interest loans can help pay for property damage and other financial burdens caused by the Oct. 29 storm that battered the city.

The SBA has doled out more than one billion dollars for 15,216 applicants so far....

The City Council introduced legislation Wednesday that would make sure that anyone who storm proofs their home does it safely.

The bill would require construction crews to tell the Department of Buildings that a home would have to be elevated within 48 hours of job so that DOB officials could monitor the work.

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn said the bill was made in response to...

The City Council district that represents some of the communities hit hardest by Superstorm Sandy is up for grabs Tuesday.

Eight candidates will vie for the seat that represents the 31st Council District in southeast Queens in a special election. James Sanders left the position with one year left in his third term last month after he was elected to state senate.

Former City Councilman...

A day after delivering the Republican response to President Barack Obama's State of the Union, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) implied the government couldn't do anything to ward off the effects of global warming.

"We can pass a bunch of laws that will destroy our economy, but it isn't going to change the weather," Rubio said on "Fox and Friends" Wednesday.

Rubio also commented...

New York's mild winter is about to get a lot more intense.

The National Weather Service issued a blizzard warning for the city beginning Friday afternoon and lasting until 1 p.m. on Saturday that will dump anywhere from 10 to 14 inches of snow on the five boroughs.

News of the storm, which the NWS dubbed Nemo, sent some New Yorkers into panic mode as they scrambled to stores to stock...

Mayor Michael Bloomberg began his outreach efforts geared toward letting people know about the $1.8 billion in Sandy relief money at one of the Staten Island businesses that quickly bounced back from damage.

Bloomberg, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan and Karen Mills, the head of the U.S. Small Business Administration, shared a slice of pizza at Goodfella's Pizzeria Wednesday after the mayor announced...