New York Times

The catastrophic spill of coal ash sludge in Tennessee is a wake-up call: there are more than 1,300 such dumps across the U.S., and, as a result of coal industry lobbying, no federal regulations for safe storage, reuse or disposal of the waste.

In a place as dynamic as New York City, balancing preservation with development pressure is no easy task.

A federal judge has put the kibosh on New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's plan to require taxi companies to use mostly hybrid vehicles by 2012.

Will Allen began Growing Power, an urban farming non-profit, in an ailing Milwaukee neighborhood in 1993. He has since spread the gospel of urban farming throughout the world, and earned a MacArthur Genius grant for his efforts.

Double-decker buses haven't been seen on New York streets since the 1970s. MTA is conducting a trial run for a month to see if they might be worth resurrecting.

Elected city officials in dozens of cities want to overturn term limits, saying current ones keep them from being able to tackle long-range projects.