NEW YORK (Reuters) – A high-ranking Democratic New York State senator was arrested on Tuesday and charged with trying to buy a place on the Republican ticket in the city’s next mayoral race, an effort that prosecutors said was part of a wide-ranging bribery scandal and reflected pervasive corruption in New York politics.

Five other politicians, all Republicans, were also arrested and charged with collectively accepting more than $100,000 in bribes in meetings in parked cars, hotel rooms and state offices, according to court papers.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A high-ranking Democratic New York State senator was arrested on Tuesday and charged with trying to buy a place on the Republican ticket in city’s next mayoral race, an effort that prosecutors said was part of a wide-ranging bribery scandal and reflected pervasive corruption in New York politics.

Five other politicians, all Republicans, were also arrested and charged with collectively accepting more than $100,000 in bribes in meetings in parked cars, hotel rooms and state offices, according to court papers.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg marked the tenth anniversary on Wednesday of his ban on smoking in bars and restaurants with a report saying the ban and subsequent anti-smoking measures had prevented 10,000 premature deaths.

“Ten years ago when New York City prohibited smoking in restaurants and bars, many predicted the end of the hospitality, restaurant and tourism industries,” Bloomberg said in a statement.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Vice President Joe Biden and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg joined parents of Newtown massacre victims on Thursday to urge Congress to enact gun-control laws, chastising the Senate for failing to support a ban on assault weapons.

The vice president and the mayor, two of the nation’s most prominent gun-control advocates, were joined at a City Hall news conference by relatives of victims killed by a gunman at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, on December 14.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Monday proposed banning retail stores from displaying cigarettes as part of his effort to reduce smoking rates in the city.

Bloomberg, who has taken aggressive steps to curb smoking in public places and promote health with various restrictions on restaurants, plans to introduce to the City Council on Wednesday two bills that would require retailers to keep cigarettes in a drawer or other concealed location.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The mother of a teenage boy fatally shot by New York police called on Thursday for an end to violence and the rising tensions that have erupted between police and angry residents and resulted in dozens of arrests.

Kimani Gray, 16, was shot by two police officers late on Saturday in Brooklyn’s East Flatbush neighborhood after police said he pointed a handgun at them. His family disputes that account, saying it was unlikely he was carrying a weapon. Police said a gun was found at the scene.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A dolphin swam up New York City’s East River on Wednesday where it appeared to be doing fine despite straying from its more usual ocean habitat, officials said.

Until biologists get a closer look, it is hard to say whether it is a common dolphin, an Atlantic bottlenose dolphin, a white-sided dolphin or a white-beaked dolphin, said Kimberly Durham, the rescue program director at the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The National Football League and General Electric Co are teaming up to improve the diagnosis and treatment of brain injuries amid growing concerns about sports-related concussions in youth and professional sports.

On Monday they announced a $60 million effort with leading neurologists to speed up research into brain injuries and the development of new technologies to help protect the brain from traumatic injury to benefit athletes, the military and the broader public.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A son-in-law of Osama bin Laden pleaded not guilty in a New York court on Friday to conspiring to kill Americans, becoming one of the highest-ranking al Qaeda figures to face trial in the United States for crimes connected to the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Suleiman Abu Ghaith, a militant who has acted in videos as an al Qaeda spokesman, made his initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, only blocks from the site of the hijacked plane strikes on the World Trade Center.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A son-in-law of Osama bin Laden who acted as a spokesman for al Qaeda, pleaded not guilty in federal court on Friday to conspiracy to kill Americans.

Suleiman Abu Ghaith, a militant who appeared in videos representing al Qaeda after the September 11, 2001 attacks, made his initial appearance in a Manhattan courthouse only blocks from the site of the World Trade Center.