Eighty percent of New York City's pollutants come from buildings and 20 percent from transportation. This is a reversal from most cities, which see pollution from transportation rather than high density buildings, explains New York's Mayor Bloomberg. The mayor is in Sao Paolo, Brazil for a meeting on climate change. "There's an awful lot that has to be done on a national and an international level, says mayor Bloomberg. "But at the same time, mayors are held accountable to deliver services and are trying to do things at a local level."

Whether they are families of September 11 victims or just normal New Yorkers, a recent poll showed that the city is split over Park 51, the Islamic cultural center and mosque proposed a few blocks from Ground Zero, in lower Manhattan. Two-thirds of New Yorkers are against it, and less than one-third in favor. Mid-term election candidates have made the center an election issue, with politicians defending it as a First Amendment right or demanding that the city prevent the construction by taking over the site via "eminent domain." With all the controversy, emotions are running high. 

If you could decide whether or not the center were built at that location, how would you make your decision?

Yesterday New York City's Landmarks Preservation Committee effectively greenlighted the proposed Muslim Center two blocks from Ground Zero by unanimously voting not to give historic protection to the existing building on the center's proposed building site. Takeaway listeners on both sides of the issue responded to the building of the Cordoba Center in downtown Manhattan.

Steve King reached us via email:

"If we really want to strike a blow against al-Qaida, we should embrace moderate muslims even near the 'hallowed ground' spoken about in the show. Christians and Jews and folks of other faiths could walk over at lunchtime and shake some hands. Take that, Bin Laden!"

The proposal for a new Islamic center to be built just two blocks from Ground Zero could move forward, today. New York City's Landmarks Preservation Commission will most likely vote against granting protected status to the 152-year-old building, which would allow the proposed center to replace it.

When you think of the biggest natural disasters in U.S. history, what are the first things that come to mind? Certainly Hurricane Katrina, maybe one of the several San Francisco earthquakes, the great Chicago fire. However, most people have never heard of one of the most lethal: the heat wave of 1896.

This afternoon a House ethics panel will lay out the charges against Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), who, at 80 years old, is one of the longest-serving members of Congress. Rep. Rangel has represented Harlem since 1970, when he ousted the legendary Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Both men had long, storied careers representing what may be the country’s most famous African-American neighborhood, home to Malcolm X, Marcus Garvey, Langston Hughes, and many others. But a lot has changed in Harlem since Powell, Jr. was elected in 1945. We look back at the history of Harlem politics and the power of the "Gang of Four."

American Beat poet, author, cartoonist and musician Tuli Kupferberg died this week at the age of 86. Although Kupferberg wasn't a household name, his band, The Fugs, ran in the same circles as The Velvet Underground, Andy Warhol and Frank Zappa and the "Mothers of Invention."

Our conversation about surveillance cameras touched a nerve among our listeners, as many wrote and called in. Takeaway digital editor Jim Colgan took to the New York streets to ask people whether they knew they were being observed...

Federal authorities arrested a suspect allegedly responsible for a car bomb that was left to detonate in New York's Times Square on Saturday. The 30-year-old man, Faisal Shahzad was apprehended while trying to board an airplane to Dubai. NYPD Deputy Commissioner for Public Information Paul Browne explains the arrest.

The Department of Homeland Security recently announced changes in its approach to passenger screenings at airports, in an effort to increase security after the failed bomb plot on Christmas Day. However, statistically, it is more likely that a terrorist would target a subway system or public buses than an airplane. And a week after two coordinated bombings on the Moscow subway, many cities are concerned about securing their surface-level public transportation systems. 

When you see a favorite local retailer close down, you often wonder what might have happened if you'd stepped in to help drive business. A group of retailers in Harlem are trying a new way to stay afloat in the face of the bad economy. In the latest episode of "The Value," Farai Chideya reports on an initiative called The Power of One.

The FBI is reporting that crime fell nationally in the first six months of 2009, when compared to the same time last year. The decline happening in the midst of a terrible recession and high unemployment. With those factors, people usually expect crime to increase... So what's going on? To help answer that is New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly. And while crime went down nationally it also rose someplace you might not expect it to – Seattle, WA. Jonah Spangenthal-Lee from SeattleCrime.com looks at why Seattle's crime is rising.

One of the most frequent arguments against allowing the trials of self-professed 9/11 'mastermind' Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four of his accused associates to proceed in civilian court is that the trial will give the men a platform from which to spew anti-American propaganda. Ron Kuby, a criminal defense attorney with experience in terrorism cases, says Khalid Sheikh Mohammed will probably toe the al-Qaida party line – speaking out from the stand on whatever is the "issue du jour," be it Palestine, Iraq or Afghanistan.

We also spoke with Ed MacMahon, the court-appointed attorney for Zacarias Moussaoui. MacMahon says no federal judge will allow Mohammed, or any of the accused, to act out of turn in court. But that's not the only terror-related news today. A federal judge unsealed charges against eight men who are accused of recruiting young Somali-Americans to join an Islamic insurgency in Somalia. It's a complicated story and to break it down we speak to Abdi Aynte, an editor with Voice of America. Aynte used to cover the Somali community in Minnesota.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder yesterday defended his decision to try self-professed 9/11 'mastermind' Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in a civilian court in New York City, rather than a military tribunal. In a heated exchange with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Holder speculated on whether this trial will set a precedent for how future terror suspects are treated. At one point, Graham asked whether the U.S. would have to read Osama Bin Laden his Miranda Rights if he was caught. James Cohen, a professor at Fordham Law School who is defending two Guantánamo Bay detainees says that Graham's question made the news, but that it's a moot point.

(click through for a transcript of Holder and Graham's exchange.)

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-described mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, and four other men accused in the plot will be prosecuted in federal court in New York City, a federal law enforcement official said earlier today.

Joining us to discuss the implications of this announcement on the president's promise to close Guantánamo Bay is Jonathan Mahler, contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine and author of the book "The Challenge: How a Maverick Navy Officer and a Young Law Professor Risked Their Careers to Defend the Constitution — and Won."

Today on The Takeaway, we speak to the outgoing restaurant critic for The New York Times, Frank Bruni. Just as his stint on the food beat ends, he’s coming out with a book about his lifelong struggle with bulimia called “Born Round: The Secret History of a Full-Time Eater.” Click through for the full interview transcript.

The Takeaway checks in on Sonia Sotomayor's old stomping ground: the Bronx. Joining the conversation are Mary McKinney, founder of the Concerned Residents Organization in the Soundview section of the Bronx; Agnes Rivera, with Community Voices Heard, a low-income public housing campaign; and Orlando Plaza, owner of Camaradas del Barrio restaurant in East Harlem.

The average salary for middle-school teachers is $46,000, according to the Department of Labor. But a charter school in New York’s Washington Heights will be paying a salary of $125,000, trying to find out if better pay means a better education. Zeke Vanderhoek, the founder and principal of the charter school The Equity Project (TEP) joins The Takeaway to talk about the school. The Takeaway also has Joe Williams, Executive Director of Democrats for Education Reform, to talk about whether paying teachers a high salary would improve public schools in the long run.

The four men accused of planning a terror attack on two synagogues in the Bronx and on military planes on a nearby air force base were arraigned in Federal Court in upstate New York yesterday. They had been under investigation by the FBI, the joint terrorism task force and by the New York City Police Department. The NYPD has been working hard for several years to sharpen its approach to uncovering home-grown terrorist plots. Joining The Takeaway is Lydia Khalil, she served as a counter terrorism analyst for the NYPD from 2006 to 2008 and is an International Affairs Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.

For New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's comments on the work of the NYPD, watch the video below.

After an elaborate sting operation by the FBI, four men were arrested in an alleged plot to bomb two synagogues in the Bronx and to use Stinger missiles against military planes at Stewart Air Force base in Newburgh, New York. In our continuing coverage of the plot, we turn to Bob Ayers, a defense and security expert.