Society

It was only a few nights after the Occupy protesters began sleeping in his church sanctuary when Pastor Bob Brashears realized that his laptop was missing. The refugees from Manhattan’s Zuccotti Park had found their way to his cavernous Presbyterian church on a cold winter evening, hoping to stay for a few nights, maybe longer. It was the latest stopover for the nomadic group, which has been living in a rotating series of churches since Mayor Michael Bloomberg shut down their camp in November.

For the first time, New York City is closing a charter school for the offense of simply being mediocre.

A diabetic man with a penchant for sugary drinks who lost his legs to amputation is the latest posterboy in the city health department's hard-hitting anti-obesity campaign.

Imagine opera singers accompanied by Klezmer musicians, a rock and roll band or Yo-Yo Ma. George Steel can. The artistic director and general manager of New York City Opera told unionized singers and musicians that he wants the flexibility to present nontraditional works, giving them less work. That demand contributed to a collapse in labor talks and a lockout of artists a month before the company's first 2012 performance.