"Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s administration announced on Wednesday that it would ban hydraulic fracturing in New York State because of concerns over health risks, ending years of debate over a method of extracting natural gas."

"BUFFALO -- The area around Buffalo, New York braced on Sunday for potential flooding as warming temperatures began to melt up to seven feet (2 meters) of snow that fell in a record snow storm last week in which 13 people died."

"Western New York state braced for a fresh wave of heavy snow on Wednesday after a freakish storm swept off the Great Lakes and deposited 5 feet (1.5 meters) of powder in parts of the region, killing at least six people and stranding motorists overnight."

"In an effort to halt dramatic declines in the cod population, federal officials overseeing the fishing industry on Monday announced unprecedented measures that effectively ban all commercial fishing of the region’s iconic species in the Gulf of Maine."

"Federal regulators shut down the commercial fishing season for northern shrimp in the Gulf of Maine for a second straight year on Wednesday, citing concerns about the declining population and warmer ocean temperatures."

"With only a week before voters go to the polls to decide on an open-space preservation plan, seldom has such a proposal caused as much of a rift on this issue -- one widely embraced in the past. Not this time."

"NEW YORK — After Superstorm Sandy, officials in New York and New Jersey vowed to make sure the unprecedented destruction wouldn't happen again. Two years later, would it?"