"Residents of Moonachie and Little Ferry, N.J., are beginning to clear the damage after their communities were inundated by floodwaters. The flooding occurred when a system of levees and berms was unable to control the storm surge pushed ashore by Superstorm Sandy."

"As Hurricane Sandy pushed floodwater through New York's streets and into its subways, many wondered how the city's infamous rat population would fare -- sink or swim?"

"The hillside vineyards of New York's Finger Lakes region make money producing fine Rieslings and inviting tourists to sip white wine by the water's edge. Now winery owners are worried about the prospect of a grittier kind of economic development: gas drilling."

"TARRYTOWN, N.Y. -- A federal hearing that could decide the future of a nuclear plant in the New York City suburbs began Monday on a less-than-dramatic note."

Efforts to remove 17 miles of dioxin-laced muck contaminating New Jersey's Passaic River seem to have failed.

"NEW BEDFORD -- A long-departed manufacturing company will pay $366 million to clean the PCB-laden harbor here, the largest cash settlement for a single site in the history of the federal Superfund program, government officials announced Wednesday."

"NEW BEDFORD -- The Evangelical Church of the Nations has spent five years waiting. Waiting to learn if it can move, waiting to learn if it can build an addition, waiting to learn if the church land is a safe place for children to play."

"BINGHAMTON -- Broome County Executive Debbie Preston has been a consistent supporter of natural gas drilling in the Southern Tier, but challenger Tarik Abdelazim speaks passionately against hydrofracking until more studies are done."