New York

Updated at 5:28 p.m. ET

Jeffrey Epstein, the wealthy financier accused of sex trafficking, was found unresponsive in his jail cell by an apparent suicide at approximately 6:30 a.m. Saturday, the Federal Bureau of Prisons said in a statement.

Epstein was transported by EMS from the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan to a local hospital for treatment of life-threatening injuries. He was subsequently pronounced dead by hospital staff.

The FBI is investigating.

Updated at 6:35 p.m. ET

Federal prosecutors have charged multimillionaire Jeffrey Epstein with sex trafficking of minors and paying victims to recruit other underage girls, accusing Epstein of creating a network that allowed him to sexually abuse dozens of young victims.

Prosecutors in the Southern District of New York announced two counts against Epstein on Monday morning: one count of sex trafficking conspiracy and one count of sex trafficking, according to the indictment.

Epstein appeared in court Monday afternoon and pleaded not guilty.

As the number of confirmed measles cases in New York continues to tick up, one county is determined to stem the spread of the disease by keeping it out of public spaces.

New York will likely become the first major city in the U.S. to implement a charge for motorists entering its most traffic-clogged streets.

The plan? To reduce gridlock while generating revenue for the city's stressed transit system.

State lawmakers approved the deal on Sunday night, and the new tolls are slated to go into effect in 2021. The tolling is expected to generate $15 billion, dedicated to funding the MTA, New York's transit authority.

Amazon's announcement, last year, that it is building a new headquarters in Queens, received mixed reactions.

Some were excited about the tens of thousands of jobs the tech juggernaut is promising to bring to the New York City borough. Others wonder if they will even get access to those jobs, and if the area's already overburdened infrastructure can handle the influx of population.

An explosive device was found at the Westchester County, New York, home of billionaire philanthropist George Soros on Monday afternoon.

In a statement to NPR, the Bedford Police Department said an employee of the house found a suspicious package in the mailbox. They opened it, revealing what "appeared to be an explosive device." The employee placed the package in a nearby wooded area and alerted authorities.

Seventeen years after it was destroyed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, New York City's Cortlandt Street subway station has at long last reopened.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which runs the city's subway system, unveiled the reconstructed station on Saturday, just three days before the anniversary of the attack.

On Sept. 11th, 2001, Joe Dittmar was on the 105th floor of the World Trade Center's South Tower for a business meeting when the terrorist attacks started.

Dittmar, then 44, had been visiting New York City from Aurora, Ill., a Chicago suburb, where he worked in the insurance industry.

Before the meeting began, the first plane hit the North Tower, and Dittmar saw the hellish aftermath from a South Tower window.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is blocking research trips and other public visits to Plum Island, according to the environmental advocacy group Save the Sound.

The federal government owns the island off Long Island’s North Fork -- it’s been used for an animal disease research lab for 60 years. In 2008, they decided to move the lab to Kansas and sell Plum Island.

The newspaper publishing company Tronc has moved to slash the New York Daily News newsroom, announcing cuts of 50 percent to the paper's editorial staff, according to an internal memo obtained by NPR and other news outlets.

The staff learned of the cuts Monday morning from a memo emailed from the paper's "talent engagement" account. It said the moves were necessary to seize the opportunities of digital news and financial challenges ahead. A Tronc spokeswoman confirmed the veracity of the memo.

Updated at 12:35 a.m. ET

National progressives scored a major coup over the Democratic establishment Tuesday night as 28-year-old activist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez upset House Democratic Caucus chairman and longtime New York Rep. Joe Crowley.