Hanging Out to Dry

A city union saved 200 hospital launderers’ jobs with an innovative deal. The catch? They’ll be spending the next year competing load-for-load with a private company–and only the cheapest gets to stay alive.

HRA Butts In

Work makes you free–especially if you’re toiling away in an ergonomically engineered $749 chair.

SEATS OF POWER

Fit for a king–or at least a CEO–the Herman Miller Aeron chair is a marvel of ergonomics and engineering. So of course the city’s welfare agency had to have several dozen.

POISON FOR THE POOR

Industrial strength pesticides meant only for licensed exterminators are sold on the street in poor neighborhoods in New York–and they could be a leading cause of asthma.