After eight Black elected officials from Southeast Queens put out a joint statement saying they were endorsing Andrew Cuomo for mayor, three of them said that, actually, they’re not doing that (and, in one case, won’t be ranking Cuomo at all). Guest Jeff Coltin of Politico New York, who broke that story over the weekend, talks with hosts Christina …

Vital City founder Liz Glazer talks about her group's ambitious new memo on What To Do (and Not To Do) About Subway Safety — and why the answer isn't gun detection technology, surging officers into the system or more fare-evasion enforcement. Plus, Katie Honan and Harry Siegel gab about the mayoral fund-raising numbers and the state of the race — i…

Ramos also delved into her position as “a labor Democrat… in a lane of my own,” her “plan to call for a mental health emergency on day one of my mayoralty,” the city’s “new Gilded Age” and the battle for a casino license here (“Andrew Carnegie, who wasn’t as rich as Steve Cohen is today, by the way he built 2,500 public libraries”), and much more I…

In 1951, Frankie King of James Madison High was a Brooklyn legend, the youngest basketball player ever to make first-team all city before he withdrew from public life while remaining in and of the city — writing pornography for the mob to pay the rent, ambitious novels in his own voice and then a million-book-selling “cozy cat” series under the pen…

While Andrew Cuomo tops the early polls, Council Speaker Adrienne Adams is officially running for mayor and Mayor Eric Adams seems to be going through the motions. As New Yorkers try to make sense of the dizzying election shaping up here amid an unprecedented second Trump presidency that seems to be taking direct aim at the city and in its institut…

"Democrats in general tend to show up to gun fights with bar graphs," Queens Assemblymember and mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani said as he sat down with the FAQ NYC crewto make his case. That boils down, he explained, to driving down the cost of living for New Yorkers and "less lecturing, more listening." In a wide-ranging interview — the latest i…

There’s a direct line from the Transit Police beating Michael Stewart to death in front of horrified art students to Eric Adams being elected mayor — one that intersects with Madonna, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Spike Lee and Tucker Carlson. Journalist Elon Green, the author of The Man Nobody Killed: Life, Death, and Art in Michael Stewart's New York, th…

Sally Goldernberg, senior New York editor for Politico, talks with hosts Christina Greer and Harry Siegel about Andrew Cuomo (finally) entering the mayor's race this weekend with a sometimes grim, nearly 18-minute video announcement about how only he can save a city in crisis, followed by a closed-off and carefully choreographed campaign event. The…

Looking at the "different flavors of career politicians" running in the Democratic mayoral primary, "I didn't see anyone who could be independent of the machine that runs this city," said former hedge fund manager Whitney Tilson. So he entered the race himself "to try and bring my party back to the center." In a wide-ranging sit-down interview with…

It felt like a year's worth of news happened in the week two weeks since the FAQ NYC hosts last convened, with another few years worth about to drop. They dig into the confusion and concern at City Hall and through the government, the increasingly angry mayor, the still far-from-settled field in the mayoral race, and much more…

"You simply can't trust Eric Adams nor those that are closest to him," former assemblymember and Mayoral candidate Michael Blake said as he sat down with FAQ NYC hosts Christina Greer and Harry Siegel on Tuesday. "And when you have four deputy mayors who have quit on him after Eric Adams quit on New Yorkers on MLK Day, it's a clear indication that …

The author joins Harry Siegel and guest host Brian Berger of Straus News for a deep dive into his latest book, the excellent and almost undefinable Brooklyn Crime Novel. Lethem digs into his reasons on re-reexamining the Brooklyn he wrote about 20 years earlier in The Fortress of Solitude, but doing so this time with the tools of a journalist inclu…

When Katie Honan called in to discuss the latest New York City news Monday morning with co-hosts Christina Greer and Harry Siegel, she did so while posted outside of the David Dinkins Municipal Building where Mayor Eric Adams had convened his top commissioners and officials. Katie hopped off the call mid-way through the episode to get back to repor…

“I've always represented a community that knew we could hold two things together at the same time: that we want to hold officers accountable when they step over the line but also that we need them as part of our public safety ecosystem,” state Senator and mayoral candidate Zellnor Myrie said in a wide-ranging interview. “I've never been a defund-th…

When Deputy Mayor for Communications Fabien Levy put out the news Sunday night that Mayor Eric Adams wasn't feeling well and was clearing his public schedule, it came just a week after City Hall's late-night news that he'd cancelled his Martin Luther King Jr. Days plans and was driving to D.C. to attend Donald Trump's inauguration. Sally Goldenberg…

“I think this election is about who can put the city back together, and I don't think people are going to buy the woe-is-me Eric Adams story,” Stringer said in a sitdown interview. “Maybe Trump will buy it, but I don't think voters are going to buy it.” In a wide-ranging conversation —the first in a series with all of the declared candidates — the …

A new poll shows the former governor with 32% support among likely voters. It's not just name recognition, though, or the mayor vying for a second term wouldn't be at just 6%, tied with Socialist Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani, and behind State Senator Jessica Ramos at 7%, Comptroller Brad Lander at 10% and former Comptroller Scott Stringer leading …

On the first weekday of NYC’s new congestion-pricing era that's already being threatened by the incoming Trump administration, Jose Martinez, THE CITY’s senior reporter covering transportation, offers some perspective on what this means for the trains and streets inside the zone and throughout the five boroughs: "Politicians use the words historica…

Nicole Gelinas, the author of Movement: New York's Long War to Take Back Its Streets from the Car, explains why she opens her epic account with the mayors who fought against the street-car system that once transported New Yorkers a billion times a year. From there, Gelinas talks with editors Harry Siegel of THE CITY and Ben Max of New York Law Scho…

The mayor’s right-hand woman was in cuffs, while Adams was taking part in a ridiculous perp walk that played out more like a glamor shot for a murderer. Hizzoner’s friend and ally in the NYPD, who Adams has gone to bat for again and again over charges of abusing his authority, resigned after being accused of using overtime to coerce a subordinate i…

Author and veteran columnist Amy Sohn talks with Harry Siegel about her book, The Man Who Hated Women: Sex, Censorship, and Civil Liberties in the Gilded Age, and explains why the “zombie” Comstock Law still on the federal books kept coming up during 2024’s presidential election. Sohn details how the lives of two “sex radicals,” Ida Craddock and Sa…

The mayor says he’s the same as he’s ever was even as his closest allies have left under fire and he’s executing what Trump’s incoming border czar says is “a complete 180” on immigration. In the last regular episode of 2024, hosts Chrissy and Harry discuss the mayor's maneuvering — "I don't know if the mayor is purging his old crew, or if his old c…

Just after Katie Honan and Harry Siegel recorded on Monday morning, a jury acquitted Daniel Penny of negligent homicide, the NYPD found the man they believe shot down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, and the City Council sued the mayor for declaring a state of emergency rather than implement the solitary confinement ban they passed into law. Ah…

Eric Adams seems to think so, and that Trump’s victory proves the left has lost its way. FAQ hosts Christina Greer, Katie Honan and Harry Siegel discuss the mayor’s solid political instincts and his dubious press strategy, why he’s still talking about Andrew Yang, and much more.Oleh FAQ NYC

Why was Mayor Eric Adams swearing in Jessica Tisch as his fourth police commissioner in not even three years on Monday? FAQ hosts Christina Greer, Katie Honan and Harry Siegel discuss the historic turnover from an historically unpopular mayor, Rep. Ritchie Torrees' prospective challenge of Gov. Kathy Hochul, and much more. Plus, Katie digs into the…

She’s joined for this one by author Joel Kotkin, the Roger Hobbs Presidential Fellow in Urban Futures at Chapman University and director of its Center for Demographics and Policy as well as senior research fellow at the Civitas Institute at the University of Texas in Austin. He’s been asking the same question for decades, highlighting Americans’ de…

Eric Adams and Kathy Hochul have been tight to this point but the two centrist Democratic executives seem to be taking different approaches to dealing publicly and perhaps also privately with Donald Trump, who the mayor just hung out with at the UFC title fight at Madison Square Garden. FAQ NYC hosts Christina Greer, Katie Honan and Harry Siegel ta…

It wasn’t a secret that Trump could be president again, or that his plans — starting with a mass deportation push — would have a huge impact on our New York City. So what are there so few specifics about what City Hall and others plan to do in response? FAQ NYC hosts Christina Greer, Harry Siegel and Katie Honan discuss that, park fires, Weiner’s r…

Guest Ben Max joins hosts Christina Greer and Harry Siegel to start sifting through what Donald Trump’s win and Republican gains in the city mean for New Yorkers, Mayor Eric Adams and next year’s elections here as there's red all across the deep blue city. . They also discuss the stages of mourning, a grandma’s advice, the difference between a soci…

In the calm just before the election-day storm, hosts Christina Greer, Katie Honan and Harry Siegel discuss the screaming match at the Marathon, reportedly over a photo op, between the police commissioner and his newly appointed chief of staff still doing double duty as the department's (reporter loathing) press secretary.. They also talk about sub…

Hosts Christina Greer, Katie Honan and Harry Siegel discuss Trump's last days rally in his old Manhattan stomping grounds, and the mayor's defense of the president and the president's public praise of the mayor that's sure to re-circulate in 20025 ads from the Democrats running to replace him. They also discuss the NYPD's usual suspects who still s…

Sasha Ahuja, the campaign director of New Yorkers for Equal Rights, makes the case for voting "yes" on Proposition 1 — and explains what the update to the state constitution would and would not do. Then hosts Christina Greer, Katie Honan and Harry Siegel discuss whether it's too soon to count out Eric Adams as a mayoral candidate, and the coming ti…

In the midst of a great season for New York sports, Eric Adams is racing to rebuild his organization on the fly while investigators are closing in on him and his inner circle. Is there some reason to trust the process now that most of the top officials recently raided by the FBI have been pushed out, while more public service minded officials are b…

The Adams administration departures are happening at a pace the podcast can’t match. Hosts Christina Greer and Katie Honan dig into Monday morning’s news about Phil Banks’ exit—but recorded too soon to cover the resignation of Winnie Greco and the firing of Rana Abbasova. Chrissy and Katie did also discuss who would want to board the Titanic right …

Co-hosts Christina Greer, Katie Honan and Harry Siegel discuss the high court’s ruling in June that public servants are free to accept gratuities in exchange for their public actions, which the mayor’s attorneys brought up Monday in a motion to dismiss the charges against him. Plus, the pod digs into a new poll conducted just before the mayor was c…

For the first time, New York City’s sitting mayor is now a criminal defendant — one who says the 57-page case against him is a pack of “lies” and that the federal government and the city’s permanent powers are trying to bring him down for doing right by New Yorkers. In an “emergency” episode marking this historical moment, Christina Greer, Katie Ho…

Venture capitalist and political strategist Bradley Tusk joins hosts Christina Greer and Harry Siegel to discuss his new book, Vote With Your Phone: Why Mobile Voting Is Our Final Shot at Saving Democracy, proposing a tech solution to the seemingly intractable problem of low-turnout local elections leading to ever-more radical politics. And Tusk, w…

The hits keep coming as Eric Adams' chief counsel walked away, effective immediately, on Saturday night, an associate director of a mayor's office got fired after he allegedly told a business member to pay off the former police commissioner's brother, two former FDNY chiefs just got charged with corruption, another Democrat launched a run again the…

The FBI raided the homes of Eric Adams' closest allies last week in what look to be two new federal investigations of the mayor and his inner circle altogether, making four . This isn't normal and it isn't good, but the mayor — comparing himself to the biblical character Job — says he's done nothing wrong, stands by his police commissioner who just…

Hosts Christina Greer, Katie Honan and Harry Siegel dig into the mayor’s insistence on seeing through the nomination of a chief lawyer for the city even after lawmakers made it clear they wouldn’t approve his nominee. They also discuss what a second Trump administration would mean for New York, the possibility of a strong challenge to Gov. Kathy Ho…

Hosts Christina Greer and Katie Honan discuss Mayor Eric Adams’ low profile at the DNC in Chicago, the so-called Central Park Five’s powerful appearance there, and why it’s good that Beryoncé didn’t show up after all. They also dig into the city’s surge in COVID cases, the latest death of a detainee at Rikers and, speaking of Central Park, RFK Jr.’…

Hosts Katie and Harry discuss the federal investigations into Mayor Eric Adams, at least of one which appears to headed to either charges or its end soon, and why those matter even if "ordinary" New Yorkers mostly don't care. They also dig into the NYC subplots of this week's Democratic Convention in the Second City, George Santos' guilty plea, str…

In the debut episode of Lit NYC, the FAQ NYC Podcast Network's off-cycle show covering books, art, music and more, you'll be hearing from Ross Perlin, author of the brilliant Language City: The Fight to Preserve Endangered Mother Tongues, and co-director of the Endangered Languages Alliance. He sat down at the Alliance's office in Manhattan to talk…

The New Yorkest podcast takes a minute to shout out the New Yorker article about us, and the mayor, and then to fill listeners on the upcoming LIT NYC, which will be the new home of arts, books, culture, music and more coverage while FAQ NYC sticks to politics. After that, hosts Chrissy, Katie and Harry get down to business, talking about another b…

The public advocate joins FAQ NYC for an extended interview about how "the law-and-order mayor chooses not to follow the laws that are passed," the very different conversations he used to have with Borough President Eric Adams, the merits of ranked-choice voting and much more. That includes Williams’ view of why “if anybody had a mandate, it wasn't…

Hosts Christina Greer, Katie Honan and Harry Siegel discuss some of the news from another jam-packed week in New York City, including the big march in support of the Council member who allegedly bit a cop and NYPD chief of patrol Jeffrey Maddrey getting off the hook on the latest charges against him for allegedly abusing his authority in an inciden…

Hosts Chrissy, Katie and Harry discuss the national news, what the Democratic Party's shakeup — and a second Trump term — could mean for New York City, and much more from this unprecedented presidential moment.Oleh FAQ NYC

The 2025 campaign just unofficially kicked off with new fundraising numbers, and NYC could be in for a wild game of musical chairs. Hosts Christina Greer and Harry Siegel discuss that and a national political moment that makes it hard for most New Yorkers to think about a primary that's just 11 months away and seems likely to be a rare competitive …

Hosts Christina Greer, Katie Honan and Harry Siegel discuss The Rev. Al Sharpton’s op-ed making the case for a second term for the city’s second Black mayor and much more.Oleh FAQ NYC

“They all disappear. That's the thing. It's extremely ephemeral” — Jill Gill, the 91-year-old author of Site Lines: Lost New York 1954-2022, talks with host Harry Siegel about her paintings and capturing a changing city in the latest episode of FAQ NYC Off Cycle.Oleh FAQ NYC