FAQ NYC

Gwynne Hogan joins FAQ NYC to discuss The City Reporter’s big investigation of months of street arrests in and around New York City,and her coverage of the violent scenes playing out now outside of where many of those immigrants are detained at Newark’s Delaney Hall: Plus, hosts Christina Greer, Katie Honan and Harry Siegel dig into the news from another jam-packed summer week in New York City including the strange political bedfellows in a wild race in Harlem, the afterlife of Eric Adams’ zombie city charter commission and much more.

Hosts Christina Greer and Harry Siegel discuss the suddenly unstoppable Knicks, the indefatigable mayor’s efforts to tap into the city’s surge of sports energy, a rainy start to what could be a long, hot summer, and much more.

Hosts Christina Greer, Katie Honan and Harry Siegel join guest Jeff Coltin to look ahead to summer in the city, consider the state of political goss in this town, the strangest Congressional race playing out in Manhattan and much more.

Will New York State ever pass the budget that was due more than a month ago? And how is New York City supposed to work out its own budget, which it’s legally required to balance and pass by the end of June, without knowing how much money the state is providing? Hosts Christina Greer, Katie Honan and Harry Siegel dig into that and much more, including a grim projection about New York City’s shrinking public school system.

Zohran Mamdani’s first political endorsement since becoming mayor predictably didn’t pan out, but Lindsey Boylan wasn’t the candidate he’s betting his political capital on.  The FAQ NYC hosts discuss all that and much more, including why bringing casinos to New York is such a terrible idea, what’s so good about bodega cats and bad about restaurant dogs, and much more.

Which came first, the state budget or the city’s spending plan? As the Mamdani administration pushes for new taxes and more money from Albany the FAQ NYC hosts discuss all that and much more, including how sports and politics are getting mushed together first between the NBA Playoffs and the coming “Trump Station,” and between the World Cup and a looming “weekend of hell” and the Mamdani administration, and much more.

The former president with a supposedly funny name who was smeared as an African-born socialist made a surprise appearance at a Bronx pre-school that opened up on a Saturday so the tots could hang out with him and New York City’s actually African-born socialist mayor with a supposedly funny name at a very sweet and tightly stage-managed event open only to invited press. The FAQ NYC hosts discuss the first public meeting of two guys with funny names and audacious hopes for the Democratic party and much more, including the city’s title dreams for the Knickerbockers and fading hopes for the Metropolitans in the latest episode of the only podcast about the only city in the world.

FAQ NYC hosts Christina Greer, Katie Honan and Harry Siegel visited the Greene Space in Soho on Thursday night for a sold-out live recording, hosted by ABNY, talking about Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s first 100 days. “I would give him a B,” said Chrissy. “I'm a harsh grader, so I think that's a solid grade. We're seeing someone grow in real time. We are out of the campaign phase and deeply into the governance phase, and there are a lot of ways that Mamdani was naive in campaigning. If these things were so simple, people would have done them before.”

The new mayor captured City Hall with historic support, and polling shows he’s only become more popular since then. But now the question is if he can deliver – despite the resistance of the City Council and Gov. Kathy Hochul to let him cash in on the “tax the rich” revenue he promised to deliver. The FAQ NYC hosts discuss all that and much more, including City Hall’s new racial equity plan and a horrific shooting in Brooklyn that brought renewed attention to the NYPD’s gang database.

Zohran Mamdani has been Hizzoner for just 88 days, and he’s already navigating the “poisoned chalice” of a big budget deficit he inherited while the credit agencies that could make it much more expensive for the city to borrow money are taking an increasingly dim view of its finances on his watch. Hosts Christina Greer and Harry Siegel discuss all that and much more, including the mayor’s different responses to two high-profile terror attempts, on the latest episode of the FAQ NYC podcast.

An epic art show at the Lexington Avenue Armory made a young Marcel Duchamp, who was back in France, one of America’s first modern celebrities even before he first arrived in New York City for what became decades of painting, conceiving, chess-playing and love-making — though not always in that order. John Strausbaugh, the author of Duchamp Takes New York, joins the LIT NYC podcast for a wide-ranging discussion of an artist’s life in the Big Apple’s old San Juan Hill, and much more with Amy Sohn and guest co-host Brian Berger.

The new administration is cutting off the private legal support Eric Adams extended on the city’s behalf to himself and his police officer pals, and rolling out a new Office of Public Safety that’s a far cry from the ambitious Department he’s promised. The FAQ NYC hosts discuss all that and much more, including Zohran Mamdani’s pretty weak — not to mention all-male — list of his all time favorite rappers.

Can former Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s fortune help his former staffer, Micah Lasher, prevail in the wide open race for a rare open NYC Congressional seat, and mark an inglorious end to the Kennedy dynasty in the process? Does America’s attack on Iran make a Mayor Mamdani ally the favorite in his primary challenge to a Congressional incumbent? And how far into March Madness can the Blackbirds and the Johnnies take New York basketball? All that and much more gets mulled in Episode 486.

NYC Department of Records Associate Commissioner Kenneth Cobb and Research Associate Marcia Kirk visited Lit NYC to explain how the Municipal Archives came across the death ledger for the town of Newtown, Queens where George Rex, who froze to death in 1885 at the age of 89, had his occupation recorded as “The Last Slave,” what the Municipal Archives has found since then about his life, death and family history, and much more.

A police-punching Jan. 6 rioter and far-right agitator pardoned by Donald Trump showed up outside Gracie Mansion this weekend with a couple dozen supporters for a “stop the Islamic takeover of New York City” clashed with about 150 counter-protesters there to “run the Nazis out. ” And that was before two alleged ISIS sympathizers drove in from out of state to throw bombs that smoked but didn’t explode into the chaotic crowd. Hosts Harry Siegel and Katie Honan, calling in from just Mayor Zohran Mamadani and Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch held a presser outside Gracie Mansion on Monday morning, to discuss all this madness, how the city’s top officials are responding to it, and much more.

Geographer, cartographer and urban explorer Andrew Lynch, the chief operating officer of QueensLink, joins Lit NYC to discuss the group’s vision to transform the borough for the better by extending the M train from Queens Boulevard to the Rockaways on a railway that’s abandoned for 60 years while surrounding that with new parks and trails, how he got involved in this crusade, and much more.

The FAQ NYC hosts discuss the messaging from Zohran Mamdani about America’s new war, the mayor’s meeting with the president days earlier and much more. Plus, New York Working Families Party Director Jasmine Gripper joins the pod to talk about its agenda, “how the left ecosystem in New York is evolving in a beautiful way” and the split between the WFP and Mamdani’s Democratic Socialists of America in the race to replace Rep. Nydia Velazquez. “He's only been endorsing socialists” in district races, Gripper said..”The WFP sometimes endorses socialists, and sometimes we endorse people who wear a progressive hat, a liberal hat. I think the mayor is promoting one ideology. We're promoting a slightly different one. I don't think this stops us from working together.”

Joe Flaherty was a dock worker and high school dropout on the wrong side of 30 when he found an unexpected writer’s life beginning as a columnist for the Village Voice. A couple years later, he was running the 51st State campaign of Norman Mailer and Jimmy Breslin as two of the city’s most famous writers made their bid to run it on a 51st State platform built around the idea of giving New Yorkers more control of their own neighborhoods and slogans including “No More Bullshit” and “The Other Guys Are The Joke.” Joe’s son Liam joins Lit NYC to talk about the very different Park Slope he grew up in, what his father accomplished in his short life before succumbing to prostate cancer at just 47 years old, what his dad would make of Mamdani’s new era, and much more.

One more storm, many more mountains of snow for winter-weary New Yorkers to slog through and a second chance for Zohran Mamdani to show he's up to his endless blizzard of a job. FAQ NYC hosts Christina Greer and Harry Siegel dig into all that and more, including Mamdani's dubious threat to raise property taxes in the city if Albany doesn't hike taxes on the rich and what that shows about who's missing from his inner circle.

Eric Goldwyn, an author of the new A Better Billion report from the Marron Institute of Urban Management at New York University, joins Lit NYC to explain its modest proposal to remap the city with 12 new projects, 64 new subways stations and 41 new miles of rail — all for about the same cost as making buses free.

Brian Stettin, who spent the Adams years as the senior advisor on the severely mentally ill for the office of the mayor before the Mamdani administration eliminated that position, joins the podcast for a wide-ranging exit interview. Plus, the hosts discuss Mamdani’s mounting early missteps, the bad-faith critics pouncing on them, and much more.

Coalition for the Homeless Executive Director Dave Giffen joins the pod to discuss the Mamdani administration’s efforts to bring unhoused people in from the vicious cold. Giffen talks about why he's seen the same problems repeat again and again under seven different mayors, and what it would take to actually change that dynamic and help put his group out of business.

Just a month into this new era, Zohran Mamdani is trying to get his feet under him as the ground remains icy and precarious. The FAQ NYC hosts discuss that and much more, including a deluge of fake news about the new mayor online and the last governor's new talk show.

The new mayor appeared to clear the bar with the city’s response to the first big snow on his watch. Meanwhile, his predecessor’s people were in the news again as Adams’ former chief of staff is reportedly the subject of a federal grand jury while his favorite deputy mayor for public safety is taking a new job working for ICE in Long Island. Hosts Christina Greer, Katie Honan and Harry Siegel discuss all that and much more including what the ICE killings in Minneapolis mean for New York, and how Italian-Irish tensions in the Catholic church helped create a Sabrina Carpenter-Eric Adams crossover episode. Noah Smith engineered this episode.

Arthur Tress, whose newly published photographs of gay men in Central Park’s Ramble in 1968 and 1969 are the earliest shots of outdoor cruising in a natural setting, joins Harry Siegel and Alex Krales on Lit NYC to discuss his work in a New York City where homosexuality was still a taboo and a crime, why he’s publishing it now, and much more. This episode was engineered by Noah Smith, and produced by Harry, Alex and Amy Sohn.

Eric Adams said we'd miss him when he's gone as mayor, but he's still popping up — hawking an NYC cryptocoin in Times Square and taking potshots at his replacement when he isn't jet-setting or lashing out at an airport heckler. The hosts discuss that and much more, including Zohran Mamdani's push after winning his own race to elect more socialists and the Democrats who aren't happy about it. This episode was hosted by Christina Greer, Katie Honan, and Harry Siegel, who's also the FAQ NYC podcast network's executive producer. It was engineerred by Noah Smith.

Not even two weeks into the big job, Zohran Mamdani and his team are up and running — yet still struggling to get their footing. Hosts Christina Greer, Katie Honan and Harry Siegel dig into that and much more, including the new mayor's responses to pro-Hamas chants in Queens, and to two fatal police shootings in the same day. This episode was engineered by Noah Smith.

An iconic restaurant in Fulton Mall became an Arby's, before it was revived amid the pandemic. St. John Frizell, one of the stewards of Gage and Tollner joins Lit NYC hosts Amy Sohn and Harry Siegel to talk about the craft of the cocktail, the business of Brooklyn, the nature of the great good place, and much more. This episode was produced by Amy and Harry, and engineered by Noah Smith.

Way back in March of 2025, when Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani was at one percent in the Democratic primary polls, he promised THE CITY's FAQ NYC his very first sit-down interview as mayor. On Thursday afternoon, Mayor Mamdani made good on that promise, sitting down with hosts Christina Greer and Harry Siegel for a wide-ranging conversation that covered the ICE murder in Minneapolis and "a year of cruelty," his softening stance on abolishing the NYPD's gang database, his message to Jewish New Yorkers who haven't been convinced by his messaging so far, and much more. This episode was engineered by Giulia Hjort.

Back when he was a longshot Democratic candidate, Zohran Mamdani said on this podcast that it would be his first interview as mayor — we're still here and with lots of questions to ask.   Hosts Christina Greer and Harry Siegel discuss that and much more, including his inspiring inauguration and how longtime Public Advocate Jumaane Williams is already finding his voice and stride as a partner to this mayor instead of a foil to Eric Adams. This episode was produced by Noah Smith.

As the mayor elect races to get ready for a big show and the big job, Eric Adams has been awfully busy in his final few days in office. Christina Greer and Harry Siegel discuss all that and much more — including then longshot Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani's public promise way back when to give our podcast his first interview as mayor. This episode was engineered by Noah Smith.

In 1980, a movie narrated by a sociologist once described as Jimmy Stewart’s urban planner cousin, and full of surveillance footage of the city's public spaces, delivered perhaps the richest and wisest look ever made at how New Yorkers use the city's public spaces. Municipal Art Society president Keri Butler joins LIT NYC hosts Harry Siegel and Amy Sohn to discuss William H. Whyte's brilliant The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces, which of his zen koans about those spaces have stood the test of time in a technologically transformed world, and much more. This episode was produced by Amy Sohn, and engineered by Noah Smith.

Zohran Mamdani has promised to have 1 percent of the city budget go to the Parks Department — but so did Eric Adams, who never came close to delivering. Three experts and advocates discuss all that and more with host Katie Honan. Plus, Katie and Harry Siegel talk about all the latest developments from another wild week, and with just over a week to go before a new adminsitration takes power.

“In my quest to be more American than Americans, I wanted to know more than American music [and in 1972] I was staying with a great fiddle player and banjo player in North Carolina named Tommy Jarrell and he was puzzled, because a lot of the people who had come from up north to study with him were Jews and Italians — people for whom this was not their continuity. Tommy was a very inquisitive guy and at one point he asked me, ‘Hank, don't your people got none of your own music?’… That sent me scuttling back to Brooklyn to begin the same kind of research that I had done for hillbilly music.” Henry H. Sapoznik, the author of the Tourist’s Guide To Lost Yiddish New York City and a Grammy-nominated musician and producer, sits down with Lit Nyc hosts Harry Siegel and and Amy Sohn for a wide-ranging conversation about assimilation and adaptability, the difference between faux music and folk music, the overlaps between kosher, halal and Chinese foods, and much more. This episode was produced by Amy Sohn and Noah Smith, and engineered by Noah Smith.

The FAQ NYC hosts discuss terror fears here, a slow transition and a marathon listening session for Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani, a time capsule for outgoing Mayor Eric Adams, and much more — including a man dressed as a hamburger with some serious small business concerns.

Amid the silly season of transition speculation, New Yorkers are waiting to see how Zohran Mamdani, a brilliant messenger, handles the levers of power and who else he's bringing inside of City Hall to help him run the huge machine. While those staffing decisions are playing out, slowly and behind closed doors, the outgoing administration is taking some swipes at Mamdani, including about the mayor elect's pledge to end homeless encampment sweeps. Episode hosted by Christina Greer, Katie Honan and Harry Siegel, and engineered by Noah Smith.

“I bought myself an electric bike to take my kids to the beach and started charging it outside after seeing stats on how many battery fires there were. I looked at other countries that are doing battery-swap networks and  I said, ‘We should do this in New York… My plan, if I can be this ambitious, is to build a city-wide battery-swap network everybody can use." Ineffable and inimitable gadfly and entrepreneur Baruch Herzfeld joins LIT NYC hosts Harry Siegel and Amy Sohn to talk about schemes and dreams, the thousand-dollar bet he lost to  a Fugee but hasn’t paid, the guys who climbed telephone poles when Williamsburg was wild, and much more. This episode was produced by Amy Sohn, and engineered by Noah Smith.

It turns out that the count of our mayors has been off by one, dating back to when the city had a population of just 2,500 — meaning the mayor-elect will be New York’s 112th mayor, though still the 111th person to serve. FAQ NYC hosts Christina Greer, Katie Honan and Harry Siegel discuss that breaking 17th Century news, as reported by Eliabeth Kim at Gothamist, and much more, including Julie Menin’s early Speaker win and the World Trade Center-related death this week of a retired deputy chief who lost a son on 9/11. This episode was engineered by Noah Smith.

Are theater kids Zohran Mamdani and Donald Trump having a bromance now, and did Jessica Tisch help bring them together? Is anyone not running for Congress? The FAQ NYC hosts discuss all that and much more before having an in-depth conversation with Crystal Hudson, the Brooklyn City Councilmember who’s one of the leading candidates to be the body’s next speaker in the first of a series of interviews with the contenders . This episode was engineered by Noah Smith

Is anyone in this town not running for Congress? Is it time for Democrats to finally usher an older generation out of Washington, and is there a way to build a party whose representatives are better distributed in terms of age, identity and geographic distribution? Is it time to finally feel hopeful about New York City's future? All that and more gets mulled over by hosts Christina Greer and Harry Siegel. This episode was engineered by Noah Smith.

Michael Rohatyn and Peter Yost, the creators of the acclaimed new documentary about Gotham’s close brush with bankruptcy in 1975, Drop Dead City, discuss the film, the city that was, how its near collapse led to the city of today, and how Michael’s father Felix helped pulled it back from the brink with Big MAC, or the Municipal Assistance Corporation.

With the mayor's race decided and 2026 election moves just beginning, the FAQ NYC hosts talk about the Council Speaker's race that drew lots of attention at Somos, where Gov. Kathy Hochul got hit with another chant of "tax the rich!" There are only 51 votes that count in a closed-door campaign where the narrative question is whether the Council wants to speed up, or slow down, a Mayor Mamdani and his agenda next year. It’s a contest that he’s yet to publicly weigh in on. The practical question, though, is simply which candidate in a race — where the frontrunners appear to be Crystal Hudson and Julie Menin — can get enough votes to claim the big prize, and the nice office. This episode was hosted by Christina Greer, Katie Honan and Harry Siegel, and engineered by Noah Smith.

In our final episode of City Hall Free For All, we talk about the future of New York City under Mayor Elect Zohran Mamdani and who he will surround himself with to help him accomplish his vision. We’re also joined by Patrick Gaspard, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, former key Obama aide and now key advisor to Mamdani, to talk about this historic moment. — FAQ NYC and Max Politics are teaming up for a limited series, coming to you every Tuesday through November, featuring special guests who will help us dig into the latest in the mayor's race – and what's at stake for New Yorkers. City Hall Free For All is brought to you with generous support from Jamie Rubin and Vital City. This week's episode was hosted by Christina Greer, Katie Honan, Ben Max and Harry Siegel. Our Senior Producer is Giulia Hjort, and Noah Smith is our engineer. Our series consultants are Jess Hackel and Courtney Harrell. Music from Epidemic Sound.

Ben Fractenberg, visuals editor for THE CITY, joins LIT NYC hosts Harry Siegel and Amy Sohn for a wide-ranging conversation about street photography, photo journalism and much more.The interview comes just before the opening reception for Ben’s solo show, In Tension, this Friday evening from 6-9 at Gallery 198, at 198 24th St. in Brooklyn, with his work then on display there through November.

The Election Night results are in: Zohran Mamdani will be New York City’s 111th Mayor. Our hosts react to Mamdani’s big win over Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa, with over 1 million votes out of more than 2 million cast, and discuss his rousing, defiant victory speech and what comes next. — FAQ NYC and Max Politics are teaming up for a limited series, coming to you every Tuesday through November, featuring special guests who will help us dig into the latest in the mayor's race – and what's at stake for New Yorkers. City Hall Free For All is brought to you with generous support from Jamie Rubin and Vital City. This week's episode was hosted by Christina Greer, Katie Honan, Ben Max and Harry Siegel. Our Senior Producer is Giulia Hjort, and Noah Smith is our engineer. Our series consultants are Jess Hackel and Courtney Harrell. Music from Epidemic Sound.

Alex Brook Lynn, FAQ NYC's original executive producer, rejoins the podcast to talk with Harry Siegel about New York City's election, and how and why Paris — which has all the same big urban issues — has taken a different approach to providing things like affordable housing for working class people, childcare, and more.

In episode six, we’re focusing on affordability, housing and the related ballot proposals. We’re joined by housing experts Jamie Rubin (Chief Investment Officer of Aligned Climate Capital & Chairman of the Board of NYCHA) and Alicia Glen (Founder and Managing Principle of M Squared & former Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development), who share their thoughts on what the next Mayor should accomplish – and how. Remember: early voting is in full swing. Visit vote.nyc or call 1-866-VOTE-NYC to find your early and election day polling sites — they may be different — and see what will be on your ballot. — FAQ NYC and Max Politics are teaming up for a limited series, coming to you every Tuesday through November, featuring special guests who will help us dig into the latest in the mayor's race – and what's at stake for New Yorkers. City Hall Free For All is brought to you with generous support from Jamie Rubin and Vital City. This week's episode was hosted by Christina Greer, Katie Honan, Ben Max and Harry Siegel. Our Senior Producer is Giulia Hjort, and Noah Smith is our engineer. Our series consultants are Jess Hackel and Courtney Harrell. Music from Epidemic Sound.

Ric Burns, director of the epic New York: A Documentary Film, joined the FAQ NYC hosts on Thursday evening for beer and cider at Schneider’s Saloon inside the Tenement Museum to talk about 21st century scandals and hopes in the space where German immigrants huddled to do just that in the 19th Century.

In episode five, we debrief the first mayoral debate and preview the second one as Andrew Cuomo struggles to gain ground against frontrunner Zohran Mamdani with wild card Curtis Sliwa also in the mix. Plus, two-time former NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton joins to explain why he wouldn't advise Jessica Tisch, or anyone else, to run the NYPD on Mamdani's watch. Remember: early voting begins on Saturday. Visit vote.nyc or call 1-866-VOTE-NYC to find your early and election day polling sites — they may be different — and see what will be on your ballot. — FAQ NYC and Max Politics are teaming up for a limited series, coming to you every Tuesday through November, featuring special guests who will help us dig into the latest in the mayor's race – and what's at stake for New Yorkers. City Hall Free For All is brought to you with generous support from Jamie Rubin and Vital City. This week's episode was hosted by Christina Greer, Katie Honan, Ben Max and Harry Siegel. Our Senior Producer is Giulia Hjort, and Noah Smith is our engineer. Our series consultants are Jess Hackel and Courtney Harrell. Music from Epidemic Sound.

The legendary illustrator talks with LIT NYC hosts Amy Sohn and Harry Siegel about what he wants to illustrate now that he no longer needs to take assignments, how New York City shaped his work, why he thinks being called "the Vermeer of the Borscht Belt" is a misnomer, and much more.