34% is the share of New Yorkers who now rate the city’s quality of life excellent or good in CBC's recent citywide survey "Straight from New Yorkers." This is substantially lower than the 51% who rated quality of life positively in 2017. At the same time, the competition with other places to attract and keep residents and business is fierce. 

In this episode, CBC brought together leaders from New York's business, labor, nonprofit, and real estate sectors to discuss the ways in which we can come together to make New York an affordable, competitive, and vibrant City.

-Vincent Alvarez, President of The New York City Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO
-Wayne Ho, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Chinese-American Planning Council
-Jim Whelan, President of the Real Estate Board of New York
-Kathryn Wylde, President and CEO of the Partnership for New York City
-Moderated by CBC Vice Chair William Floyd, Senior Director, U.S. State and Local Government Affairs and Public Policy at Google

You can learn more about CBC's campaign "Smart Choices, Better Future" by visiting https://bit.ly/SmartChoicesBetterFuture

34%, the "Smart Choices, Better Future" Edition

Joe Borelli, Managing Director at Chartwell Strategy Group and former
New York City Council Minority Leader, joined the show to discuss how
President Trump is doing so far in his second term and the unfolding
election for New York City Mayor. The Staten Island Republican spent
over a dozen years in elected office, in the State Assembly then City
Council, until earlier this year when he left government for the
private sector. (Ep 525)

Joe Borelli on How Trump is Doing & the New York City Mayoral Race

State Senator Jessica Ramos, a Queens Democrat, returned to the show
to discuss her performance and endorsement of Andrew Cuomo in the
mayoral primary, her 2026 bid for Senate reelection against a tough
primary challenge, key issues facing her constituents, and more. (Ep 526)

Jessica Ramos on Her Mayoral Run, Senate Reelection Campaign, & More

Post-Labor Day and with under 2 months until Election Day (Nov. 4) the general election for Mayor of New York City is now in full swing, and four new polls out this week (Sept. 8-12) help shed light on the state of the race among Zohran Mamdani, Andrew Cuomo, Curtis Sliwa, and Eric Adams. Joining the show to discuss the polling, the state of the race, candidates' paths to victory, and what comes next are pollster Adam Carlson of Zenith Research and political analyst and professor JC Polanco. (Ep 527)

State of the Mayoral Race with Under 2 Months To Go, with Adam Carlson & JC Polanco

2,500 is the number of uniformed officers NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch moved from behind desks to patrolling NYC streets since this past summer. The move helped drive down the number of serious crimes committed, though fear remains high: last winter before this effort, CBC surveyed New Yorkers and discovered that 42% felt their neighborhood is safe, and only 34% rated the City's quality of life as excellent or good. These pose a real vulnerability to NYC long-term economic health and appeal to businesses and residents. In this episode, CBC Chair Marissa Shorenstein sits down with Commissioner Tisch to dig into her policy prescriptions for public safety, quality of life, the federal government and more (plus some of her accomplishments as the former Sanitation Commissioner).

2,500, with Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch

New York City Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos joined the show to discuss the start of the new school year, key education policy initiatives underway like an overhaul of reading instruction, the new statewide student cellphone ban, mayoral control of city schools, and more. (Ep 538)

NYC Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos on the Start of the School Year & Key Education Issues

In our debut episode, Public Advocate Jumanne Williams joins us to talk about his arrest outside of 26 Federal Plaza, what the mayor and other elected officials can and should be doing in response to President Trump's threats, and why Williams thinks it's time for New York Democratic Party Chair Jay Jacobs to step down. 


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FAQ NYC and Max Politics are teaming up for a limited series, coming at 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, Vital City, the Charles H. Revson Foundation and P&T Knitwear. This week's episode was hosted by Harry Siegel, Christina Greer, Katie Honan and Ben Max. 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. (Ep 529)

City Hall Free For All: A Crowded Mayoral Race & Jumaane Williams on Democratic Defiance

In our second episode, the hosts debrief about Mayor Eric Adams’ decision to drop his re-election bid. New York Attorney General Tish James also joins us to talk about the cases she and Donald Trump have brought against one another, and her support of Mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani.


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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. (Ep 530)

City Hall Free For All: Eric Adams Drops Out & Tish James on Her Legal Battles with Donald Trump

First Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro spoke with host Ben Max at a live event at New York Law School on the morning of September 30 to discuss Mayor Eric Adams' decision to drop his reelection bid, Adams' legacy, priorities Mastro has spearheaded, and much more. The event was hosted by NYLS' Center for New York City and State Law. (Ep 531)

First Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro on Adams Administration Accomplishments & Priorities

In episode three, we talk about the massive infrastructure cuts trickling down from the federal government – one of the many developments that have us holding our breath for what’s to come in our city. We’re also joined by ‘Gridlock’ Sam Schwartz, who gives us the lowdown on the past, present and future of transit in New York.

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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. 

City Hall Free For All: An $18B Transit Cut & Sam Schwartz on Breaking Through Gridlock

New York State Assemblymember Robert Carroll, a Brooklyn Democrat, joined the show to discuss his push to ensure that education issues are discussed in the home stretch of the race to be the next Mayor of New York City, the importance of prioritizing literacy instruction, his short list of potential next city school chancellors, mayoral control of city schools, and more. (Ep 533)

34%, the "Smart Choices, Better Future" Edition

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