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

Trip Yang, founder and CEO of Trip Yang Strategies, and Sam Raskin, Senior Vice President at Slingshot Strategies, joined the show to discuss key takeaways from the 2025 Democratic primary for New York City mayor, won by Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani, and what those takeaways may mean for the future of New York politics, including the general election for mayor. (Ep 518)

Key Takeaways from the 2025 Democratic Primary for Mayor, with Trip Yang & Sam Raskin

The 2025 New York City Charter Revision Commission just advanced five proposals to the general election ballot dealing with housing, land use, and elections. The chair of the commission, Richard Buery, and its executive director, Alec Shierenbeck, joined the show to discuss the proposals that aim to increase housing growth and voter participation, among other goals, as well as one major reform that the commission did not advance for voters to approve or disapprove. Voters will be able to vote "yes" or "no" on all five on their general election ballots this fall. (Ep 519)

Major Housing & Election Reform Proposals Head to the 2025 General Election Ballot

Kevin Elkins, a senior advisor on former Governor Andrew Cuomo's Democratic primary campaign for mayor and the political director for the New York City carpenters union, joined the show to discuss the Cuomo campaign, the value of endorsements, labor politics, and much more. (Ep 520)

Kevin Elkins on the Cuomo Campaign, Labor Politics, Endorsements, & More

Jonathan Rosen — CEO of Orchestra, co-founder of BerlinRosen, and a top political advisor to Brad Lander and Bill de Blasio — joined the show to discuss the changing communications and media landscape, Lander's unsuccessful bid for mayor, lessons from de Blasio's 2013 win and tenure, Zohran Mamdani's ascension, and more. (Ep 521)

Jonathan Rosen on Brad Lander, Bill de Blasio, & New York Politics

New York State Senator John Liu, a Queens Democrat, joined the show to discuss key challenges facing his constituents and New York, his support for Zohran Mamdani for mayor, Asian voters, and much more. (Ep 523)

Senator John Liu on Supporting Mamdani, Asian Voters, & More

New York Lieutenant Governor Antonio Delgado, a Democrat and former
member of Congress, joined the show to discuss his decision to
challenge Governor Kathy Hochul in the June 2026 primary, how their
relationship fell apart, key issues facing New York and his platform
to address them, and more. (Ep 524)

Antonio Delgado on His Run for Governor

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)

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

What's The [DATA] Point?