NYPD (photo: Benjamin Kanter/Mayoral Photo Office)

On April 26, Mayor de Blasio presented his executive budget plan for the city’s next fiscal year, FY22, which begins July 1. In it, he included slight increases to the NYPD’s budget. This comes on the heels of the largest civil rights movement in a generation demanding reinvestments and the heartbreaking murders of Adam Toledo and Daunte Wright. If I were in the City

Resource Fair (photo: Ed Reed/Mayor's Office)

With the announcement Friday of a $155 million investment in small businesses, including $5.5 million for workforce development programming, Mayor Bill de Blasio staked a foothold along a critical frontier in New York City's pandemic recovery: preparing workers for the changing economy.

The city's economy was devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic, with the unemployment rate jumping fivefold to a high of over 20% last June. In-person jobs have contracted significantly, especially in hospitality, nightlife, retail, and

Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio (photo: Ed Reed/Mayor's Office)

Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio have spent many months warning New Yorkers about cratering tax revenues because of the coronavirus pandemic, outlining yawning budget gaps that could force them to make drastic spending cuts to state and city services and lay off thousands of government workers. But while the fiscal future remains uncertain, their worst predictions did not come to pass — revenues were higher than expected and significant federal aid has flowed to New

Budget work (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography)

Of the endless forums that are being held in the mayoral primary race, the only one that has specifically focused on the City’s fiscal situation and budget was the one last week held by the Citizens Budget Commission, my former organization. (You can watch it here, or read Gotham Gazette’s detailed summary ...

Budget Director Jacques Jiha (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

The New York City Council on Tuesday began its examination of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s $92.3 billion preliminary budget for the 2022 fiscal year, which begins July 1. The hearing was the first of many that will take place over the next few weeks as the Council digs into the mayor’s final budget plan of his eight-year tenure and as key questions remain about the city’s fiscal future. 

The coronavirus pandemic stripped the city of billions in tax revenue,

What's The [Data] Point? Episode 102 -- $5.3 Billion, Mayoral Candidates Discuss the City Fiscal Crisis [You can download What's The [Data] Point? wherever you get your podcasts, including on iTunes]

$5.3 billion is the current estimate of the budget gap the next Mayor will have to close in her/his first year. Ben Max and CBC President Andrew Rein introduce listeners to

Mayor de Blasio at a budget presentation (photo: Benjamin Kanter/Mayor's Office)

New York City is facing its worst fiscal crisis in decades, brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, with billions in lost tax revenue and large projected budget gaps in the years ahead. It’s a crisis that the next mayor, likely the winner of the Democratic primary this June, will inherit. At a mayoral forum on Wednesday, eight of the top contenders vying for the Democratic nomination offered their solutions to the city’s budget woes, pitching ideas to fix city

Mayor de Blasio & Governor Cuomo (photo: Rob Bennett/Mayor's Office)

With so much on the line, Mayor Bill de Blasio is pushing leaders in Washington, D.C. to allocate direct aid to New York City in the next big federal stimulus package, currently being negotiated among President Joe Biden and members of Congress. At the same time, de Blasio is calling on the State Legislature to help him stop Governor Andrew Cuomo from continuing to syphon off hundreds of millions of dollars in federal aid coming through Albany.

Both de Blasio and Cuomo have said

Construction underway (photo: Edwin J. Torres/Mayor's Office)

Officials at the city’s Department of Design and Construction, the agency responsible for designing, procuring, and constructing public buildings and infrastructure, told the City Council on Wednesday that the coronavirus pandemic has shown how its work can be made more efficient.

That includes the city using its new design-build authority -- which the state approved an expansion of

Mayor de Blasio testifying remotely (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

Mayor Bill de Blasio pleaded to state legislators on Thursday to protect New York City from hundreds of millions of dollars in cuts and cost shifts in Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Executive Budget for the next fiscal year, warning that the damage could be worse if federal stimulus aid is not delivered on time.  

In his annual, and final, appearance before the state Legislature to testify about the governor’s budget plan and the

What's The [Data] Point? Episode 101 -- $7.4 Billion, with EJ McMahon  [You can download What's The [Data] Point? wherever you get your podcasts, including on iTunes]

$7.4 billion is how much New York State personal income tax was paid in 2018 by residents of other states. This revenue stream may be threatened if a lawsuit over taxation of out-of-state telecommuting residents prevails. Today's guest, the Empire Center’s E.J. McMahon, explains why this lawsuit is so important, and also

Mayor de Blasio (photo: Benjamin Kanter/Mayoral Photo Office)

January 20, 2021 - Max & Murphy Podcast: What the De Blasio Administration Wants from the Biden Administration

Bill Neidhardt, press secretary for Mayor de Blasio, joined the show to discuss the de Blasio administration's priorities when it comes to the new Biden administration in Washington.

Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think -- we're on Twitter @TweetBenMaxand ...

De Blasio in 2017 (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)

Mayor Bill de Blasio released a $92.28 billion preliminary budget for the 2022 Fiscal Year on Thursday, expressing optimism that the city will receive additional federal funds but warning of cuts from the state.

The mayor’s budget plan for next fiscal year, which begins July 1, is more than $4 billion larger than the budget that was adopted last year for the current fiscal year, and reflects a nearly $20 billion increase from the last budget he inherited from former Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer (photo: governor's office)

With Democrats poised to win both seats in the Georgia United States Senate runoffs, Senator Chuck Schumer of New York is poised to be one of the most influential elected officials in the country, with enormous implications for his home state and city. After four years leading the minority conference, Schumer is on the verge of being able to set the agenda in the Senate under Democratic President-elect Joe Biden and in partnership with a Democrat-controlled House of Representatives under Speaker Nancy

New York City development (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)

City Council Speaker Corey Johnson on Wednesday unveiled legislation that would overhaul New York City’s long-term planning processes, eliminating duplicative procedures, streamlining agency coordination, and establishing a more proactive, holistic approach to land use and budgeting that prioritizes racial and economic justice. 

For decades, the city’s zoning, land use, and development have been subject to disparate sets of mandates and guidelines, some overlapping and redundant, in

Gov. Cuomo at a covid briefing (photo: Governor's Office)

New York City has spent its entire $1.4 billion allocation from the Coronavirus Relief Fund, a key portion of the federal CARES Act relief package that expires at the end of the month. The state government is far from spending its own, much larger allotment from the fund, but officials say it will identify eligible spending without having to return money to the federal government.

Many other states and localities have been struggling to distribute the funding, wrangling with strict

Mayor de Blasio (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography)

As required by the state Financial Control Act, last Monday Mayor de Blasio presented a modification of New York City’s current fiscal year budget and four-year financial plan. This “first quarter mod” is usually a no-drama, technical adjustment that makes few substantive changes to the budget adopted at the

Joe Biden, with Andrew Cuomo (photo: governor's office)

The country will be watching, and voting, with bated breath on Tuesday as the most consequential presidential election in decades nears conclusion. More than 84 million Americans have already cast their ballots in early voting and turnout is expected to break records despite the lingering coronavirus pandemic. 

There’s much at stake for New York City in this election and it’s an understatement

Mayor de Blasio inspects school cleaning (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)

The COVID-19 pandemic has cost more than $4 billion in direct New York City expenses through mid-October, almost all of which the city expects to pay for with federal dollars.

Of the total spending, $4.08 billion has been registered in contracts, according to a report from City Comptroller Scott Stringer. Almost two-thirds of that

NYPD officers at a precinct (photo: Benjamin Kanter/Mayoral Photo Office)

While there's widespread agreement today about the need to change or improve policing in our country, we fall far short of a consensus about the particular reforms needed. Should the changes leave the basic institutions of policing intact or should they be far-reaching? Should we dismantle current law enforcement structures and replace them with new entities? Or more generously fund existing agencies for promoting safety and justice?

Advocates' analysis is that abusive practices, from

Essential workers need help (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

The COVID-19 pandemic is not just a medical problem—it's a social one. As everyone knows, it is caused by the new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2. But it is fueled by inequity. Black and Latino New Yorkers have been twice as likely to die from COVID-19 as their white neighbors because of a raft of social factors: People of color are more likely to live in

A budget presentation (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography)

To the Editor:

In an op-ed recently published by Gotham Gazette, Assemblymember Ron Kim advanced an ill-informed and dangerous argument that, instead of issuing the $5 billion in debt the Mayor is seeking through the municipal bond market, the city should instead borrow from the Federal Reserve’s Municipal Liquidity Facility (MLF).

...

State Senator Michael Gianaris (photo: Senator Michael Gianaris' office)

September 23, 2020 - Max & Murphy Podcast: Senator Gianaris on Next Steps in New York's Recovery

State Senator Michael Gianaris of Queens joined the show to discuss next steps in reopening the New York economy, how the State Senate Democratic majority is thinking about addressing the state and city fiscal crises, and more.

Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think -- we're on Twitter ...

Mayor de Blasio at a budget presentation (photo: Benjamin Kanter/Mayor's Office)

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and City Council Speaker Corey Johnson are aggressively lobbying the state Legislature to authorize the City of New York to borrow billions of dollars from private financial markets by selling municipal bonds through the Transitional Finance Authority.

Governor Andrew Cuomo also recently announced that if the federal government does not step up with stimulus money for New York, he is also open to borrowing money for our state.

Unfortunately, most

Mayor de Blasio (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)

Mayor Bill de Blasio continues to insist that New York City needs authorization from the state to borrow billions of dollars in operating funds to balance its budget, at least in the absence of federal aid to cover some of the massive loss in revenue from the pandemic fallout. The drastically-slashed new city budget for this fiscal year passed July 1 included $1 billion in undefined labor savings, which de Blasio said could be covered by federal aid or borrowing, or, if neither of those come through,