A rally for green jobs outside City Hall (photo: Jeff Reed/City Council)

In 2024, New York City will begin capping emissions from the city’s largest buildings – which are its worst polluters – under Local Law 97, which was approved as part of the city’s Climate Mobilization Act of 2019. The law requires buildings to be retrofitted with energy-efficient and sustainable systems – upgrading heating and cooling systems, possibly installing solar energy, for instance – to significantly reduce their carbon footprint to meet those emissions caps, or otherwise face hefty

Mayor Adams building housing (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)

Five-and-a-half months into his administration, Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday released a comprehensive plan for housing and homelessness that aims to build new mixed-income rental housing, preserve existing affordable units, improve public housing stock, expedite the creation of supportive housing, cut red tape that prevents homeless people from accessing housing, and help New Yorkers buy affordable homes. 

The mayor’s plan, dubbed “Housing Our Neighbors: A Blueprint for Housing and Homelessness,” reflects a paradigm shift from

Mayor Adams, Speaker Adams, and Council Members (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)

Mayor Eric Adams and City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams on Friday announced their first budget agreement, a $101 billion spending deal for the 2023 fiscal year beginning July 1, reflecting an increase of about $2.3 billion over the budget that was adopted in June of last year. 

Buoyed by higher-than-expected tax revenues and federal aid, the administration and Council massively increased the city’s reserves and invested in a long

CUNY graduation (photo: CUNY)

Since the start of the pandemic, CUNY students have witnessed trauma every day. They’ve mourned loved ones who died. They’ve struggled with testing and vaccine availability.  They’ve borne the stress of the COVID-19 economic crisis, and braved the worst outbreaks as front-line workers to help their families survive.

Unsurprisingly, CUNY’s enrollment declined beginning in March 2020. It’s struggled to rebound, especially at the community colleges where many students come to campus from the

Mayor Adams at an announcement (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)

Typically, the scorching hot summer months bring a rise in violence, but there’s much more than temperature at play. Last fall, a Violence Interrupter in Brooklyn shared with us his greatest concerns as we moved to the colder months. He noted that the sunset of extended unemployment benefits would cause more families to be under stress, leading more kids to leave their turbulent home environment in search of solace and kinship in the streets. 

Lost in Translation: We Need Meaningful Language Access in New York City

City Hall (photo: Benjamin Kanter/Mayoral Photo Office)

New York City’s controversial tax lien sale program, which helps the city collect unpaid property debt, expired at the end of February and a majority of City Council members now say they will refuse to reauthorize it.

The city government uses the tax lien sale program, created in 1996, to sell unpaid debts on property taxes and sewer and water bills to private entities, which pay the city about 75 cents on the dollar. Those private lien servicing companies then tack

Mayor Adams makes a youth employment announcement (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)

As people who are deeply involved in our communities, we are the first to understand the value of safety and peace. We have lost loved ones to gun violence and crime, and have lived through the failed policies of over-policing. We acknowledge the rapid increase of both of these since May 2020, two months after the lockdowns that shut down our flourishing communities. The lockdowns have caused a documented increase in addiction, suicide,...

NYC Budget Director Jacques Jiha (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)

The New York City Council held its final hearing Tuesday on Mayor Eric Adams’ $99.7 billion executive budget proposal for the 2023 fiscal year, pressing the administration to fund several outstanding requests ahead of the June 30 deadline for the next budget. 

In her opening remarks, Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, a Queens Democrat, commended the Adams administration for funding several Council requests made in the official response to the mayor’s

A rally to "#StopAsianHate" (photo: Gerardo Romo/City Council)

Asian-American social-service providers want to be more involved in city policy-making around mental health and language access as the city grapples with an ongoing surge in anti-Asian hate crimes.

At a press conference outside City Hall, a coalition of advocates and service-providers urged city officials to better enforce translation requirements for government programs. Beyond that, they want to see more support for the community-based organizations that provide a lifeline of services and step in when those

A rally for Our City Our Vote (photo: William Alatriste/NYC Council)

The New York City Council called on Mayor Eric Adams to provide $25 million in his latest budget plan to implement the city’s noncitizen voting law, which went into effect in January. But the mayor’s $99.7 billion executive budget for the 2023 fiscal year, released last month, did not include that

Mayor Eric Adams (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

The Earned Income Tax Credit is a boon for low-income New Yorkers, putting hundreds, even thousands of dollars back in their pockets each year. Though it is a federal credit, it is matched by New York City and State, and Mayor Eric Adams made expansion a top priority for his administration as part of his agenda to lift up struggling New Yorkers. This year, at the new mayor’s urging, the state enhanced its EITC and the mayor increased the city’s investment in the credit. 

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(photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

Trash and sanitation have become a top issue for the City Council in this year’s budget season, but Mayor Eric Adams’s $99.7 billion executive budget proposal for the 2023 fiscal year that begins July 1 failed to fund many Council demands. At a hearing on Tuesday, Council members questioned administration officials on their sanitation priorities — from corner basket pickups to composting — and their approach to a problem that has

Housing (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

In his State of the City speech last month, Mayor Eric Adams promised that he would in the coming weeks release a comprehensive housing plan to address perhaps the most intractable problem facing New York. At a hearing of the City Council on Monday, housing officials from his administration outlined the main principles of that agenda and gave a preview of the city's broad approach to building affordable and supportive housing, preserving public housing, and tackling the homelessness crisis.  

Monday’s hearing concerned the

Council Member Chi Ossé on a sanitation tour of his district (photo: John McCarten/NYC Council Media Unit)

Trash has become among the most prominent issues in this year’s New York City budget negotiations, as well as the focus of larger policy debates about how the city handles its garbage and recycling.

The infamous mountains of black bags that clutter sidewalks, the overflowing waste baskets at street corners, and the litter on city streets have all been the subject of significant attention from Mayor Eric Adams, Comptroller Brad Lander, and many members of the New York City Council,

Mayor Adams (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)

Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday released a $99.7 billion executive budget proposal, a $1.2 billion increase from his February preliminary budget. Though Adams committed billions more in funding for housing and hundreds of millions for the parks department, he nonetheless failed to abide by major pledges he made while running for mayor last year. 

As a mayoral candidate, Adams made sweeping promises for how he would lead the city. But on two fronts he was particularly

Mayor Adams at his first 100 days speech (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

At his first State of the City address on Tuesday, Mayor Eric Adams celebrated the accomplishments from his first 100 days in office, outlined his vision for the city’s future, and released a $99.7 billion executive budget for next fiscal year.   

“The state of the city is strong, because New Yorkers have never been stronger,” Adams said at the historic Kings Theater in Brooklyn, in a speech punctuated by optimism about the city’s prospects but also grim realism about tragedies of recent months and the

City Council Member Crystal Hudson (photo: John McCarten/NYC Council)

April 25, 2022 - Max Politics Podcast: City Council Member Crystal Hudson on Supporting Aging New Yorkers & More

City Council Member Crystal Hudson, a Democrat representing parts of Brooklyn, joined the show to discuss her work chairing the Council's Committee on Aging, city budget priorities, housing policy, and more.

Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think, on Twitter @TweetBenMax. You can listen to the show through the

Then-Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez leads a rally for noncitizen voting (photo: William Alatriste/NYC Council Media Unit)

In January, the “Our City, Our Vote” law went into effect, allowing hundreds of thousands of noncitizens in New York City to vote in municipal elections. While there’s many months until they’ll be able to cast their votes, the New York City Council wants city officials and election administrators to be well prepared and conduct outreach to raise awareness, and is calling for $25 million in the next city budget to fund the implementation of the law.

The new ...

Infrastructure in action (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)

In November, Congress approved President Joe Biden’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure plan, which is expected to deliver tens of billions of dollars to New York City for crucial needs. As the city prepares for the influx of federal funds, experts are pointing to several priorities that they believe Mayor Eric Adams should pursue, and the new Democratic mayor will no doubt be evaluating his priorities as he continues to map out his own infrastructure plans, including through budget negotiations with the

City Council Members Shahana Hanif, left, and Lincoln Restler are co-chairs of the Council's Progressive Caucus

April 13, 2022 - Max Politics Podcast: City Council Progressive Caucus Chairs Shahana Hanif & Lincoln Restler

New York City Council Progressive Caucus Co-Chairs Shahana Hanif and Lincoln Restler joined the show to discuss the formation of the caucus in the new class of City Council members, its membership and priorities, and their stances on a number of key issues. 

Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think, on Twitter ...

Council Speaker Adams (photo: John McCarten/NYC Council Media Unit)

The New York City Council wants Mayor Eric Adams to add billions in spending to the city budget for agency operations, city initiatives, and infrastructure to ensure a strong and equitable recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. In issuing its official response to the mayor’s $98.5 billion preliminary budget proposal for the 2023 fiscal year, which begins July 1, the Council has advanced city budget negotiations into their next phase.

Adams’ budget reflects

Council Member Justin Brannan (photo: John McCarten/NYC Council Media Unit)

April 6, 2022 - Max Politics Podcast: The City Council Responds to the Mayor's Budget Plan

City Council Member Justin Brannan, a Brooklyn Democrat and chair of the Council's finance committee, joined the show to discuss the Council's response to Mayor Adams' preliminary budget.

Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think, on Twitter @TweetBenMax. You can listen to the show through the embedded audio below or download the

Immigrant support rally (photo: John McCarten/City Council)

Make the Road New York, the state’s largest organization representing immigrants and working New Yorkers, is releasing a new New York City policy and budget agenda on Wednesday as it hopes to influence the ongoing city budget process.

Claiming more than 25,000 members who mostly live in New York City, Make the Road issued its priorities including investments in housing, worker protections, greater immigrant protections, hate crime

Council Member Shahana Hanif (photo: @ShahanaFromBK)

How city government is addressing the needs of immigrant communities is shaping up to be one of several key issues as Mayor Eric Adams and the New York City Council negotiate the next city budget, due by the July 1 start of the new city fiscal year.

Among a series of March hearings held by the Council on Mayor Adams’ $98.5 billion preliminary budget plan, representatives from the Mayor’s Office on Immigrant Affairs (MOIA) and advocates appeared before Council members to