Mayor Adams & Speaker Adams shake on the budget deal (photo: @NYCMayor)

Mayor Eric Adams and City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams announced on Thursday a deal on a massive $107 billion budget for the 2024 fiscal year, just days before the July 1 deadline, marking the conclusion of months of contentious negotiations between the two sides of City Hall. The full Council is scheduled to vote the budget through on Friday morning.

This budget is the largest at adoption in city history, adding $6 billion in spending compared to the budget adopted last June, largely because of spending on

At the polls (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

Initial New York City primary election results are in for City Council, District Attorney, and other races on the ballot in this off-year, low-turnout election.

Among the top headlines of the primary are the apparent wins by Yusef Salaam in the open Democratic primary for Harlem's 9th City Council District and Susan Zhuang in the open Democratic primary for the new 43rd City Council District in South Brooklyn; and the lead by challenger Chris Banks in

Comptroller Brad Lander at City Hall (photo: Office of the NYC Comptroller)

June 27, 2023 - Max Politics Podcast: Comptroller Brad Lander on City Budget Negotiations

NYC Comptroller Brad Lander joined the show to discuss city budget negotiations, the items he's most focused on as Mayor Adams and the City Council craft the new budget, the city's economic and fiscal health, and more.

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

(l-r) Al Taylor, Inez Dickens, Yusef Salaam

New York City voters are now heading to the polls in this month’s City Council primary elections, where dozens of districts are home to intraparty contests that will determine nominees for the fall general election. All 51 Council seats are on the ballot this year, though not every district has a primary race, after the decennial Census and subsequent redistricting.

One of the most hotly contested primary races is in Harlem’s 9th Council District, where three prominent Democratic candidates are vying to replace City Council Member Kristin Richardson

Susan Zhuang, Wai Yee Chan, Stanley Ng, Vito LaBella, Ying Tan (l-r)

Three Democrats and two Republican candidates are vying for their respective party nominations in this month’s primary election for the newly redrawn City Council District 43 in Southern Brooklyn.

The district was created last year during the redistricting process following the decennial Census to reflect population shifts, and in this case to give the Asian-American community a chance of greater, more proportionate

Council Member Rivera, one of the co-authors, at a CLT rally (photo: John McCarten/NYC Council)

In the midst of a persistent housing crisis, there are tens of thousands of rent-stabilized apartment units sitting vacant across New York City, as speculators and unscrupulous landlords contribute to scarcity and a lack of affordability. 

In March 2021, The Real Deal reported that landlords had removed over 1,800 apartment listings in Manhattan alone, a number three times higher than in February 2020, and that they were

May 25 rally for Open Culture (photo: Edward Amador/Office of Council Member Carlina Rivera) 

Under legislation passed in May by the New York City Council, the city’s pandemic-era Open Culture program, which allows arts and culture institutions to host events in public outdoor spaces throughout the city, will be renewed and made permanent. The bill,

City buildings lit up for Juneteenth (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

Juneteenth commemorates the day in 1865 when Black Americans who had been enslaved in Texas finally received word that President Abraham Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring them free two years earlier on January 1, 1863. 

It’s easy to imagine the hopes and dreams, long held within, that finally were released into the universe, and the disappointment that surely followed when Black Americans realized that freedom

Bus riders (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

On thecampaign trail and inCity Hall, Mayor Eric Adams

Time to head to the polls (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)

Early voting begins this Saturday, June 17, for this year’s New York City Council primary elections, an unusual set of contests mandated by a quirk in the City Charter that requires the full Council to be on the ballot following a decennial redistricting based on the Census. Early voting for the primaries runs through June 25, while primary day is June 27, and absentee balloting is ongoing.

In the two years since the current class of Council members was seated,

City Council Member Linda Lee, the author (photo: Emil Cohen/NYC Council Media Unit)

Despite being thefastest-growing immigrant group within New York City, the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community still severely lacks representation in government. In New York City, only 5% of my fellow City Council Members identify as AAPI, while none

City Council Member Justin Brannan (photo: Gerardo Romo/NYC Council Media Unit)

June 5, 2023 - Max Politics Podcast: Council Finance Chair Justin Brannan on City Budget Negotiations

City Council Member Justin Brannan, a Brooklyn Democrat and chair of the Council's Finance Committee, joined the show to discuss city budget negotiations with just weeks to go until a new spending plan is due by the July 1 start of the new fiscal year. He also discussed his participation in a small Council delegation trip to Washington, DC, to pursue a variety of priorities, including

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

In the last municipal election in 2021, only one out of every four registered voters cast ballots for mayor and other city offices, a major drop-off from the 2020 presidential election and little more than half the turnout seen in the 2022 state and congressional elections. The poor showing was the latest in a decades-long trend of dropping voter participation in local elections, in both the party primaries and general contests.

On Wednesday, the New York City Council will hold an oversight hearing examining ways to

A 5G tower (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

If you have walked around New York lately, you may have noticed a new addition to the streetscape: 32-feet-tall 5G towers looming over city sidewalks. As expected, these towers have inspired a range of colorful descriptions from New Yorkers for their uninspired design and massive size. From Washington Heights to Carnegie Hill, everyone seems to be raising the same questions and concerns about the design and placement of the 5G towers.

The city’s goal of expanding 5G communications is both laudable and necessary; in the

Seniors ready to learn (photo: John McCarten/City Council)

When the COVID-19 pandemic struck and forced a lockdown of physical access to many government agencies and services, it highlighted New York City’s stark digital divide. Some of the city’s most vulnerable people lacked access to high-speed internet connection or the knowledge and training to use them. Now, a City Council bill expected to pass on Thursday aims to address that gap for the city’s rapidly growing older adult population. 

...

Summer Youth Employment Program celebration (photo: John McCarten/NYC Council Media Unit)

New York City’s Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) could be seeing a boost despite proposed budget cuts, thanks to legislation in the City Council that could lead to greater participation from city agencies.

The Council is expected to pass a bill Thursday that would set a goal for each city agency to offer youth job slots as part of the landmark program, which connects tens of thousands of students with paid job opportunities in and out of city government during the summer months when school is

Mental health plans (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)

The New York City Council is seeking greater investment in the behavioral health workforce as leaders at all levels of government grapple with the longstanding crisis of untreated severe mental illness.

The Council and Mayor Eric Adams are negotiating the mayor's $106.7 billion executive budget for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1. On the table is tens of millions of dollars to help boost staffing levels for a range of needed services – some new and some depleted by the pandemic — both in and out of city

Mayor Adams and others tour a HERRC (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

As the migrant asylum-seeker crisis continues to escalate, and another surge of arrivals has begun after a federal pandemic-era border policy expired last week, Mayor Eric Adams is taking increasingly desperate steps to ease the impact on New York City.

While virtually everyone agrees that the federal and state governments should do more to help the city, critics say there are still several concrete measures the mayor has failed to

City Council Member Linda Lee, with Speaker Adrienne Adams & others (photo: John McCarten/NYC Council)

May 10, 2023 - Max Politics Podcast: The City Council's Mental Health Roadmap, with Council Member Linda Lee

City Council Member Linda Lee, a Queens Democrat and chair of the Council's mental health committee, joined the show to discuss the CIty Council's mental health roadmap, specific legislation that's part of it, a recent Council hearing on the package, and more.

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

City Council Members & advocates rally for parks funding (photo: William Alatriste/NYC Council)

As Mayor Eric Adams continues to propose sweeping cuts across city agencies, Council members and advocates are calling on him to restore, and increase, funding for the Department of Parks and Recreation.

Mayor Adams’ proposed $102.7 billion preliminary budget provided $520 million to the parks department, a drop of $42 million compared to the budget adopted last June and nearly $58 million lower than the latest budget modification in November.

“As our council budget response made clear, the

Council Speaker Adams with BLAC members (photo: Emil Cohen/NYC Council)

As Mayor Eric Adams prepares to release his executive budget proposal, the New York City Council's Black, Latino, and Asian Caucus (BLAC) is making a push for investments in education, economic mobility, housing, and health care in neighborhoods of color.

The BLAC, co-chaired by Council Members Kevin Riley and Oswald Feliz, two Bronx Democrats, includes 34 out of 51 members on the City Council, giving it significant influence in legislative matters and city budget negotiations. Council Speaker Adrienne Adams is an ex-officio

Corporation Counsel Sylvia Hinds-Radix (photo: Ed Reed/Mayor's Office)

With the NYPD costing taxpayers tens of millions of dollars every year in lawsuit settlements over misconduct claims, City Council members on Wednesday questioned the city’s Law Department about its approach to defending the police department and whether the city could benefit from being less combative when taken to court for police misconduct.

A Legal Aid Society ...

MOIA Commissioner Castro, center-left, with Mayor Adams & others (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)

Earlier this month, Mayor Eric Adams announced the creation of a new office to handle the influx of tens of thousands of migrant asylum-seekers in the city. But, at a City Council budget hearing focused on immigration services that same day, March 7, administration officials offered barebones details about the new office’s structure and budget, and how it would interact with an existing mayoral office that is already dedicated to immigrant affairs and has been coordinating services for

Linda Johnson, Tony Marx, & Dennis Walcott (l-r) (photo: @nypl)

The leaders of New York City’s three public library systems appealed to the New York City Council on Monday for its help in pushing back against tens of millions in possible budget cuts in Mayor Eric Adams’ $102.7 billion preliminary budget plan for the 2024 fiscal year.

The New York, Brooklyn, and Queens Public Libraries, along with the city’s Research Libraries, together face a $20.5 million budget cut in the next fiscal year, which starts July 1, as part of a Program to Eliminate the Gap (PEG) that the mayor instituted to cut city

Mayor Adams at a tech conference (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)

At a February oversight hearing held by the New York City Council Committee on Technology, the city’s Chief Technology Officer, Matthew Fraser, defended blockchain as a useful tool for stimulating the economy and enhancing government services.

As head of the city’s Office of Technology and Innovation (OTI), Fraser is at the forefront of the Adams administration’s plans to integrate blockchain and other digital tools into municipal operations while also continuing to evaluate the cryptocurrency marketplace. At the