New York City Hall

What to watch for this week in New York politics:

THE POPE IS COMING: Pope Francis is coming to New York City at the end of the week, with public events on Thursday and Friday. The Pope's visit to the city will coincide with the UN General Assembly, at which he will speak, and will include mass at Madison Square Garden on Friday after a procession through Central Park, a visit to a school in East Harlem, and a ceremony at the 9/11 Memorial and Museum.

CMs Dromm, Kallos, & King, Public Advocate James, & advocates (photo: @Lunch4Learning)

“All I know is that when I would tell him that I’m hungry, he would say that he doesn’t have money to buy me something to eat,” says 17-year-old Althea of growing up with her father. She describes getting food at her house as a “gamble,” adding, “Sometimes the school lunch was the only meal I would eat for the entire day.”

For many young people in New York City, like Althea, the

Council members unveil Council 2.0 (photo: William Alatriste)

NEW YORK - City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and several council colleagues released today a civic technology plan aimed at making the legislative body more transparent while facilitating direct engagement with constituents.

The "public technology plan," dubbed Council 2.0, is being touted as a new "roadmap to digital inclusion and open

Panel at BRIC event (photo: Ben Max)

BROOKLYN - An expert group was called together Thursday night in Brooklyn for a town hall on the influence of big money on politics and to answer questions about what can be done to fix a system that virtually all in attendance agreed is broken.

Hosted by

PA James at Friday's event (photo: Sara Valenzuela)

With a Wednesday evening event in Manhattan, Public Advocate Letitia James concluded her five-borough "Our School, Our Voices" series of community forums on the future of mayoral control of the city's schools.

Speaking before a gathering of around 60 people at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, James raised the issue of increasing local control over school governance through more community engagement and parental involvement. "Mayoral control has functioned as