State of the City 2020 (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

New York City is at a crossroads. As our response cautiously shifts to recovery, we will have an equally important responsibility to reimagine the promise of the greatest city in the world. While Bill de Blasio has a year to jumpstart that progress, it will largely fall to the next mayor to make it happen.

I helped grind the gears of City Hall for three years under this administration. I saw a lot that worked and a lot that didn’t. With the 2021 mayoral race quickly taking shape,

Ben Max, left, of Gotham Gazette, and Jarrett Murphy, right, of City Limits

July 5, 2017: Eric Phillips, press secretary for Mayor Bill de Blasio, talks with Max & Murphy about his job, the mayor's relationship with the press, and more.

Eric Phillips has been the lead conduit between Mayor Bill de Blasio and the city's press corps for more than a year. His job is 24/7, he explains, as he joins us for

De Blasio, center, & Walzak, to the mayor's right (Rob Bennett/Mayor's Office)

There are few people Mayor Bill de Blasio trusts when there is a lot on the line. One of those people, Phil Walzak, has been a top aide to the Democratic mayor since de Blasio’s 2013 campaign, for which Walzak was communications director. This past week, de Blasio’s reelection campaign announced that Walzak is moving from City Hall -- where he had been de Blasio’s press secretary then senior advisor -- to the campaign.

When it comes to a Mayor