Kids at school (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

The literacy rate amongst children is at a crisis level: two-thirds of fourth-gradersnationwide are unable to read proficiently. This represents a complete failure to prepare our students for the most basic of life skills, in part due to the continued use of flawed literacy instruction methods. 

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Voters on the move (photo: Edwin J. Torres/Mayoral Photo Office)

There are less than three weeks until primary day, August 23, and the deadline for voters to request an absentee ballot is Monday, August 8. In New York’s 10th and 12th congressional districts, where there are heated Democratic primary contests underway, absentee ballots may play a particularly significant role under the peculiar circumstances of the election.

“Absentee ballot organizing is likely to be the single most important factor in determining the winner of these races,” Neal Kwatra, founder of Metropolitan Public

Jo Anne Simon at an abortion rights rally

Max Politics Podcast: Jo Anne Simon Runs for Congress in the New NY-10

Recorded July 12, 2022

Listen to the audio here, or at Max Politics wherever you get podcasts.

Democratic primary day: August 23, 2022

District: Lower Manhattan & parts of Brooklyn (...

Jo Anne Simon (photo: Simon's office)

Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon, who represents Brooklyn’s 52nd district, said her experience working with the communities in her district and the surrounding neighborhoods will be herpath to victory in the crowded race to represent the new 10th congressional district of New York encompassing Lower Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn.

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Candidates Niou, Rivera, Simon at Tuesday's forum (photo: The Cooper Union/Marget Long)

Several Democratic candidates running to represent New York’s new 10th congressional district answered questions related to climate and sustainability challenges facing the district and New York City during a forum held at The Great Hall in Cooper Union Tuesday evening. Such issues are especially relevant in the district given that much of it is along the waterfront, whether its Manhattan or Brooklyn side.

The panel, hosted by the New York League of

5 of the NY-10 candidates at Monday's forum (photo: Ben Max)

Nine Democratic candidates running inthe crowded race to represent New York’s new 10th congressional district appeared before several Brooklyn politics clubs on Monday evening, answering questions about pressing issues in the district, their policy platforms, and more.

The forum —

Jo Anne Simon at an abortion rights rally

July 12, 2022 - Max Politics Podcast: Jo Anne Simon on Running for Congress in the New NY-10

Jo Anne Simon, Assembly member representing Brooklyn's 52nd district, joined the show to discuss her campaign for Congress in the new 10th Congressional District of New York, which includes parts of Lower Manhattan and a significant chunk of Brooklyn. 

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

Bill de Blasio, Yuh-Line Niou, Carlina Rivera, Jo Anne Simon, Mondaire Jones, Daniel S Goldman, Elizabeth Holtzman, Maud Maron

More than a dozen New York City Democrats are vying to represent the newly redrawn 10th congressional district, which will span much of Lower Manhattan and a large swathe of Brooklyn. The candidate who wins the August primary is expected to win the general election in November given the district is heavily Democratic.

The reconfigured New York congressional map, approved by a New York Supreme Court judge last month, has shifted district boundaries and political aspirations. Given

The authors at a press conference related to the BQE

For years, residents, motorists, and headlines have screamed about the crumbling triple-cantilever on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. Repair plans have been delayed, presented, and rejected. We are not moving forward fast enough to repair the triple-cantilever or to envision and build a coherent 21st Century solution for the entire BQE corridor.

We can fix the BQE—and we must—but we can’t do it overnight. We need a solution that’s future-focused and environmentally-sustainable along the entire

Voters voting (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

The latest local election debacle -- another botched effort by the New York City Board of Elections (BOE) -- is simply inexcusable. A structural overhaul to the BOE is necessary to create an accountable and transparent 21st century agency and restore voters’ faith in the city’s election system.

Nearly every election for decades has been plagued with problems: untrained poll workers, delays in poll site openings, coordinators who don’t know how to close down the poll at night,

(photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

In response to several trends, including low voter turnout and civic knowledge, the past few years have seen a sporadic push for stronger civics education in New York and beyond.

In the spring of 2018, New York City launched a ”Civics For All” Initiative, which “provides resources, programming, and professional learning to all NYC schools. The initiative focuses on education models

Assemblymember Robert Carroll at Monday's rally

On the eve of Election Day 2017, a state Assembly member from Brooklyn held a press conference focused on voter engagement and turnout, but it wasn’t in support of his own candidacy -- he’s not up for reelection until next year -- or anyone else’s. Instead, Assemblymember Robert Carroll was talking about his push to allow 17-year-olds to vote.

In the state capital of Albany, Carroll recently introduced a bill, the Young Voter Act, that would

Assemblymembers Carroll & Simon, the authors (photo via @Bobby4Brooklyn)

School based health centers (SBHCs) are a critical safety net for immigrants and the uninsured. There are 145 SBHCs serving students in more than 345 schools across the city, regardless of their ability to pay. SBHCs provide primary and preventive care, reproductive and mental health care, and first aid; manage chronic illnesses; and more. From asthma and diabetes to food allergies and anxiety, these clinics can make the difference between life and death for many of our schoolchildren.

The