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

Adrienne Adams, a Queens Democrat and the first Black Speaker of the New York City Council, gives herself a “B+” grade on her tenure so far. In an interview with Gotham Gazette, Adams said that when she took over, she found herself “in uncharted waters, where no other speaker has begun their career,” having to deal with the continuing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, ushering along the city’s recovery, and negotiating a complicated budget with a new mayor intent on reigning in city spending.

For the past seven-plus

(photo: Edwin J. Torres/Mayoral Photography Office)

August 21, 2019 - Max & Murphy Podcast: The 30th Anniversary of David Dinkins' Election as Mayor

This November marks 30 years since David Dinkins was elected New York City's first (and to date only) black mayor. Dinkins joined the show to discuss his 1989 victory, his term as mayor, and more. Then, journalist Tom Robbins joined

Michael Tolkin (center) at a Reform Party forum (photo: Tolkinformayor.com)

Michael Tolkin, a 32-year-old tech entrepreneur who is among over a dozen long-shot candidates running to unseat New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, appears to have outspent every other contender in the race, including the mayor, with a $5 million in-kind contribution to his own campaign.

An in-kind contribution is one in which goods or services instead of cash are given to a campaign, and in this case the entire contribution is also listed as an expenditure towards “campaign literature and

De Blasio at a press conference (Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)

It's hard to go a few hours in New York political circles without hearing a joke about the mayor being late. Mayor de Blasio earned the taunts, having had a punctuality problem, which offended many New Yorkers. These days, de Blasio is almost never late for public events, though, seeming to have corrected what should have been an avoidable mistake of his early tenure.

Still, nearly two years into his term, de Blasio is dogged by a reputation for tardiness, as well as other

Photo by Bill Alatriste/City Council

NEW YORK — The historic overhaul of New York City government this year goes well beyond the mayor's office.

There are 21 new members of the City Council, four new borough presidents, and fresh, yet familiar, faces in the offices of Brooklyn district attorney, comptroller, and public advocate. With the city’s politics taking an increasingly liberal turn, there are few outright conservatives left in city government.

“Reapportionment and term limits combined to make the City