A weekly dive into the big questions about this city of ours, hosted by Christina Greer, Azi Paybarah and Harry Siegel, and produced by Alex Brook Lynn.
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This episode explores the fascinating life of Joe Flaherty, a high school dropout and dock worker who became a celebrated writer for The Village Voice. His son, Liam, shares insights into Joe's observations of New York's deindustrialization and evolving diversity, as well as his challenging role managing Norman Mailer and Jimmy Breslin's visionary yet theatrical 1969 mayoral campaign. The discussion also touches on Flaherty's love for sports, the changing face of Brooklyn, and the "writer's life."
One more storm, many more mountains of snow for winter-weary New Yorkers to slog through and a second chance for Zohran Mamdani to show he's up to his endless blizzard of a job. FAQ NYC hosts Christina Greer and Harry Siegel dig into all that and more, including Mamdani's dubious threat to raise property taxes in the city if Albany doesn't hike taxes on the rich and what that shows about who's missing from his inner circle.
Dr. Eric Goldwyn discusses NYU's "A Better Billion" report, proposing 41 new miles of subway rail and 64 stations for NYC. He contends this expansion, costing similarly to free buses, would be truly transformative by spurring housing development and tackling affordability. The episode explores historical precedents of subway-led growth, political challenges, the high costs of construction, and the critical need for an ambitious urban planning vision.
Brian Stettin, who spent the Adams years as the senior advisor on the severely mentally ill for the office of the mayor before the Mamdani administration eliminated that position, joins the podcast for a wide-ranging exit interview. Plus, the hosts discuss Mamdani’s mounting early missteps, the bad-faith critics pouncing on them, and much more.
Coalition for the Homeless Executive Director Dave Giffen joins the pod to discuss the Mamdani administration’s efforts to bring unhoused people in from the vicious cold. Giffen talks about why he's seen the same problems repeat again and again under seven different mayors, and what it would take to actually change that dynamic and help put his group out of business.
Just a month into this new era, Zohran Mamdani is trying to get his feet under him as the ground remains icy and precarious. The FAQ NYC hosts discuss that and much more, including a deluge of fake news about the new mayor online and the last governor's new talk show.
The new mayor appeared to clear the bar with the city’s response to the first big snow on his watch. Meanwhile, his predecessor’s people were in the news again as Adams’ former chief of staff is reportedly the subject of a federal grand jury while his favorite deputy mayor for public safety is taking a new job working for ICE in Long Island. Hosts Christina Greer, Katie Honan and Harry Siegel discuss all that and much more including what the ICE killings in Minneapolis mean for New York, and how...
Arthur Tress, whose newly published photographs of gay men in Central Park’s Ramble in 1968 and 1969 are the earliest shots of outdoor cruising in a natural setting, joins Harry Siegel and Alex Krales on Lit NYC to discuss his work in a New York City where homosexuality was still a taboo and a crime, why he’s publishing it now, and much more. This episode was engineered by Noah Smith, and produced by Harry, Alex and Amy Sohn.
Eric Adams said we'd miss him when he's gone as mayor, but he's still popping up — hawking an NYC cryptocoin in Times Square and taking potshots at his replacement when he isn't jet-setting or lashing out at an airport heckler. The hosts discuss that and much more, including Zohran Mamdani's push after winning his own race to elect more socialists and the Democrats who aren't happy about it. This episode was hosted by Christina Greer, Katie Honan, and Harry Siegel, who's also the FAQ NYC podcast...
Not even two weeks into the big job, Zohran Mamdani and his team are up and running — yet still struggling to get their footing. Hosts Christina Greer, Katie Honan and Harry Siegel dig into that and much more, including the new mayor's responses to pro-Hamas chants in Queens, and to two fatal police shootings in the same day. This episode was engineered by Noah Smith.
An iconic restaurant in Fulton Mall became an Arby's, before it was revived amid the pandemic. St. John Frizell, one of the stewards of Gage and Tollner joins Lit NYC hosts Amy Sohn and Harry Siegel to talk about the craft of the cocktail, the business of Brooklyn, the nature of the great good place, and much more. This episode was produced by Amy and Harry, and engineered by Noah Smith.
Way back in March of 2025, when Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani was at one percent in the Democratic primary polls, he promised THE CITY's FAQ NYC his very first sit-down interview as mayor. On Thursday afternoon, Mayor Mamdani made good on that promise, sitting down with hosts Christina Greer and Harry Siegel for a wide-ranging conversation that covered the ICE murder in Minneapolis and "a year of cruelty," his softening stance on abolishing the NYPD's gang database, his message to Jewish New Yor...
Back when he was a longshot Democratic candidate, Zohran Mamdani said on this podcast that it would be his first interview as mayor — we're still here and with lots of questions to ask. Hosts Christina Greer and Harry Siegel discuss that and much more, including his inspiring inauguration and how longtime Public Advocate Jumaane Williams is already finding his voice and stride as a partner to this mayor instead of a foil to Eric Adams. This episode was produced by Noah Smith....
As the mayor elect races to get ready for a big show and the big job, Eric Adams has been awfully busy in his final few days in office. Christina Greer and Harry Siegel discuss all that and much more — including then longshot Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani's public promise way back when to give our podcast his first interview as mayor. This episode was engineered by Noah Smith.
In 1980, a movie narrated by a sociologist once described as Jimmy Stewart’s urban planner cousin, and full of surveillance footage of the city's public spaces, delivered perhaps the richest and wisest look ever made at how New Yorkers use the city's public spaces. Municipal Art Society president Keri Butler joins LIT NYC hosts Harry Siegel and Amy Sohn to discuss William H. Whyte's brilliant The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces, which of his zen koans about those spaces have stood the test of ...
Zohran Mamdani has promised to have 1 percent of the city budget go to the Parks Department — but so did Eric Adams, who never came close to delivering. Three experts and advocates discuss all that and more with host Katie Honan. Plus, Katie and Harry Siegel talk about all the latest developments from another wild week, and with just over a week to go before a new adminsitration takes power.
“In my quest to be more American than Americans, I wanted to know more than American music [and in 1972] I was staying with a great fiddle player and banjo player in North Carolina named Tommy Jarrell and he was puzzled, because a lot of the people who had come from up north to study with him were Jews and Italians — people for whom this was not their continuity. Tommy was a very inquisitive guy and at one point he asked me, ‘Hank, don't your people got none of your own music?’… That sent me scu...
The FAQ NYC hosts discuss terror fears here, a slow transition and a marathon listening session for Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani, a time capsule for outgoing Mayor Eric Adams, and much more — including a man dressed as a hamburger with some serious small business concerns.
Amid the silly season of transition speculation, New Yorkers are waiting to see how Zohran Mamdani, a brilliant messenger, handles the levers of power and who else he's bringing inside of City Hall to help him run the huge machine. While those staffing decisions are playing out, slowly and behind closed doors, the outgoing administration is taking some swipes at Mamdani, including about the mayor elect's pledge to end homeless encampment sweeps. Episode hosted by Christina Greer, Katie Honan and...
“I bought myself an electric bike to take my kids to the beach and started charging it outside after seeing stats on how many battery fires there were. I looked at other countries that are doing battery-swap networks and I said, ‘We should do this in New York… My plan, if I can be this ambitious, is to build a city-wide battery-swap network everybody can use." Ineffable and inimitable gadfly and entrepreneur Baruch Herzfeld joins LIT NYC hosts Harry Siegel and Amy Sohn to talk about schemes and ...
It turns out that the count of our mayors has been off by one, dating back to when the city had a population of just 2,500 — meaning the mayor-elect will be New York’s 112th mayor, though still the 111th person to serve. FAQ NYC hosts Christina Greer, Katie Honan and Harry Siegel discuss that breaking 17th Century news, as reported by Eliabeth Kim at Gothamist, and much more, including Julie Menin’s early Speaker win and the World Trade Center-related death this week of a retired deputy chief wh...
Are theater kids Zohran Mamdani and Donald Trump having a bromance now, and did Jessica Tisch help bring them together? Is anyone not running for Congress? The FAQ NYC hosts discuss all that and much more before having an in-depth conversation with Crystal Hudson, the Brooklyn City Councilmember who’s one of the leading candidates to be the body’s next speaker in the first of a series of interviews with the contenders . This episode was engineered by Noah Smith
Is anyone in this town not running for Congress? Is it time for Democrats to finally usher an older generation out of Washington, and is there a way to build a party whose representatives are better distributed in terms of age, identity and geographic distribution? Is it time to finally feel hopeful about New York City's future? All that and more gets mulled over by hosts Christina Greer and Harry Siegel. This episode was engineered by Noah Smith.
Michael Rohatyn and Peter Yost, the creators of the acclaimed new documentary about Gotham’s close brush with bankruptcy in 1975, Drop Dead City, discuss the film, the city that was, how its near collapse led to the city of today, and how Michael’s father Felix helped pulled it back from the brink with Big MAC, or the Municipal Assistance Corporation.
With the mayor's race decided and 2026 election moves just beginning, the FAQ NYC hosts talk about the Council Speaker's race that drew lots of attention at Somos, where Gov. Kathy Hochul got hit with another chant of "tax the rich!" There are only 51 votes that count in a closed-door campaign where the narrative question is whether the Council wants to speed up, or slow down, a Mayor Mamdani and his agenda next year. It’s a contest that he’s yet to publicly weigh in on. The practical question, ...
In our final episode of City Hall Free For All, we talk about the future of New York City under Mayor Elect Zohran Mamdani and who he will surround himself with to help him accomplish his vision. We’re also joined by Patrick Gaspard, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, former key Obama aide and now key advisor to Mamdani, to talk about this historic moment. — FAQ NYC and Max Politics are teaming up for a limited series, coming to you every Tuesday through November, featuring speci...
Ben Fractenberg, visuals editor for THE CITY, joins LIT NYC hosts Harry Siegel and Amy Sohn for a wide-ranging conversation about street photography, photo journalism and much more.The interview comes just before the opening reception for Ben’s solo show, In Tension, this Friday evening from 6-9 at Gallery 198, at 198 24th St. in Brooklyn, with his work then on display there through November.
The Election Night results are in: Zohran Mamdani will be New York City’s 111th Mayor. Our hosts react to Mamdani’s big win over Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa, with over 1 million votes out of more than 2 million cast, and discuss his rousing, defiant victory speech and what comes next. — FAQ NYC and Max Politics are teaming up for a limited series, coming to you every Tuesday through November, featuring special guests who will help us dig into the latest in the mayor's race – and what's at stak...
Alex Brook Lynn, FAQ NYC's original executive producer, rejoins the podcast to talk with Harry Siegel about New York City's election, and how and why Paris — which has all the same big urban issues — has taken a different approach to providing things like affordable housing for working class people, childcare, and more.
In episode six, we’re focusing on affordability, housing and the related ballot proposals. We’re joined by housing experts Jamie Rubin (Chief Investment Officer of Aligned Climate Capital & Chairman of the Board of NYCHA) and Alicia Glen (Founder and Managing Principle of M Squared & former Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development), who share their thoughts on what the next Mayor should accomplish – and how. Remember: early voting is in full swing. Visit vote.nyc or call 1-866-V...
