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FAQ NYC

FAQ NYCfaq.nyc
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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Episodes

Episode 301: If You Zone It, They Will Build

City Planning Commission Director Daniel Garodnick makes the case for the Adams administration’s hugely ambitious new plan to update “our zoning rules that have over time gotten in the way,” so that developers can build what City Hall has described as “a little more housing in every neighborhood” adding up to a projected 100,000 new homes over 15 years.

Sep 26, 202341 min

Episode 299: ‘When Does the Hard Part Start?’ This Is the Hard Part.

Just two years ago, more than 90 percent of New Yorkers applying for food stamps and other benefits received them in a timely fashion. Now, it’s fewer than 30 percent. Co-hosts Christina Greer and Harry Siegel discuss what it means for New Yorkers, and for the mayor, when stuff isn’t getting done, and much more.

Sep 19, 202335 min

Episode 297: The Mayor's Magical Thinking

Eric Adams is done with Covid, but Covid may not be done with New York City. The FAQ NYC hosts dig into that and much more in a post-Labor Day, return-of-the-school-year episode.

Sep 06, 202328 min

Episode 295: Who's in Charge Here?!

Hosts Christina Greer and Katie Honan break down another jam-packed week in New York City, covering migrant housing plans, questionable donors to Adams' 2021 campaign, and who holds down the city when the mayor, for a variety of possible reasons, cannot.

Aug 25, 202325 min

Episode 294: ‘The Greatest Disappointment Is the Governor’

Dave Giffen of the Coalition for the Homeless and Josh Goldfein of Legal Aid talk with Katie Honan about what Kathy Hochul should be doing but is not as "she's apparently forgotten she's also the governor of people who live in New York City," what Mayor Eric Adams is saying that doesn't hold up, and much more.

Aug 17, 202342 min

Episode 293: A Different Way of Shooting Drugs

Photographer Stephen Yang joins Alex Brook Lynn and Harry Siegel for a conversation about capturing private moments in public settings, the differences between photojournalism and street photography, why tabloids have traditionally frowned on high-contrast shots (spoiler: those require too much black ink to print) and much more.

Aug 13, 202354 min

Episode 292: Beware of Sharks, and Drones

Albert Fox Cahn of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project joins hosts Christina Greer and Harry Siegel to dig into the problems with automated enforcement, the perils in letting police collect too much data, and more.

Aug 09, 202355 min

Episode 291: ‘The Radios Will Go Dark. You Will Hear Nothing.’

Journalist Todd Maisel spent 40 years listening to police scanners, letting the scratchy radio sounds guide him to some of the biggest news stories in New York City. He's now sounding the alarm over the NYPD's plan to encrypt these radios -- turning them off for everyone who isn't in the police. "Do we trust he police to tell the truth? I don't," he told FAQ. Silent radios "is bad for the public, it's bad for checks and balances, it is a real problem," he said. Listen to the full interview here....

Aug 06, 202333 min

Episode 290: ‘It's Not Going to Get Any Better’

Christina Greer and Harry Siegel dig into New York City's collapsing right to shelter, the unlikely companies the Adams administration is paying to provide services to migrants and much more from another jam-packed week in New York City.

Aug 01, 202330 min

Episode 289: Unpacking the Eric Adams Playbook

Jeff Coltin joins Christina Greer and Katie Honan to dig into how the mayor and his prospective 2025 challengers are positioning himself, and all the news from another jam-packed week in New York City.

Jul 25, 202348 min

Episode 288: The Three C's

Hosts Christina Greer and Harry Siegel talk about the new NYPD commish Eddie Caban, Crime and Corruption, and much more.

Jul 19, 202329 min

Episode 287: A Plan for a Retail Revival

Jonathan Bowles of the Center for an Urban Future lays out the group's ideas for what government can do to help new small businesses prosper.

Jul 14, 202336 min

Episode 286: Red (Ex-Mayor) Table Talk

Hosts Christina Greer, Katie Honan and Harry Siegel talk about the 109th mayor of New York City’s very public separation, the 110th mayor’s press strategy, and much more.

Jul 05, 202339 min

Episode 284: The Digital Revolution Is a Local NYC Story

Ben Smith, the author of Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral, talks with Azi Paybarah about Silicon Alley, the internet of the early 2000s, and why local politics is less scalable than it used to be.

Jun 25, 202341 min

Episode 282: The NYPD’s ‘Italian Squad’ Fought the Mob, and Mayors

Years before the NYPD targeted Muslims, Black radicals and other groups with specialized and sometimes undercover operations, the Italian Squad prompted pushback for its aggressive tactics, and from Italian-American leaders concerned about their community’s public image as immigrants sought to assimilate. Paul Moses, author of “The Italian Squad: The True Story of the Immigrant Cops Who Fought the Rise of the Mafia” recounts the NYPD’s efforts to grapple with organized criminals preying on Itali...

Jun 16, 202333 min

Episode 280: ‘His Art Brings Joy to a Lot of People’

When he wasn’t making ends meet as a handyman or selling lumber or heating oil around New York City, John Hedderson was making big and bold paintings about the people, places, and pets that made up his world. Since his death in front of a blank canvas in 2016, his daughter MaryAnn has been trying to go through his art and put it out into the world, including at an art show opening on Saturday, June 10, and running through the end of July at Espresso 77 in Jackson Heights, Queens.

Jun 10, 202344 min

Episode 277: The Booksellers of Brooklyn Take Flight

Davi Marra and Briana Parker tell Harry Siegel about their plans for Lofty Pigeon Books, opening in Kensington at the end of the summer, and Dimitrios Fragiskatos tells Azi Paybarah about what led him to open Anyone Comics in Crown Heights — where Azi had his wedding! — and then Everyone Comics in Long island City.

May 26, 202341 min

Episode 276: A Retconned Origin Story

Hosts Katie Honan and Harry Siegel discuss the mayor's new account of being arrested and incarcerated as a teen, City Hall’s plans for newly arrived migrants, this summer’s lifeguard shortage and much more.

May 24, 202343 min

Episode 275: A Two-Trumpet Town

In the latest installment of his occasional series, Into Something, Greg Glassman and fellow trumpeter James Zollar play together, and talk about what it takes to make it a musician in the Big Apple and much more.

May 22, 202331 min

Episode 274: "At Best to Be Pitied, at Worst to Be Reviled"

In this off-cycle edition, host Katie Honan and organizing and outreach specialist at the Urban Justice Center Karim Walker discuss the arduous path from being homeless to being housed, the endless need for fresh socks, and the breakdown in trust that comes with a broken system.

May 13, 202327 min

Episode 273: City Stressed Out

In the wake of Jordan Neely's killing, hosts Christina Greer and Katie Honan break down subways, migrants, Black leaders, and more...

May 09, 202342 min

Episode 272: Party City: Casinos, Weddings, and Galas, Oh My!

From the $229 Billion Big Ugly to the downstate gambling boondoggle to free weddings at Gracie Mansion, hosts Christina Greer and Katie Honan run down another jam-packed week of everything coming up aces for at least some New Yorkers.

May 02, 202335 min
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