
FAQ 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.
Latest episodes

Nov 23, 2024 • 39min
Episode 385: Is ‘Urban Supremacy’ Killing New York City?
Joel Kotkin, a renowned urban futurist, dives into New York City's evolving landscape and its struggles against urban supremacy. He discusses the shift towards suburban living, highlighting the diminishing appeal of city life. Kotkin tackles pressing issues like the housing crisis, emphasizing the need for local governance reforms in light of pandemic mismanagement. He advocates for community-centered solutions to restore trust and engagement, all while urging a balance between cultural identity and modern urban demands.

Nov 18, 2024 • 32min
Episode 384: The Mayor Meets the Donald at the Fights
Eric Adams and Kathy Hochul have been tight to this point but the two centrist Democratic executives seem to be taking different approaches to dealing publicly and perhaps also privately with Donald Trump, who the mayor just hung out with at the UFC title fight at Madison Square Garden.
FAQ NYC hosts Christina Greer, Katie Honan and Harry Siegel talk about that and much more, including the evidently widening space between the electorate and the people they’ve elected in New York.

Nov 11, 2024 • 33min
Episode 383: New York Leaders Are Scrambling to Respond to Trump’s Foreseeable Win
It wasn’t a secret that Trump could be president again, or that his plans — starting with a mass deportation push — would have a huge impact on our New York City. So what are there so few specifics about what City Hall and others plan to do in response?
FAQ NYC hosts Christina Greer, Harry Siegel and Katie Honan discuss that, park fires, Weiner’s return talk and much more from another jam-packed week in New York City .

6 snips
Nov 7, 2024 • 57min
Episode 382: Blood in the Water
Guest Ben Max joins hosts Christina Greer and Harry Siegel to start sifting through what Donald Trump’s win and Republican gains in the city mean for New Yorkers, Mayor Eric Adams and next year’s elections here as there's red all across the deep blue city. .
They also discuss the stages of mourning, a grandma’s advice, the difference between a socialist and a dentist and much more.

Nov 4, 2024 • 32min
Episode 381: Two Cops, One Photo
In the calm just before the election-day storm, hosts Christina Greer, Katie Honan and Harry Siegel discuss the screaming match at the Marathon, reportedly over a photo op, between the police commissioner and his newly appointed chief of staff still doing double duty as the department's (reporter loathing) press secretary..
They also talk about subway surfing and the NYPD's ongoing efforts to use drones to try and stop that, handing out beers to marathon runners, and much more.

5 snips
Oct 28, 2024 • 26min
Episode 380: Adams and Trump Are Singing from the Same Hymnbook
Hosts Christina Greer, Katie Honan and Harry Siegel discuss Trump's last days rally in his old Manhattan stomping grounds, and the mayor's defense of the president and the president's public praise of the mayor that's sure to re-circulate in 20025 ads from the Democrats running to replace him.
They also discuss the NYPD's usual suspects who still seem to be the public face of the department rather than the interim commissioner who vowed the police would be speaking with one voice now, the rapper who turned down the key to the city, and much more.

Oct 21, 2024 • 38min
Episode 379: The Case for Voting "Yes" to the Big Question on the Back of Your Ballot
Sasha Ahuja, the campaign director of New Yorkers for Equal Rights, makes the case for voting "yes" on Proposition 1 — and explains what the update to the state constitution would and would not do.
Then hosts Christina Greer, Katie Honan and Harry Siegel discuss whether it's too soon to count out Eric Adams as a mayoral candidate, and the coming ticker tape parade for the Liberty after they brought New York its first basketball championship since 1976 and Brooklyn its first sports championship since 1955.

Oct 14, 2024 • 34min
Episode 378: Adams Attempts an Admin Reboot
In the midst of a great season for New York sports, Eric Adams is racing to rebuild his organization on the fly while investigators are closing in on him and his inner circle. Is there some reason to trust the process now that most of the top officials recently raided by the FBI have been pushed out, while more public service minded officials are being placed in top positions?
Hosts Katie Honan and Harry Siegel discuss that, the exhaustion of raking all this muck, why New Yorkers have been so sour on the mayor for so long, and much more.

Oct 7, 2024 • 24min
Episode 377: The City Hall Soap Opera Is Suddenly Killing Off Its Cast
The Adams administration departures are happening at a pace the podcast can’t match. Hosts Christina Greer and Katie Honan dig into Monday morning’s news about Phil Banks’ exit—but recorded too soon to cover the resignation of Winnie Greco and the firing of Rana Abbasova.
Chrissy and Katie did also discuss who would want to board the Titanic right now, how city politics became “a non-stop soap opera,” the “interesting spot” Gov. Kathy Hochul finds herself in as Adams cleans house at her firm request, and much more.

Sep 30, 2024 • 25min
Episode 376: How A Wild New Supreme Court Decision About a Small Time Mayor’s $13,000 Tip Could Bail Out Eric Adams
Co-hosts Christina Greer, Katie Honan and Harry Siegel discuss the high court’s ruling in June that public servants are free to accept gratuities in exchange for their public actions, which the mayor’s attorneys brought up Monday in a motion to dismiss the charges against him.
Plus, the pod digs into a new poll conducted just before the mayor was charged that shows New Yorkers overwhelmingly disapprove of his job performance, whether the city can still function while Mayor Adams fights the charges against him, and how his case and the city’s future could both be determined by what happens in the presidential election this November.
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