FAQ NYC

A week before primary day — the moment of truth in most New York elections — we pull back the curtain on the voice of the papers in a conversation with editorial board members Mara Gay of the New York Times and Alyssa Katz of the Daily News about how they decide who gets the nod, and why this may be the rare year in which endorsements really matter.

In a supersized episode 5, we ask aspiring Attorneys General Zephyr Teachout, Tish James, Sean Patrick Maloney and Leecia Eve to say whether or not Donald Trump and his crew are emblematic of the New York real estate world, and what would change if each of them gets to be the new sheriff in town. Plus, former A.G. candidate Mark Green runs down this year's race and revisits several of his old ones.

Are you listening, Cynthia Nixon? The original Democratic underdog has some thoughts on what it’s like to run against the party powers that be for governor of New York.

Mayor Bill de Blasio sat down with us at Gracie Mansion to talk about his Murdoch-oriented media critique, how his progressive Democrats have already won the fight for the soul of the party, and why — hey, Cynthia Nixon! — he still he isn't ready to endorse some of those progressives.

New York City is the center of the universe, at least we think so. But what if it turned out that the universe didn’t revolve around us but in fact we revolved around… Albany? If the Democrats finally retake the state Senate and the Empire State turns deep blue, everything changes for Mayor de Blasio. Or at least that's what he hopes. We talked with political science professor Jeanne Zaino and Working Families Party boss Bill Lipton about the high stakes in this year's elections, plus City Council Speaker Corey Johnson calls in to run down what he says Harry Siegel got wrong in episode one.

John Liu thought he was on track to be New York City's next mayor in 2013 before a federal investigation overshadowed his run. Now, he says, things have changed and he's trying to get back in the game as one of a group of Democrats running primaries against the former so-called "Independent Democrats" who've helped Republicans keep control of the state Senate.