Max Politics

In part two of our miniseries on Andrew Cuomo's record as Governor of New York, we examine his policy record over his ten-and-a-half-year tenure (January 2011-August 2021). Jon Campbell, a longtime state politics reporter now with WNYC/Gothamist, joined the show to recount and examine Cuomo's policy record over the course of his nearly three terms as the state's chief executive and put it into the context of Cuomo's 2025 bid to become Mayor of New York City. This is the second in a series of Max Politics episodes that will examine Cuomo's record as Governor and bid to become Mayor — the first episode focused on Cuomo's leadership and governance style. Cuomo has been invited to appear on the show himself but has yet to accept the invitation. Stay tuned for other episodes in this series and additional conversations on the 2025 NYC elections. (Ep 499)

Longtime journalists Bill Hammond and Nick Reisman joined the show to discuss Andrew Cuomo's record as Governor of New York, with a focus on Cuomo's leadership style. Cuomo, leading the polls in the 2025 Democratic primary for Mayor of New York City, was Governor from January 2011 to August 2021. Hammond - formerly of the New York Daily News and now at the Empire Center - and Reisman, formerly of Capitol Tonight/State of Politics and now at Politico New York - have both covered Cuomo for many years and, in this discussion, help host Ben Max recap Cuomo's decade in power. This is the first in a series of Max Politics episodes that will examine Cuomo's record as Governor and bid to become Mayor. Cuomo has been invited to appear on the show himself but has yet to accept the invitation. Stay tuned for other episodes in this series. (Ep 498)

Join Max Politics and FAQ NYC for a live double-podcast, primary election preview event on Thursday May 29, 5:30-7:30pm, at New York Law School! Hosts Ben Max, Christina Greer, Katie Honan, and Harry Siegel will provide the latest analysis of the race to be the next Mayor of New York City and highlight other key races to watch ahead of June's primaries. There will be special guests and plenty of audience participation, refreshments and more. Join us! RSVP at this link: https://nyls.wufoo.com/forms/qxmjtbs0nexll7/

New York City Department of Investigation Commissioner Jocelyn Strauber spoke with host Ben Max at a live event at New York Law School for Law Day, May 1, hosted by NYLS' Center for New York City and State Law. Strauber spoke about the important role DOI plays in ensuring ethical and effective government, DOI's role in the indictment of Mayor Eric Adams and her take on the dismissal of those charges, and much more. (Ep 497) url: nyc-doi-jocelyn-strauber-corruption

Queens Borough President Donovan Richards joined the show to discuss his 2025 State of the Borough address and agenda, major issues and opportunities facing Queens and the city, and the unfolding mayoral race. (Ep 496)

Political strategists Rebecca Katz and Jason Ortiz joined the show to discuss the state of the mayoral race and much more with two months to go until primary day, which is June 24, 2025. Katz, a co-founder of Fight agency, and Ortiz, a co-founder of Moonshot Strategies, are both veteran political strategists in New York and beyond. They joined the show to analyze the Democratic primary field for mayor, the city's political mood, lessons from past mayoral races that apply in 2025, and much more. (Ep 495)

Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, a Democrat, joined the show to discuss his 2025 State of the Borough address and agenda, major issues facing Brooklyn and the city, and the 2025 city elections. (Ep 494)

Six of the Democratic candidates for Mayor of New York City participated in a candidate forum on the evening of April 8, 2025 at New York Law School. The event featured candidates Adrienne Adams, Michael Blake, Brad Lander, Zohran Mamdani, Zellnor Myrie, and Scott Stringer, all vying for the Democratic nomination in June's primary election. The forum was moderated by Max Politics host Ben Max, who runs NYLS' Center for New York City and State Law, which co-hosted the forum with New Yorkers for Parks and its large Fair Play for Parks coalition. (Ep 493)

The once-a-decade Census population count is immensely important to determine federal funding to states and cities, representation in the federal government, electoral college votes, and more. We just passed the halfway mark between the 2020 and 2030 Census counts, and New York leaders are starting to sound the alarm about the need for good planning to execute a complete count of all New York residents. Assemblymember Landon Dais, a Bronx Democrat, and Census expert Jeff Wice, a professor at New York Law School where he runs the NY Elections, Census, and Redistricting Institute, joined the show to discuss why the Census is important and steps New York can take at the state and city levels to get moving on 2030 Census planning. (Ep 492)

Ryder Kessler and Catherine Vaughan, co-founders of Abundance New York, joined the show to discuss the "abundance" wave washing over the national political discourse (in part inspired by the new book Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson), what their vision for abundance in New York is, how to achieve it, NIMBYism vs YIMBYism, and much more. Their group is a relatively new nonprofit group (501c4) creating a new political community and working to influence politics and policy to increase the supply of housing, transit, public space, and clean energy. (Ep 491)