Max Politics

New York State Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt, an Upstate Republican, joined the show to discuss state budget negotiations, the GOP's priorities and warning, housing policy, and more. (Episode 441)

Julie Samuels, President and CEO of Tech:NYC, joined the show to discuss Governor Hochul's 'Empire AI' proposal to create a new artificial intelligence hub in Buffalo and related policies.

Gersh Kuntzman, editor in chief of Streetsblog NYC and longtime city journalist, joined the show to discuss the long arc of congestion pricing approval, the 3/27/24 final MTA Board passage of the program, its planned June implementation, potential benefits, pitfalls, and unknowns — and more. (Episode 439)

Assembly Members Catalina Cruz of Queens and Brian Cunningham of Brooklyn joined the show to discuss their top legislative and budget priorities and the status of state budget negotiations with a deal due by April 1, including on the major issue of housing policy. Cruz also discussed her focus on immigrant communities and the asylum-seeker crisis, while Cunningham discussed the controversy over the future of SUNY Downstate medical center, among other topics they each addressed. (Ep 438)

News of the Week: Jeff Coltin of Politico joins the show to discuss City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams' 2024 State of the City address and policy agenda, and the relationship between the Speaker and Mayor Eric Adams; then Emma Whitford of City Limits joins to discuss the three housing policy plans at the state level from Governor Kathy Hochul and the two majority conferences of the State Legislature. (Ep 437)

State Senate Deputy Leader Michael Gianaris, a Queens Democrat, joined the show to discuss what comes next in New York's redistricting saga, the development of the Senate Democratic majority's one-house state budget resolution, housing policy negotiations, and more. (Ep 436)

Grace Rauh, executive director of the 5Boro Institute, joined the show to discuss the think tank's new child care policy report and key steps to ensure affordable child care for all New Yorkers, as well as other issues the Institute has been working on including city government staffing challenges, and more. (Ep 435)

New York State Inspector General Lucy Lang joined the show to discuss her approach to the office and efforts to root out corruption, fraud, and waste in state government. She discussed other priorities and focus areas including prison oversight, covid fraud, gambling integrity, and more. (Ep 434)

State Senator John Liu, a Queens Democrat and chair of the Senate's New York City education committee, joined the show to discuss the major education issues on the table in the 2024 state legislative session, his other top priorities, housing policy, and more. (Ep 433)

New York City Health Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan joined the show to discuss how the Adams Administration is taking on the threats of social media on youth, studying long covid, working to increase life expectancy, and more. (Ep 432)