Max & Murphy

State Senator Gustavo Rivera, a Bronx Democrat and chair of the Senate health committee, joined the show to discuss the status of state budget negotiations, including around major health issues, housing policy, and more. (Ep 442)

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)

Dr. Christina Greer and Harry Siegel, co-hosts of the FAQ NYC podcast, joined the show to discuss Mayor Adams' 2024 State of the City address, Adams' broader agenda, performance, and standing, the developing 2025 race for mayor, and other New York political dynamics. (Episode 431)

Assemblymember Alex Bores, a Manhattan Democrat, joined the show to discuss his efforts legislating artificial intelligence opportunities and challenges, judicial reform to ensure better functioning courts, housing policy, and more. As a computer scientist and data engineer, he also discussed how government can better use data to inform decision-making. (Ep 430)

Political consultants and longtime Albany experts Shontell Smith and Liz Benjamin joined the show to analyze Governor Hochul's 2024 State of the State address, the governor's policy agenda, state government dynamics, and more. Smith, a former top official for the State Senate Democratic Conference, and Benjamin, a longtime journalist, dissect the governor-legislature relationship and much more. (Episode 429)

State Senator Zellnor Myrie, a Brooklyn Democrat and chair of the Senate elections committee, joined the show to preview the 2024 legislative session in Albany and discuss his top priorities, whether the Legislature will do anything significant on housing policy, and much more. He also touched on questions about whether he might run for Mayor in 2025.

New York State Assembly Housing Chair Linda Rosenthal, a Manhattan Democrat, joined the show to preview the 2024 budget and legislative session in Albany, especially what may happen around housing policy negotiations. She also discussed her other top priorities and major areas of concern that the state will deal with. (Episode 427)

Professor Jeff Wice, director of the Census and Redistricting Institute at New York Law School, joined the show to discuss the latest in the ongoing saga of congressional redistricting in New York. In mid-December, New York's highest court ordered a new round of map-making from the Independent Redistricting Commission, likely to lead to another new set of congressional district lines for the consequential 2024 elections in New York, where party control of the U.S. House of Representatives will again hang in the balance. (Ep 426)

New York City Council Finance Chair Justin Brannan returned to the show to discuss how the Council is pushing back against Mayor Eric Adams' budget cuts and other fiscal choices. Brannan spoke with Max Politics the day after chairing an oversight hearing on the Mayor's November budget modification to the city budget, which included $1.7 billion in savings, including many program cuts. Topics include debate over revenue projections, city personnel policies and removal of budget vacancies, specific funding cuts to programs, fiscal management of the migrant crisis, and more. (Episode 425)

Citizens Budget Commission leaders Andrew Rein and Ana Champeny joined the show to help break down what New Yorkers need to know about the New York City budget, the city's fiscal health as of December 2023, and debates over saving, cutting, and spending. They help illuminate challenges facing Mayor Eric Adams and the City Council as they determine city spending priorities discuss spending on the migrant crisis, federal pandemic funding "cliffs," and much more. (Episode 424)

Matt Wing, former communications director under Governor Andrew Cuomo, joined the show to discuss crisis communications, governing while under investigation, and more. In light of the federal investigation involving Mayor Eric Adams' campaign and administration, Wing discussed his experience in the governor's office amid a federal investigation into the Cuomo administration's handling of the Moreland Commission to Investigate Public Corruption, how he thinks Adams and his team are handling the current situation, and much more. In addition to the Cuomo administration and campaign, Wing has also advised or worked for Kathryn Garica, Uber, Bill de Blasio, and others. (Episode 423)