Episode 385: Is ‘Urban Supremacy’ Killing New York City?

Just after Katie Honan and Harry Siegel recorded on Monday morning, a jury acquitted Daniel Penny of negligent homicide, the NYPD found the man they believe shot down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, and the City Council sued the mayor for declaring a state of emergency rather than implement the solitary confinement ban they passed into law. Ahead of all that, the hosts dug into how Trumpworld is reportedly laughing at a“Thirsty” Eric Adams, the limits of the mayor’s new “cancel me” appeal and his new talk about scaling back New York’s “sanctuary city” law even if lawmakers won’t go along, and much more, and much more.

Eric Adams seems to think so, and that Trump’s victory proves the left has lost its way. FAQ hosts Christina Greer, Katie Honan and Harry Siegel discuss the mayor’s solid political instincts and his dubious press strategy, why he’s still talking about Andrew Yang, and much more.

Why was Mayor Eric Adams swearing in Jessica Tisch as his fourth police commissioner in not even three years on Monday? FAQ hosts Christina Greer, Katie Honan and Harry Siegel discuss the historic turnover from an historically unpopular mayor, Rep. Ritchie Torrees' prospective challenge of Gov. Kathy Hochul, and much more. Plus, Katie digs into the Brooklyn diocese and the church that (sort of) tied together Sabrina Carpenter and Eric Adams.

She’s joined for this one by author Joel Kotkin, the Roger Hobbs Presidential Fellow in Urban Futures at Chapman University and director of its Center for Demographics and Policy as well as senior research fellow at the Civitas Institute at the University of Texas in Austin. He’s been asking the same question for decades, highlighting Americans’ demonstrated preference for suburban life and the waning of “urban supremacy.” The two dig into New York City at the latest of its many historic crossroads, at a moment when the high cost and scarcity of housing mask troubling signs of decline and a need for grassroots renewal.

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.

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 .

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.

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.

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.

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.