Mamdani, the midterm elections and New York's race for governor

Errol Louis and co-moderator Susan Arbetter discussed the first and only debate in New York's gubernatorial race between Gov. Kathy Hochul and her Republican challenger, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, which was produced and aired by NY1 and Spectrum News. They offer a behind-the-scenes look at preparations that began in August, with a roughly 10-person team developing and refining questions for a 60-minute televised debate with commercial breaks. They also assess the candidates' experience in elected office and their ability to articulate their ideas, while discussing how moderators balance breaking news, such as the sexual assault investigation at Cornell, with policy issues like taxes and Medicaid.

In the second installment of NY1's exclusive series "Out of Office with the Mayor," Mayor Zohran Mamdani rode the Staten Island Ferry with NY1 political anchor Errol Louis to the only borough he lost on Election Day. They discussed Pete Davidson's doubts about the mayor, coastal resiliency 14 years after Hurricane Sandy, his meeting with President Donald Trump at Gracie Mansion, the anniversary of the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel, his role in the governor's race and how he plans to celebrate turning 35.

Jeff Coltin is editor-in-chief of City & State NY, recently returning to the magazine and news site where he spent a decade building his career covering New York politics. The magazine is celebrating its 20th anniversary with a special edition examining the city's power players from a variety of perspectives. Coltin joined NY1's Errol Louis to discuss his return to City & State and the magazine's two decades of political coverage. They also explored the upcoming midterm elections, New York's gubernatorial race and how Zohran Mamdani has fared in his first nine months as mayor of New York City.

Sam Roberts is a longtime New York urban affairs journalist and an obituary writer for The New York Times. His new book, "Are They Dead Yet? The Art of the Obit" chronicles the craft of writing obituaries and the stories behind them. Roberts joined NY1's Errol Louis to discuss the differences between obituary writing and long-form biography, the taboo against speaking ill of the dead, the use of euphemisms, and the challenge of crafting accurate, compelling leads under deadline. He also explained how advance obituaries are prepared and how editors select just a few notable lives from the many candidates who die each day.

Hundreds of judges sit on the bench in New York City, deciding the fate of criminal defendants. But how did they get their jobs in the first place? It's a surprisingly complicated question that NY1 investigative reporter Courtney Gross explores in her special series, "Building the Bench." She examined how local political parties control the process and select favored judicial candidates, often leaving voters with no real choice. Courtney joined NY1 political anchor Errol Louis to discuss why she pursued the series and what she learned along the way. They explored whether the current system is truly the best way to select judges for state Supreme Court, and Mayor Zohran Mamdani's upcoming judicial appointments for Family Court and Criminal Court. They also discussed allegations of patronage and nepotism, concerns about lawyers who help "make" judges, oversight by the state Commission on Judicial Conduct. They also looked at how the system has also helped diversify the bench, leading to historic firsts in Brooklyn and Queens.

Republican candidate for governor Bruce Blakeman joined NY1's Errol Louis to discuss why he believes New Yorkers are "miserable" under Gov. Kathy Hochul, pointing to high taxes, rising electric bills, the state's economic outlook, the loss of residents and businesses and billions of dollars spent on asylum seekers. The Nassau County executive talked about how he differs from past Republican gubernatorial candidates, his 9/11 experience as a Port Authority commissioner, and even how he feels about his ex-wife marrying Paul McCartney.

It's been 25 years since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. NY1 is marking the anniversary in a variety of ways, including a special episode of "You Decide" in which Errol Louis was joined by two longtime NY1 journalists who covered the attacks that day: Pat Kiernan and Cheryl Wills. Kiernan recalled learning that the first plane had struck the World Trade Center during his "In the Papers" segment and quickly switching to live pictures from Lower Manhattan. What followed was continuous, wall-to-wall coverage with no commercials for days. He described the initial confusion over what had happened, efforts to get NY1 crews downtown, and CNN carrying NY1's feed, which included the first live interview with then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Wills, then a health reporter, recalled seeing smoke from the World Trade Center while riding the LIRR, arriving at NY1, and racing downtown by motorcycle. She also discussed repeatedly working amid the smoke without a mask, later joining the World Trade Center Health Program, and reporting in the years that followed on the lasting health effects of 9/11 and the sensitive issues surrounding how the attacks are memorialized.

Spectrum News 1 North Carolina political anchor Tim Boyum and NY1's Errol Louis have a combined 50 years of experience covering politics and have witnessed countless changes in the political landscape. One recent movement that has caught their attention is the rise of the Democratic Socialists of America.  Boyum joined Louis to discuss why the DSA has gained popularity, particularly among younger voters, and whether its influence can spread beyond New York City. They also compared notes on how political journalism and campaigns have changed over the course of their careers, including the evolving role of debates in the election process.

Maggie Haberman is a White House correspondent for The New York Times. The New York City native is the author of "Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America." She is also the co-author, with Jonathan Swan, of a new book, "Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump," which lays out the first year of President Trump's second presidency.  Haberman joined NY1's Errol Louis to discuss her new book. She explained how she and Swan began the project in 2023 as a "last act" Trump story but instead witnessed a dramatic shift that they came to see as a form of domestic "regime change, " marked by court-style politics, expanded executive power and the erosion of independence at the Department of Justice. Haberman also described an administration divided into fiefdoms controlled by powerful figures, including Stephen Miller, Elon Musk through DOGE and USAID and others.

In a plan that's now being echoed by the Trump administration, New York City has helped close to 400,000 public school students and their families pay for college by creating savings accounts, which include start-up seed money. Joining NY1's Errol Louis to discuss the program was City Council Speaker Julie Menin, who helped launch NYC Kids RISE in 2015 when she was the city's Consumer Affairs Commissioner. In their conversation, Menin also reflected on her career and her path into politics, including her work rebuilding Lower Manhattan after the Sept. 11 attacks and her push to release long-withheld 9/11 files. She also outlined her responsibilities as council speaker and her current priorities, including an oversight hearing on Legionnaires' disease; a proposed ban on horse-drawn carriages; and the creation of an office dedicated to insurance accountability.