FAQ NYC

Latest Episodes:

Episode 479: Free Buses Won’t Make NYC More Affordable. New Trains Would. Feb 18, 2026

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Eric Goldwyn, an author of the new A Better Billion report from the Marron Institute of Urban Management at New York University, joins Lit NYC to explain its modest proposal to remap the city with 12 new projects, 64 new subways stations and 41 new miles of rail — all for about the same cost as making buses free.

Episode 478: A ‘False Choice’ Between Cops and Community Workers Feb 16, 2026

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Brian Stettin, who spent the Adams years as the senior advisor on the severely mentally ill for the office of the mayor before the Mamdani administration eliminated that position, joins the podcast for a wide-ranging exit interview. Plus, the hosts discuss Mamdani’s mounting early missteps, the bad-faith critics pouncing on them, and much more.

Episode 477: A Vision Zero for Homelessness in NYC Feb 09, 2026

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Coalition for the Homeless Executive Director Dave Giffen joins the pod to discuss the Mamdani administration’s efforts to bring unhoused people in from the vicious cold. Giffen talks about why he's seen the same problems repeat again and again under seven different mayors, and what it would take to actually change that dynamic and help put his group out of business.

Episode 476: A New Mayor Navigates a Frigid City Feb 02, 2026

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Just a month into this new era, Zohran Mamdani is trying to get his feet under him as the ground remains icy and precarious. The FAQ NYC hosts discuss that and much more, including a deluge of fake news about the new mayor online and the last governor's new talk show.

Episode 475: Mayor Mamdani Weathers His First Storm Jan 26, 2026

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The new mayor appeared to clear the bar with the city’s response to the first big snow on his watch. Meanwhile, his predecessor’s people were in the news again as Adams’ former chief of staff is reportedly the subject of a federal grand jury while his favorite deputy mayor for public safety is taking a new job working for ICE in Long Island.

Hosts Christina Greer, Katie Honan and Harry Siegel discuss all that and much more including what the ICE killings in Minneapolis mean for New York, and how Italian-Irish tensions in the Catholic church helped create a Sabrina Carpenter-Eric Adams crossover episode.

Noah Smith engineered this episode.

Episode 474: ‘The Last Confederate Widow’ of 1960s Cruising Jan 24, 2026

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Arthur Tress, whose newly published photographs of gay men in Central Park’s Ramble in 1968 and 1969 are the earliest shots of outdoor cruising in a natural setting, joins Harry Siegel and Alex Krales on Lit NYC to discuss his work in a New York City where homosexuality was still a taboo and a crime, why he’s publishing it now, and much more.

This episode was engineered by Noah Smith, and produced by Harry, Alex and Amy Sohn.

Episode 473: Ex-Mayor Quit Race But Can’t Quit the Crypto Hustle Jan 20, 2026

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Eric Adams said we'd miss him when he's gone as mayor, but he's still popping up — hawking an NYC cryptocoin in Times Square and taking potshots at his replacement when he isn't jet-setting or lashing out at an airport heckler.

The hosts discuss that and much more, including Zohran Mamdani's push after winning his own race to elect more socialists and the Democrats who aren't happy about it.

This episode was hosted by Christina Greer, Katie Honan, and Harry Siegel, who's also the FAQ NYC podcast network's executive producer. It was engineerred by Noah Smith.

Episode 472: Welcome to the Big Leagues, Team Mamdani Jan 12, 2026

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Not even two weeks into the big job, Zohran Mamdani and his team are up and running — yet still struggling to get their footing.

Hosts Christina Greer, Katie Honan and Harry Siegel dig into that and much more, including the new mayor's responses to pro-Hamas chants in Queens, and to two fatal police shootings in the same day.

This episode was engineered by Noah Smith.

Episode 471: The Resurrection of a Brooklyn Icon Jan 09, 2026

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An iconic restaurant in Fulton Mall became an Arby's, before it was revived amid the pandemic.

St. John Frizell, one of the stewards of Gage and Tollner joins Lit NYC hosts Amy Sohn and Harry Siegel to talk about the craft of the cocktail, the business of Brooklyn, the nature of the great good place, and much more.

This episode was produced by Amy and Harry, and engineered by Noah Smith.

Episode 470: The Mayor Mamdani Interview: ‘Is It Right To Hope?’ Jan 08, 2026

Show notes

Way back in March of 2025, when Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani was at one percent in the Democratic primary polls, he promised THE CITY's FAQ NYC his very first sit-down interview as mayor.

On Thursday afternoon, Mayor Mamdani made good on that promise, sitting down with hosts Christina Greer and Harry Siegel for a wide-ranging conversation that covered the ICE murder in Minneapolis and "a year of cruelty," his softening stance on abolishing the NYPD's gang database, his message to Jewish New Yorkers who haven't been convinced by his messaging so far, and much more.

This episode was engineered by Giulia Hjort.

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