FAQ NYC

Latest Episodes:

Episode 449: The Weird, Wacky World of Drew Friedman’s Drawings Oct 18, 2025

Show notes

The legendary illustrator talks with LIT NYC hosts Amy Sohn and Harry Siegel about what he wants to illustrate now that he no longer needs to take assignments, how New York City shaped his work, why he thinks being called "the Vermeer of the Borscht Belt" is a misnomer, and much more.

City Hall Free For All: Tish James Indicted & Alexa Avilés on Immigration Politics Oct 14, 2025

Show notes

In our fourth episode, we discuss the federal indictment of New York Attorney General Tish James, how the mayoral candidates are reacting, and how the next mayor could influence President Trump’s approach to the city. Then, DSA-backed City Council Member Alexa Avilés of Brooklyn, chair of the Council immigration committee, joins us to talk about Trump’s immigration crackdown, her hopes for a Mayor Zohran Mamdani, and her own potential run for Congress.

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FAQ NYC and Max Politics are teaming up for a limited series, coming to you every Tuesday through November, featuring special guests who will help us dig into the latest in the mayor's race – and what's at stake for New Yorkers.

City Hall Free For All is brought to you with generous support from Jamie Rubin and Vital City. This week's episode was hosted by Christina Greer, Ben Max and Harry Siegel. Our Senior Producer is Giulia Hjort. Rachel Lightner engineered this episode. Our series consultants are Jess Hackel and Courtney Harrell. Music from Epidemic Sound.

City Hall Free For All: An $18B Transit Cut & Sam Schwartz on Breaking Through Gridlock Oct 07, 2025

Show notes

In episode three, we talk about the massive infrastructure cuts trickling down from the federal government – one of the many developments that have us holding our breath for what’s to come in our city. We’re also joined by ‘Gridlock’ Sam Schwartz, who gives us the lowdown on the past, present and future of transit in New York.

City Hall Free For All is brought to you with generous support from Jamie Rubin and Vital City. This week's episode was hosted by Christina Greer, Katie Honan, Ben Max and Harry Siegel. Our Senior Producer is Giulia Hjort, and Noah Smith is our engineer. Our series consultants are Jess Hackel and Courtney Harrell. Music from Epidemic Sound.

City Hall Free For All: Eric Adams Drops Out & Tish James on Her Legal Battles with Donald Trump Sep 30, 2025

Show notes

In our second episode, the hosts debrief about Mayor Eric Adams’ decision to drop his re-election bid. New York Attorney General Tish James also joins us to talk about the cases she and Donald Trump have brought against one another, and her support of Mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani.

FAQ NYC and Max Politics are teaming up for a limited series, coming to you every Tuesday through November, featuring special guests who will help us dig into the latest in the mayor's race – and what's at stake for New Yorkers.

Episode 445: ‘The Power of the Tabloids’ Sep 26, 2025

Show notes

"The tabs were this incredibly paradoxical force in New York during these years. On the one hand, they were totally polarizing, turning the world into into heroes and villains, good guys and bad guys — like comic books for adults. On the other hand, everyone is reading the Post and the News and Newsday, and they were unifying all of New York around these storylines."

Jonathan Mahler joins LIT NYC hosts Harry Siegel and Amy Sohn to discuss his new "The Gods of New York: Egotists, Idealists, Opportunists, and the Birth of the Modern City: 1986-1990."

City Hall Free For All: A Crowded Mayoral Race & Jumaane Williams on Democratic Defiance Sep 23, 2025

Show notes

In our debut episode, Public Advocate Jumanne Williams joins us to talk about his arrest outside of 26 Federal Plaza, what the mayor and other elected officials can and should be doing in response to President Trump's threats, and why Williams thinks it's time for New York Democratic Party Chair Jay Jacobs to step down.

FAQ NYC and Max Politics are teaming up for a limited series, coming at you every Tuesday through November, featuring special guests who will help us dig into the latest in the mayor's race – and what's at stake for New Yorkers.

City Hall Free For All is brought to you with generous support from Jamie Rubin, Vital City, the Charles H. Revson Foundation and P&T Knitwear. This week's episode was hosted by Harry Siegel, Christina Greer, Katie Honan and Ben Max. Our Senior Producer is Giulia Hjort, and Noah Smith is our engineer. Our series consultants are Jess Hackel and Courtney Harrell. Music from Epidemic Sound.

Episode 443: The Aviator and the Showman: Amelia Earhart, George Putnam, and the Marriage That Made an American Icon Sep 20, 2025

Show notes

Laurie Gwen Shapiro, the author of "The Aviator and the Showman: Amelia Earhart, George Putnam, and the Marriage that Made an American Icon," joins Harry Siegel and Amy Sohn to dig into what they don't tell you in the children's books about the life and death of the world's most famous female flier.

Episode 442: While the Rumor Mill Is In Overdrive, Zohran Mamdani Is Running Away with the Race Sep 15, 2025

Show notes

While Eric Adams says Andrew Cuomo is spreading fake rumors that he’s out, even Donald Trump seems resigned to the idea that Zorhan Mamdani will be New York City’s next mayor — and is threatening to punish the city and the state now that Gov. Kathy Hocul has endorsed the Democratic nominee.

The FAQ NYC hosts discuss all that and much more from another jam-packed week in New York City.

Episode 441: Eric Adams Amps the Absurdity Up to 11 Sep 08, 2025

Show notes

The incumbent mayor polling in the single digits regained the spotlight after Labor Day as he insisted he was running to somehow win a second term, not auditioning for a job as the Trump administration's new ambassador to Saudi Arabia. But even then, he seemed at least as concerned with dragging down Andrew Cuomo as he did in lifting himself up.

The hosts run down all that and more more from a week so wild that the thing where the Adams campaign invited Muslim leaders to City Hall to celebrate the Prophet Muhammed's birthday, but told the press that it was a mayoral endorsement event, hardly got noticed.

Episode 440: The Home Stretch Is Here Sep 02, 2025

Show notes

The summer’s done, Jerrold Nadler is ending his storied Congressional career at the end of his term, nodding at the need for generational renewal in the Democratic Party, and it looks like Eric Adams might be out of work soon, too, as Zohran Mamdani has maintained a healthy lead in the mayoral race entering its final two-month sprint.

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