Podcast episode City Budget

4.7 mph, with Nicole Gelinas

March 14, 2019
4.7 mph is the speed at which taxis travel in Midtown Manhattan. Nicole Gelinas, a Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute, joins the podcast to discuss traffic, mobility, and the MTA.
Podcast episode City Budget

25,000 with Vishaan Chakrabarti

February 21, 2019
25,000 is the number of jobs that would have been created under a now-defunct deal with Amazon to create a second headquarters in Long Island City, Queens. Vishaan Chakrabarti, founder of the Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU), discusses the deal and how its failure may impact New York City's economic competitiveness.
Podcast episode City Budget

$92.2 billion, with Sally Goldenberg

February 08, 2019
$92.2 billion is the size of the NYC's FY 2020 preliminary budget proposed by Mayor de Blasio. Sally Goldenberg, the City Hall bureau chief for Politico NY, joins the podcast to discuss the budget and what to expect as budget season kicks off.
Podcast episode Energy & Environment

8.4%, with Energy Experts

February 05, 2019
8.4% is the reduction in carbon dioxide emissions in New York between 1990 and 2015. Governor Cuomo now wants to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 40% by 2030. Is this goal realistic? A panel of energy experts met at the CBC State Conference to help answer this question.
Podcast episode Energy & Environment

2040 with Seth Hulkower

January 31, 2019
2040 is the year by which Governor Andrew Cuomo wants New York to transition to 100 percent clean electricity. Is this target realistic? Are we on pace to meet it? And at what cost? Seth Hulkower--an expert on energy policy and the former COO of the Long Island Power Authority--joined the podcast to help answer these questions.
Podcast episode City Budget

$175 Billion, with Andrew Rein

January 17, 2019
$175.2 billion is the size of Governor Cuomo's proposed budget for fiscal year 2020. CBC President Andrew Rein joined the podcast to help unpack the proposed budget.
Podcast episode City Budget

2,268 with Stephen Eide

December 13, 2018
2,268 is the average daily number of people in adult psychiatric centers in New York State, a decrease from a peak of more than 93,000 people in 1955. Stephen Eide, a Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute, discusses the impacts of deinstitutionalization in New York.
Podcast episode City Budget

18.6%, with Greg David and Cara Eisenpress

November 30, 2018
18.6% is the poverty rate in New York City. Greg David and Cara Eisenpress, both from Crain's New York Business and the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY, discuss their recent reporting exploring New York City's safety net, how it's funded, and how it compares to other places (hint: a lot better).
Podcast episode City Budget

Episode 59: 1981

November 16, 2018
The data point for today is 1981, the year in which the State Legislature enacted S7000A, the landmark bill that formalized the current property tax system for New York City. A response to the Hellerstein case, which found the system was in violation of State law, S7000A essentially codified the status quo.

In doing so, it established a system of property classification, fractional assessments, caps, phase-ins, and class shares that is still with us 37 years later. These structural features and statutory requirements are the root of the system’s inequities and complexities. A home worth $500,000 can face the same tax bill as a home worth $1.5 million, while the value of a condominium unit, according to the City, is a fraction of its sale price. In fact, some buildings have values that are below the sale price of individual units. And commercial and rental property faces a higher average property tax burden than 1-, 2- and 3-family homes.

These inequities and problems have led to repeated calls for reform, including pending litigation. This past May, Mayor de Blasio and Speaker Johnson formed the Advisory Commission on Property Tax Reform. In September, the Citizens Budget Commission, the Regional Plan Association, and NYU Robert Wagner School of Public Service held a panel to discuss the problem, inequities and potential reforms
Podcast episode City Budget

3, with Cesar Perales

November 01, 2018
3 is the number of proposals on the November 6 ballot from Mayor de Blasio’s Charter Revision Commission. In this episode Commission Chair Cesar Perales discusses the proposed amendments.
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