Firewall

In this first installment of The Race to Gracie Mansion — a series of interviews with New York City mayoral hopefuls, co-produced by Firewall and City & State — Jessica Ramos, State Senator from Queens, lays out her vision for a more equitable, better-run city. She takes on police deployment, fair fares, Cuomo’s comeback, and why she'll never promise childhood friends a job in her administration. 

Bradley offers a framework for thinking about how government at all levels should approach AI in terms of regulating it, deploying it and dealing with its ramifications. It doesn't have to be like DOGE, he argues, but there are definitely things we can learn from Elon. "The point of government," he says, "is to serve the collective needs of the people, not to employ a workforce of people."

In word, no — not when it comes to the government, anyway. Bradley reviews the careful balance you need to strike when working in areas outside your expertise. Plus, he mulls over whether getting Western Europe to bulk up its armed forces will make the world safer, how Chuck Schumer's self interest and the national interest coincided on his vote for the continuing resolution on the budget and (because we needed to lift the mood) what makes a great cover version of a pop song.

A new poll reveals what New Yorkers really think about the state of the city—and the results might surprise you.

Kicking off the Race to Gracie Mansion series, Bradley and guest co-host Tom Allon (City & State Publisher) break down the largest study of NYC voters in years with the people behind it: John Della Volpe (Founder & CEO, SocialSphere) and Jamie Rubin (Board Chair, NYCHA). As the 2025 mayoral race heats up, they take a closer look into what New Yorkers are actually saying about crime, affordability, quality of life, and more—and what it all means for the city's future.

Subscribe to Firewall to catch every episode of The Road to Gracie Mansion, where we sit down with the leading mayoral candidates and cut through the noise. First episode drops March 27.

Chapters:

00:01:41 - Why Commission This Poll?

00:03:08 - Key Findings: What New Yorkers Are Saying

00:04:34 - What Makes This Poll Different?

00:06:04 - Pessimism in NYC: A Return to the '80s?

00:07:36 - Is NYC Part of a National Trend?

00:09:14 - The Mayoral Race: Breaking Down Voter Segments

00:12:27 - The Progressive Divide

00:15:24 - Eric Adams: Does He Have a Path to Re-Election?

00:17:27 - Cuomo’s Lead in the Polls

00:22:22 - Who Can Win? Evaluating Other Candidates

00:28:20 - Crime, Public Safety, and Perceptions vs. Reality

00:37:43 - NYC's Public Transit & Congestion Pricing

00:41:20 - Involuntary Confinement for Mentally Ill: Strong Support

00:44:33 - Migrant Crisis: Public Attitudes

00:48:07 - Housing Crisis & NYCHA Redevelopment

00:52:53 - Closing Thoughts & Where to Find More on the Poll