Each week, we'll tackle an urgent topic shaping life in New York, often joined by MI colleagues and outside experts who help us think beyond the headlines.
Nikole Hannah-Jones' Essay, School Choice, and Accountability in NYC Schools
Manhattan Institute's education fellows Danyela Souza Egorov and Jennifer Weber join Nicole and Liena to discuss the federal scholarship tax credit, Nikole Hannah-Jones' essay, school choice, and the challenges facing NYC public schools—from teaching practices and accountability to attendance and enrollment.
19 Aug 2026
Why Small Classes Won't Save NYC Schools
On this episode of The Bigger Apple, Nicole Gelinas and Liena Zagare talk with education policy expert and MI fellow Jennifer Weber about the history of school choice, the myth of the "small school" and "small class" as a fix-all, and some common-sense reforms that could help the city's budget and its students.
18 May 2026
Deal or No Deal: Strikes, Budgets, and Unions
This week, join us for a conversation about the Long Island Rail Road strike, the proposed state and city budgets, and the outsized influence of public- and private-sector unions with our colleague, New York's preeminent expert on public finance, E.J. McMahon.
6 May 2026
A Former Top Planner on What's Wrong And Right With NYC Housing
Nicole and Liena talk with Eric Kober, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and former director of housing, economic and infrastructure planning at the New York City Department of City Planning, about rent regulation, labor unions, property tax reform, 1961 zoning, and more.
29 Apr 2026
Autonomous Vehicles and NYC
Liena and Nicole talk to traffic guru Sam Schwartz and planner Kelly McGuinness about the good, bad and ugly about self-driving cars and dense, transit-centric cities.
Watch this podcast here.
24 Apr 2026
Busy, Busy Mayor: Mamdani's war on too-expensive eggs and too-cheap luxury second homes
In this episode we talk about Mamdani's plans for municipal grocery stores and whether green carts and farmers markets are already doing this work, the mayor's proposed Pied-à-terre tax, the state's war against insurance schemes, and more.
10 Apr 2026
100 Days of Mayor Mamdani
In this episode, Liena and Nicole unpack Mayor Mamdani's first 100 days, looking at his diluted promises of free childcare, fast and free buses, a rent freeze, and government groceries, as well as his ambition versus budgetary realities and how he's dealt with the day-to-day challenges of running the city.
2 Apr 2026
Mamdani, Rikers, Canal Street and the Coming Summer Crime Spike: A Conversation with Rafael Mangual
Rafael Mangual, Nick Ohnell Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute and author of Criminal Injustice, joins Nicole and Liena to discuss the spate of daytime shootings hitting New York, the Raise the Age law and its role in rising juvenile crime, rising public disorder, Canal Street's counterfeit economy, and the legal and logistical chaos likely to unfold as the city's self-imposed 2027 Rikers Island closure deadline nears.
20 Mar 2026
High Electric Bills, Expensive Pensions and Uncertain Property Taxes — What's next for New York's Taxpayer
In this episode, we talk with Ken Girardin, our colleague at the Manhattan Institute who covers New York tax, pension, energy, and labor policy, about two very expensive problems facing New York: a legislative push to roll back the pension reforms of 2009 and 2012, which would send public employer costs skyrocketing again, and the 2019 Climate Act, which halted the private investment cycle and left New York increasingly dependent on aging infrastructure.
9 Mar 2026
Mamdani, Policing, and Public Order: A Conversation with Peter Moskos
In this episode of The Bigger Apple Podcast, Nicole Gelinas and Liena Zagare talk with former Baltimore police officer and John Jay professor Peter Moskos about Washington Square's social‑media snowball fight, NYPD staffing and recruitment challenges, the proposed Community Safety Department, homelessness, and much more.
24 Nov 2025
Can New York State Afford Zohran Mamdani's Agenda?
E.J. McMahon, New York's leading budget expert, joins Liena Zagare and Nicole Gelinas to explain what's really happening with the city and state's finances. They talk about why New York seems flush with cash, what's driving higher spending on schools and Medicaid, and whether the mayor-elect's ideas—like free buses and universal childcare—are affordable. They also look at whether higher taxes might make some wealthy New Yorkers leave, discuss Dean Fuleihan's new role at City Hall, and consider whether the city has learned from its past financial crises.
17 Nov 2025
Why New York's Mental Health System Isn't Working
Why are so many visibly ill people on New York's streets and trains in a city that guarantees shelter? Liena and Nicole speak with Manhattan Institute senior fellow and Homelessness in America author Stephen Eide about deinstitutionalization, Medicaid's limits on long-term psychiatric care, and how shelters and supportive housing actually function. They also discuss what Eide has observed in Norway's mental-health system during his current research, and how it contrasts with the challenges New York faces as Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani moves to create a Department of Community Safety.
7 Nov 2025
Zohran Mamdani's Win and What's Next for NYC
In this episode of the Bigger Apple podcast, Manhattan Institute's Liena Zagare and Nicole Gelinas talk with MI fellow and Director of Cities John Ketcham about the general-election results, what they mean for mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani's agenda, and what New Yorkers can expect in the weeks ahead.
3 Nov 2025
What's Failing New York's Schools?
In this episode of the Bigger Apple podcast, Manhattan Institute's Liena Zagare and Nicole Gelinas talk with MI fellow Danyela Souza-Egorov about a $41 billion school system in crisis—from chronic absenteeism to falling enrollment—and how the next mayor could make things better or worse.
24 Oct 2025
Why does raising a child in New York cost so much?
In this episode, Liena Zagare and Nicole Gelinas discuss how regulation, rent, and labor shortages turned child care into a luxury — and plans New York City mayoral candidates Zohran Mamdani, Andrew Cuomo, and Curtis Sliwa have proposed to help parents.
17 Oct 2025
What happened to law and order in NYC?
In this episode of the Bigger Apple podcast, Manhattan Institute's Nicole Gelinas and Liena Zagare discuss NYC's crime situation — what's working, what's not, and how the narrative has changed since the last mayoral race.
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