What's The [DATA] Point

What's The [DATA] Point

Podcast by Citizens Budget Commission

Episodes

October 21, 2025 56 mins
221 is the number of New Yorkers who joined CBC's Mayoral Smart Choices Half-Day Conference. In part 1 of a three-part series, a panel explores important question about the City's finances: how does the next mayor bring spending to sustainable levels and build the City’s reserves? What does fulsome preparation for federal cuts look like? How do labor deals balance fair compensation with fiscal reality? What tax policies will mainta...
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221 is the number of New Yorkers who joined CBC's Mayoral Smart Choices Half-Day Conference. In part 3 of a three-part series, a panel explores important questions on how to make the City affordable, safe, and livable. There are many competing needs, from boosting housing production to making childcare more affordable; providing fast, reliable public transit; delivering clean, safe and vibrant streets and high quality education. Ho...
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221 is the number of New Yorkers who joined CBC's Mayoral Smart Choices Half-Day Conference. In part 2 of a three-part series, a panel explores important questions about delivering services to New Yorkers: how do we ensure that the most high-quality and effective programs rise to the top and are managed well? How do we shrink what isn’t working even if it’s politically popular? - Henry Garrido, Executive Director, District Council...
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October 16, 2025 68 mins
Fifty years ago today New York City came within hours of bankruptcy, one of the most significant events of the Fiscal Crisis. This episode features interviews with two of the era’s heroes—Stephen Berger, who served as Executive Director of the State Emergency Financial Control Board, and Eugene Keilin, Executive Director of the Municipal Assistance Corporation (MAC). Learn how they and New Yorkers from government, the business comm...
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September 17, 2025 39 mins
2,500 is the number of uniformed officers NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch moved from behind desks to patrolling NYC streets since this past summer. The move helped drive down the number of serious crimes committed, though fear remains high: last winter before this effort, CBC surveyed New Yorkers and discovered that 42% felt their neighborhood is safe, and only 34% rated the City's quality of life as excellent or good. These pose a...
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34% is the share of New Yorkers who now rate the city’s quality of life excellent or good in CBC's recent citywide survey "Straight from New Yorkers." This is substantially lower than the 51% who rated quality of life positively in 2017. At the same time, the competition with other places to attract and keep residents and business is fierce. In this episode, CBC brought together leaders from New York's business, labor, nonprofit,...
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48,000 is the number of new homes to be created when we add together the 40,000 that should be enabled by 5 neighborhood rezonings and the current proposed plan to redevelop the Brooklyn Marine Terminal. New York must dramatically increase housing production if it is going reduce its affordability problems and be in a strong competitive position to retain and attract residents, grow businesses, and create jobs. What else is New Yor...
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$280 billion is the total number of dollars held by New York City’s five pension funds over which the City Comptroller is custodian and investment adviser. The Comptroller plays a critical role in the City’s fiscal health, integrity, and accountability. In June, New Yorkers will head to the polls to choose who they want to guide them through the economically uncertain times ahead. Today's episode features a live debate between t...
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February 22, 2025 43 mins
$15 billion is the amount congestion pricing is expected to yield for MTA infrastructure investment—to bring trains, tracks, yards, and signals to a state of good repair, increase accessibility, and expand subway service. As congestion pricing is challenged by the Trump administration, this speaks to the larger question of the fiscal and regulatory relationship between the federal government and New York. In this episode we are jo...
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February 11, 2025 57 mins
$252 billion is the size of Governor Kathy Hochul’s New York State Executive Budget for Fiscal Year 2026. It's a full $100 billion more than ten years ago. New York State and its localities are already #1 in taxes and #2 in spending nationwide. On today’s episode we talk with New York State’s Budget Director Blake G. Washington, to discuss whether taxes are too high, if New York should try to restrain spending growth, how the State...
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$35 billion is how much of the MTA's 5-year capital plan remains unfunded. Investing in the MTA’s crumbling infrastructure is one of the most important decisions Albany will make this year; New York's economy, quality of life, and the region's competitiveness depend on it. At a recent CBC event, MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber sat down with CBC president Andrew Rein to talk about keeping the trains running on time, the potential ri...
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December 7, 2024 41 mins
$16 billion is the estimated cost to build the new rail tunnel under the Hudson River. Decades of delays and funding spats ultimately led to the creation of the Gateway Development Commission, the bi-state entity responsible for making the tunnel a reality. Joining the podcast is Alicia Glen, co-Chair of the Gateway Development Commission, founder and managing principal of MSquared, and current CBC Trustee. Glen is also the chair o...
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80,000. That’s the number of additional new housing units the Adams’ Administration hopes will be developed over the next 15 years thanks to the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity. The City Council votes this week on Mayor Eric Adams’ plan to tackle the housing crisis. However, that is not all that the Administration is focused on. Needed Infrastructure investment, improved contracting, implementing the now-charter mandated true c...
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10 and 15 are the districts represented by New York Congressman Dan Goldman and Congressman Ritchie Torres. With a newly elected President and Congress, changes in federal policy, funding, and regulation will affect New York State and New York City. So, what are the opportunities and challenges ahead? Where can New York make common cause with others, and how can our congressional delegation work across the aisle? Listen as Congress...
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97 - that's the number of days between this conversation and the release of the Governor's Fiscal Year 2026 Executive Budget. But how the State will close its $16 billion structural gap isn't the only important issue facing New York State. How will the State buttress resiliency, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve student achievement (since it already spends 85% more per student than the national average), fund the MTA's next ...
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September 24, 2024 55 mins
3 is the number of current and former Comptrollers who sat down to discuss the City and State's finances, economy, population loss and more. While jobs and tourism have recovered, New York continues to face challenges with hybrid work affecting downtowns and the office market, housing affordability, future budget gaps, and needed infrastructure investment. Former NYC Comptroller Bill Thompson moderated a discussion during which NYS...
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August 9, 2024 39 mins
109,000. This is the number of new homes New York City aims to create over the next 15 years through its City of Yes for Housing Opportunity zoning proposal. Despite broad agreement on the need for more housing, the path is fraught with obstacles. Development is expensive and outdated regulations and zoning have impeded development of new housing and conversion of office buildings. How will New York overcome these challenges and tu...
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$116 billion is the total NYC adopted budget for FY 2025, including the $4 billion of FY25 bills that were prepaid. This year’s budget talks between the Mayor and City Council took several twists and turns, ending with the narrowly on-time arrival of an adopted budget. New York City Council Member Justin Brannan, Chair of the Council’s Finance Committee, joined the podcast to discuss the budget, the Council’s role, and his prior ca...
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June 27, 2024 43 mins
$8.8 trillion is the total combined assets of the nearly 3,000 financial institutions that are regulated and supervised by the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS). In addition to navigating serious banking crises in recent years, DFS faces challenges on the horizon: artificial intelligence, cyber security, and cryptocurrency, to name a few. Joining the podcast is DFS Superintendent Adrienne Harris, who shares with...
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6,632 is the number of NYC households who responded to CBC's 2023 NYC Resident Survey: "Straight from New Yorkers." The survey provides the most comprehensive, statistically valid, post-pandemic view of how New Yorkers are feeling about the City's quality of life and the quality of government services. Among the many eyebrow-raising pieces of feedback coming Straight from New Yorkers: Only 30% of rate their quality of life as excel...
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