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It’s an annual rite of mid-winter: The mayor of New York City travels to the state capitol to give his take on the governor’s proposed budget, and state legislators pelt the mayor with questions about whatever is on their minds.
Bill de Blasio’s fifth trip to Albany, which he made on Monday, involved some familiar themes and faces, but a slightly different feel, as Gotham Gazette’s Ben Max and Jarrett Murphy of City Limits discussed on this week’s Max & Murphy podcast.
The mayor’s Albany appearance is among the last in a sequence of events that set the stage each year for the governing that follows. First the governor gives his state of the state, then his budget. Next the mayor presents his own preliminary budget, then visits Albany. The last of the preparatory rites, the mayor’s state of the city address, occurs next Tuesday.
Common themes have connected these perennial episodes this year. Both Gov. Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio have lambasted the federal government for its tax reforms and likely budget cuts. Both the governor and the mayor have discussed how to better fund the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, although their ideas about how to do so are diametrically opposed. The MTA was a key topic of discussion on Monday. Property taxes, NYCHA, criminal justice reform, education and the homeless were also on the table.
Hear all about it below: