Dear New York Focus readers,
Thank you to all who attended our first-ever mayoral forum on Thursday night at the Public Theater!
The event, co-hosted with Hell Gate, featured candidates Zohran Mamdani, Brad Lander and Scott Stringer. You can watch the full debate here.
We asked how each candidate would have fun on their off days if elected mayor. Mamdani said he would spend his days at his “secret wife’s art shows,” Lander said he would spend them at the reopened Delacorte Theater, and Stringer said he’d spend his days with his family.
Overall, a more wholesome bunch than our current nightlife-focused mayor.
More from this week
Jie Jenny Zou wrote about what’s next for New York after Congressional Republicans released their plan to cut Medicaid and SNAP benefits. Some of the changes floated in the plan include a $290 billion cut from SNAP over the next decade, leaving the state to potentially pay $17.4 billion to shoulder its portion and leaving 670,000 New Yorkers to potentially lose some portion of their benefits. On Medicaid, the plan to cut $715 billion over the next decade could leave 8.6 million Americans without healthcare coverage by 2034.
Zou also wrote about how food banks are bracing themselves against a wave of tariffs, federal cuts, and a state budget that provides little relief. Over 16 million pounds of food across the state will no longer be distributed.
“There’s a lack of predictability that is causing things to be more upended than they have been before,” said Leslie Gordon, the president of Food Bank for New York City.
Colin Kinniburgh wrote about a campaign funded by the American Chemistry Council that failed to submit copies of mailers it sent in support of state Senate and Assembly candidates — breaking state law. The mailers, sent out in support of nine candidates, featured language touting the incumbents’ “experience to get things done.”
Education reporter Bianca Fortis wrote about the 4,000 outstanding claims owed to school districts, going back more than a decade. Fortis reports that the state owes more than $300 million to schools statewide, but those districts won’t receive the money any time soon
“These claims are born and graduate high school before they get paid,”said Brian Cechnicki, the executive director of Association of School Business Officials.
