New York City’s Mayor Bill de Blasio is, at times, lauded as a “canny tactician” and “crusader” and, at others, accused of letting “messes pile up.” Such comments come after a year of big-ticket news items, including a historic rent freeze voted in by the Rent Guidelines Board, the killings of unarmed black men at the hands of the NYPD, the controversial battle to regulate Uber, and the bumpy rollout of Universal Pre-K. Despite the ups and downs, the mayor is still cast—by himself and many others—as a torchbearer of the national progressive agenda.
The Urban Democracy Lab convenes a panel of journalists to ask: Is de Blasio the progressive leader he promised to be? What can we expect from him as he embarks on the second half of his mayoral term? And is the Mayor’s policy agenda a true benchmark for American progressives, or just a scattershot attempt to solve the city’s intractable and persistent inequality?
Featuring:
- Jennifer Fermino, City Hall Bureau Chief, New York Daily News
- Jarrett Murphy, Executive Editor and Publisher of City Limits
- Azi Paybarah, Senior Reporter, Politico New York
- Moderated by Mary Rowe, Executive Vice President at The Municipal Art Society
New York City, NY; NYC