Maximum New York November Updates
Fellowships, Factotums, Events, and New York's Hottest Club
🏆 Announcements and Accolades
I am now a Cities fellow at the Manhattan Institute! My work there will focus on housing, public order, and the basic mechanics of government.
- has joined Maximum New York as its first Factotum (Jack of all trades, master of…all). He recently worked on Zellnor Myrie’s mayoral campaign, holds a BA in Geological and Earth Sciences from Princeton, and is a distinguished alumnus of MNY itself. He TAs classes, performs research, helps throw events, and a wide variety of other things to come. You can find him on X, LinkedIn, and Substack.
- started a new NYC-focused Substack in April, and now has over 20 posts. He’s a great example of why and how more people should write about our city—in concrete detail, and with great care. If you love New York, write about it!
🗓️ Events
1) The Road Ahead for New York’s Next Mayor
📍 The NYC Bar Association
🗓️ Tuesday, November 18
🕕 6:30-8:30pm
🎟️ Register to attend here
I’ll be giving a talk on the powers and constraints of the mayoralty. If you want to know more about how the office works, how it interacts with other parts of government, and to have a good time with pleasant company, come! This is an “is” event, rather than an “ought” event, and you are welcome no matter how you voted in the recent election. From the event page:
With the mayoral election behind us, attention turns from campaign promises to governing realities. What powers does New York’s mayor actually wield? Which priorities can the new administration realistically advance, and which are constrained by Albany, the City Council, or entrenched bureaucracy?
Join the Manhattan Institute for an in-depth discussion on what to expect under New York’s next mayor, featuring Daniel Golliher, a leading expert on New York City governance. The presentation will illuminate the structure of mayoral authority, the policy levers available, and the political and institutional roadblocks that will shape the next four years…
If you want a bit of a preview of this event, you can read my recent City Journal piece about the powers of the mayor.
2) Office Hours
📍 Fractal Tech
🗓️ Wednesday, November 19
🕕 6:30-8:30pm
🎟️ Register to attend here
The Roosevelt-Riis Association will have its first open office hours in 1.5 weeks, and we invite anyone interested in the organization to come and talk to us! The evening will be mostly unstructured. We’ll have snacks, music, and some lightning talks. Otherwise, come to meet great people and think about the future of NYC.
You can read more about RRA here, and more about the philosophy of our upcoming prize program here. If you want a quick gloss on the ethos of RRA, I’ll leave you with this:
Nothing is more erroneous than to suppose that a corrupt government in this city is a necessity. Neglect and indifference alone have brought us where we are, and energy and determination can alone carry us where we desire to be. Neither passive endurance on the one hand, nor revolution, riot and bloodshed on the other, will do it, but regular, lawful, PERSISTENT efforts will accomplish it… The power, intelligence and capital are here to do it. Remember, with good government we have nothing to fear, and without it, nothing to hope.
— Report of the Citizens’ Association of New York, 1868
3) Maximum New York office hours!
📍 Union Square
🗓️ Tuesdays: November 11, 18; December 2, 9
🕕 7:30-10:00am
🎟️ Register to attend here
Come have coffee with me before work! We can talk about class (if you’re a student), schemes (if you’re a dedicated New Yorker), or meet for the first time.
📚 Which sessions would you like in a lecture series beginning in early 2026?
In addition to the regular slate of classes that MNY offers, we will offer a 10-session lecture series beginning in late January about important topics in government and law. Each session will be structured to stand alone, but they will also build on each other if you want to attend them all. The events will be held in a university auditorium, and have a capacity between 60-100. Unlike the more intensive classes like Foundations of New York, this one will be a lighter touch. There will be voluntary final exam at the end for those who’d like to try their hand at it, but it will not be required at all.
Here is a high-level survey of topics we’re considering for sessions. If you really want one in particular, or want one that’s not listed here, let me know:
How the city can fund new subways again
Heuristics for knowing when a political headline/post/article is reliable or unreliable; how to have good political proxies
What are political parties, actually? What is their technical definition and organizational shape?
Answering this common question: “I keep hearing about ‘repeat offenders’ who do bad things, and are let out of jail repeatedly. Is that real? How could one even verify those claims? What is the nature and scope of this issue?”
The rent regulation system
How does city debt work?
What is New York’s court system (and why is our “supreme court” not the highest court in the land)?
How does the city budget work?
How the subways were originally built and financed
Public authorities in New York (case study: the MTA)
How a bill becomes a law, how a rule becomes a law (2-part sessions)
How to communicate more successfully, and less angrily, about a politics: an is-versus-ought evening
1898: the consolidation of NYC, and how the five boroughs merged
The American Founding in one evening
The federal government in one evening
Corporations and corporate law: the missing key to understanding how the government works
A history of Grand Compromises in New York, and why they are behind many of the things we love and rely on today
How to read a (federal) Supreme Court opinion
What is city law, where can you find it, and how susceptible to understanding is it?
🪩 New York’s Hottest Club is…
I went to the New York City municipal library book sale this morning, and it was wonderful. It is truly New York’s hottest club.
