MNY Events in the Next Four Weeks

A vertical film festival // What is COGE? // AI state capacity hackathon // An off the record chat about effective politics

The next four weeks are packed with cool events, and I wanted to spotlight a few. Three are Maximum New York events in collaboration with Fractal Campus and Manhattan Institute, a fourth is an AI civic hackathon brought to you by Tal Roded and Henry Grunzweig, and a fifth is office hours with Abundance New York. I hope to see you at any and all of these! I’ll also be putting on a big Fourth of July bash, details for which will be coming soon.

🗓️ Events

1) COGE Testimony Office Hours

📍 Zoom / Virtual
🗓️ Tuesday, June 9
🕕 12:00-1:00pm
🎟️ Register to attend here

​In late May, Mayor Mamdani announced that he was forming a Commission on Government Efficiency, or COGE, to examine how the city charter can “better support public excellence.” Over the next eight weeks, the commission will be hearing public testimony, putting out reports, and drafting proposed amendments to the charter that voters will weigh in on this November…

​You can make your voice heard on these issues at public hearings between June 9 and July 13. On Tuesday, June 9, Abundance New York Executive Director Catherine Vaughan and Maximum New York founder Daniel Golliher will be hosting a brief workshop to help members build and refine their testimony. Join us to learn what strong testimony looks like, workshop your ideas, and get inspiration!

2) What is COGE?

📍 Downtown Manhattan
🗓️ Thursday, June 18
🕕 6:30-8:30pm
🎟️ Register to attend here

This past Thursday, May 28, Mayor Mamdani announced the creation of COGE, the “Commission on Government Efficiency.” Legally, COGE has the form of a charter revision commission, and their recommendations will be on our ballots this November, 2026.

​You might be wondering: what is a charter revision commission? What is the charter? What can COGE do? Is it the same thing as DOGE? Can I help? Can I be involved? How do I know what’s going on?

​If you want these questions answered, come to this event! Maximum New York founder Daniel Golliher will review the structure, authority, and process of COGE; review how you can submit recommendations to it; and more.

​If you want to know more about COGE in the meantime, you can read this: What is the Mayor’s Commission on Government Efficiency (COGE)?

3) New York (Vertical) Film Festival

📍 Fractal Campus in Williamsburg
🗓️ Saturday, June 20
🕕 12:00-2:30pm
🎟️ Register to attend here

So you’ve been wanting to make videos on your phone; perhaps for work, for advocacy, or for fun. And yet, you wonder, what is the best way to make the videos? Do you need special lights and microphones? How do you edit them? What is the most effective time to post them? What are the best formats? The list goes on, and smothers all hope of your first video ever seeing the light of day....

​UNTIL NOW

​Please join Fractal Campus, Maximum New York, and Manhattan Institute for the New York (Vertical) Film Festival! Here you will show up, get direct instruction about how to make a video, and—within the course of an hour or less—you will make and post your first video. Maybe even two.

​THEN YOU ENTER THEM INTO CATEGORIES, WE’ll SCREEN THE VIDEOS, AND WE AWARD PRIZES!

4) State Capacity AI Hackathon

📍 Register to find out
🗓️ Wednesday, June 24
🕕 5:30-9:30pm
🎟️ Register to attend here

Want to use technology to improve how government works?

​AI can transform how government delivers services, but only if the right people are building it. This is your chance.

​We’re hosting a hackathon for civic technologists, government practitioners, researchers, students, and anyone who wants to build tools that help government actually deliver.

​Show up. Pick a problem. Ship something by the end of the night. Judges will be on hand to give feedback and pick winners.

5) How to Talk Politics Well, Effectively, and Pro-Socially

📍 Fractal Campus in Williamsburg
🗓️ Thursday, July 2
🕕 6:30-8:30pm
🎟️ Register to attend here

Please join this very political conversation with three people at the center of politics and community (or what our grandparents might have just called “civil society”):

• ​Daniel Golliher: founder of Maximum New York and Cities & AI Fellow at Manhattan Institute

• ​Priya Rose: co-founder of Fractal and FractalU, writer and expert on how to live near your friends

• ​Andrew Rose: co-founder of Fractal and FractalU, technologist, and founding instructor of Fractal Bootcamp

Are you scared of talking politics with your enemies? How about with your friends? Have you ever been in a social setting where the whole room flinches when someone begins a remark with “not to get political, but...”? Do politics on the internet make you mad/sad/depressed? But: Do you want New York and America to be less politically polarized? Do you want politics to deliver material results?

How do you have productive political conversations with others that leave you both better off, increase the probability of good political outcomes, and improve our overall culture? Come listen to some people who have done it, and do it regularly.