What's The Data Point

$5.3 billion is the current estimate of the budget gap the next Mayor will have to close in her or his first year. Ben and CBC President Andrew Rein introduce listeners to CBC's mayoral candidates forum "Managing NYC’s Fiscal Crisis" that featured 10-minute conversations with each of eight candidates: Maya Wiley, Kathryn Garcia, Andrew Yang, Dianne Morales, Eric Adams, Ray McGuire, Scott Stringer, and Shaun Donovan. Each candidate presented their plan to manage the crisis, answered targeted questions, and identified positions on key fiscal issues in a lightning round.

$7.4 billion is how much NYS personal income tax was paid in 2018 by residents of other states. This revenue stream may be threatened if a lawsuit over taxation of out-of-state telecommuting residents prevails. Today's guest is E.J. McMahon, adjunct fellow of the Manhattan Institute and senior fellow of the Empire Center. He explains why this lawsuit is so important and also discussed elements of the NYS Executive Budget. And, in her final episode as host, Maria Doulis offers a brief analysis of the NYC Preliminary Budget.

$4 billion is the amount of annual investment in housing recommended by a broad coalition of groups called United for Housing. In the fourth episode on the subject of land use, we continue the conversation with two representatives of the United for Housing coalition: Michelle de la Uz of the Fifth Avenue Committee, and Paimaan Lodhi of the Real Estate Board of New York.

29 is the number of acres in the proposed Special Flushing Waterfront District. In our third episode on land use and zoning, we move from Brooklyn to Flushing, Queens to discuss the proposed district that could add 3 million square feet of housing, hotel, retail and office space; remediate Flushing Creek; and create waterfront access and park space. Developer Helen Lee and proposal critic John Choe joined the podcast to share their competing views.

2.9% was New York State's COVID-19 positivity rate as of November 10, 2020. New York was the early epicenter of the pandemic, and though new cases started to decline in April and stayed relatively low through the summer, cases are beginning to rise again. Joining the podcast is one of the nation's foremost public health experts Dr. Thomas Frieden offers a clear explanation about what we know about the virus, how to best prepare for its rise, and what the prospects are for a vaccine.

8,200 is the number of new housing units that could be created by the proposed rezoning of Gowanus, Brooklyn. Councilmember Brad Lander joins "What's the [DATA] Point?" to discuss the rezoning plan and make the case for comprehensive planning.

20,000 is the number of jobs that could be potentially created by proposed rezoning of Industry City, a sprawling retail, office, and manufacturing complex in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. But this week the developer pulled the plug on the proposal after negotiations with stakeholders came to a standstill. What went wrong, and what does that mean for the future of Industry? This is episode is a tale of two rezonings, as told by Industry City CEO Andrew Kimball and NYC Councilmember Carlos Menchaca.

72% is the share of firms which have experienced challenges in the switch to remote work spurred by the pandemic. The datapoint is from a survey of business leaders representing several key NYC economic sectors. We convened a panel of five CBC Trustees representing real estate, finance, law, health, and job development to discuss the survey's finding, and how they believe their sectors--and the City as a whole--will look like in the short-term and the long-term.

$1 billion is the target reduction in the NYPD budget that became the focal point of recent budget negotiations. Was this cut actually made in the NYC Adopted FY2021 Budget? CBC's Adrian Pietrzak and Ana Champeny discuss the NYPD's budget and how it's going to change in the coming year in this special mini-episode.

$88.2 billion is the size of the NYC budget adopted for FY 2021. After years of economic expansion, this is the first budget Mayor de Blasio and Speaker Johnson negotiated in a recession. CBC's Ana Champeny joined the podcast to discuss why this is just the first of many tough choices facing City leaders.

70 million is the number of free meals distributed by the NYC since mid-March, when the COVID-19 pandemic took hold. Today we talk to members of the public and private sector teams that made this success happen: Sanitation Commissioner and "Food Czar" Kathryn Garcia, and Cas Holloway of Unqork, the enterprise software company that developed an app virtually overnight.

1975 is the year NYC found itself on the verge of municipal bankruptcy. How did the City turn around its fortunes? We present CBC's special panel discussion, "Sages of the Ages." Five New York fiscal experts--Steve Berger, Stan Brezenoff, Gene Keilin, Dick Ravitch, and Alair Townsend-- describe how they helped the City navigate through the fiscal crisis and explain what they think we'll need to do to overcome the challenges of the present.overcome the challenges of the present.

$7.4 billion -- the two-year tax revenue shortfall for the City of New York revealed when Mayor Bill de Blasio released the Executive Budget for Fiscal Year 2021 last month. In this episode we hear from the person who will help guide NYC through one of its greatest fiscal challenges, NYC Budget Director Melanie Hartzog.

2020. Welcome to the new decade! It’s Andrew Cuomo’s 10th year as Governor, Bill de Blasio’s 7th year as Mayor, and it promises to be a busy year in New York politics. Alyssa Katz of The City and Laura Nahmias of the Daily News Editorial Board discuss policy priorities as the State and City legislative sessions begin.

6 months is the time the New York City Housing Authority has to develop a reorganization plan. In this episode NYCHA Chair & CEO Greg Russ discusses working with the federal monitor to facilitate change, working with residents to instill confidence, and what needs to happen at NYCHA to make it a high-performing agency that can ably serve its 380,000 residents.

7 days since the start of budget season, which commenced this year with the New York City Preliminary Budget released on January 16th. The State Budget, released just yesterday, may have a significant impact on the City’s finances this year: with the State facing a large budget gap, the Executive Budget proposes reorganizing school aid formulas and restructuring the local obligation with respect to Medicaid funding. CBC President Andrew Rein joins the pod.

$28.8 billion is the cumulative four-year budget gap facing New York State between fiscal years 2020 and 2023. CBC President Andrew Rein joined the podcast to explain how the State should get its fiscal house in order. And for a special treat, CBC's Andrew Perry and Ana Champeny discuss regional economic development and NYC property taxes. Happy Holidays!

275 is the number of meetings Veronica Vanterpool has attended since she was appointed to the board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. She is one of four individuals appointed by the Mayor to the 21 member board. She joined the pod to discuss her time on the board, the important challenges facing the MTA, and more.

$15 billion is the CBC's estimate of the three-year revenue shortfall for New York City government in a recession. First Deputy Mayor Dean Fuleihan joined CBC President Andrew Rein for a wide-ranging discussion about the City's budget, closing Rikers, access to hydropower, NYC's competitiveness, and more.

$81.3 billion the amount of tax revenue New York State will collect in fiscal year 2020⁠—46 percent of all resources in the $176 billion New York State budget. Michael Schmidt, Commissioner of the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, joined the podcast to parse the details on the State’s tax base and taxation policies.