Maxwell School News and Commentary

Ahead of the meeting between incoming New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani and Donald Trump, Grant Reeher, professor of political science, tells Agence France Presse: “Look for the outcome of that meeting to be something to the effect of, ‘I think I can work with (him)—but we will see how it goes and I’m hopeful—we both want the city to succeed’.”  

“Mamdani’s got to get his ideas realized in policy, and New York is notoriously difficult to govern. It’s arguably the second hardest political job in the United States, after the president. So whatever he’s able to accomplish, it won’t be easy,” says Grant Reeher, professor of political science.

The New York State Wastewater Surveillance Network tracks the spread of COVID by detecting the virus in wastewater. David Larsen, professor and chair of public health and lead epidemiologist for the network, says COVID levels in the city’s wastewater were below average. 

“We’re not seeing young people go live on communes,” says Shana Gadarian, Merle Goldberg Fabian Professor of Excellence in Citizenship and Critical Thinking. “They’re working at banks, they’re starting gig economies, they’re working in high tech. If that’s not capitalism, I’m not clear what would be.”

“His intense ground game—you can’t underestimate the power of that,” says Grant Reeher, professor of political science. “Even from political science research, we know that the most effective way to get people to turn out is face-to-face contact. He’s doing a lot of that. …He’s got tons of volunteers.”

“If I’m a Republican, I want this guy to win,” says Grant Reeher, professor of political science. “Because I want to be able to compare and contrast my campaign as a Republican, in a national election, to the idea of, ‘This is where the Democratic party is.’”

Michiko Ueda-Ballmer, associate professor of public administration and international affairs, says the authority should install at least small metal gates to make the system safer. “It’s better than nothing,” she says. “If there’s somebody pushed, just by accident, and if you have metal bars, I think that would definitely help.”

"Nurses are really bargaining for the collective good. They are putting, first and foremost, patients' safety above all else and that was the breaking point—they've been working under less-than-ideal conditions that jeopardized the safety of patients," says Gretchen Purser, associate professor of sociology. 

Amy Ellen Schwartz, professor of economics and public administration and international affairs, was quoted in the Chalkbeat article, "Eric Adams is facing pressure to reverse NYC school budget cuts. Should he?"